Sunday, October 4, 2009

Acting Out Culture Post 11

Prompt: On Monday we analyzed Cinderella and Snow White. For this week I want you to choose a fairy tale/fable/parable to analyze in your blog. You should do the following: 1) Summarize the fairy tale, 2) List all the themes you can see, & 3) Analyze one to two of the themes and discuss how you see them effecting the larger audience and yourself.This should be a longer blog since it takes up 3 blog entries.


I think that The Lion King is a very powerful movie. It tells a story about a lion named Simba and his journeys through life. After being born, he grows up with another cub named Nala. They are the best of friends and have crazy adventures together. Simbas father, Mufasa, is the leader of the pride and is Simba's biggest role model. One day, Simba's evil uncle, Scar, takes him down to a valley where the wildebeast stampede is going to come. He then sends for Mufasa to come save Simba because Scar wanted to kill Mufasa so that he could rule all of the land. Scar's plan worked and he blamed the death on Simba so he was then banished. After a little while in exile, Simba is found by two other animals. One was a meercat named Timon and the other was a warthog named Pumba. Simba is then taken into the friendship and is taught how to survive on his own. After having grown up and become an adult, he runs into Nala one day and they catch up. Simba finds out that his uncla has ruined the Prideland and that he needs to come back to get the throne. Simba was reluctant and after having "seen" his dad in the water and in the sky because of the witch doctor/baboon, Rafiki, he decides he will go back. With the help of Timon, Pumba, Rafiki, Nala, and all of the other lions, Simba is able to defeat Scar and his group of hyenas.

There are quite a few themes in this movie. Friendship, perserverance, responsibility, love, and adolescence are the ones that I am able to point out the quickest. I think friendship is definitly one of the biggest themes. All of Simba's friends were able to help him throughout the movie. They risked their lives at the end to help him gain what was rightfully his. I think that many people in the aufience relate to that and it helps teach younger children to always be tehre for their friends. It is kind of like the saying "giving the shirt off my back". If someone says that about another person, they think really highly of their friend. I think that responsibility is also a very important theme from the movie. The movie is aimed at younger children and it teaches them that you must do what is right and what you have to do in order to make your own life better and to improve the lives of others. When Simba was convinced to go back to the Prideland to defend what was rightfully his and to make the lives of others better, that showed alot of responbility.

The movie, The Lion King, has many good themes and a great story line. It is one of my favorite childhood stories and I plan on my children growing up watching it. I still enjoy it to this day.