The Lion King and Race and Hierarchy

A few blogs ago I talked about hidden messages that are prevalent in the cherished Disney movies we all love and have grew up on. I mentioned a few movies in particular where there might have been subliminal and sexual images infused into certain scenes. In this particular blog however, I would like to focus on one of our readings in class and the movie The Lion King.

The reading titled, Race, Hierarchy, and Hyenaphobia in The Lion King by Naomi Rockler-Gladen, focused on a textual analysis that was not only interesting but discussed how this particular Disney movie had race and hierarchy involved in it. “The Lion King is one of the many places where a child might learn implicity about how race and hierarchy function in his or her own culture,” (Lind, Gladen 193).

How Rockler-Gladen breaks down this hierarchy in The Lion King, has reminded me of something I am familiar with. She discusses how the hyenas in the film were like the minorities and the lions were the majority. The lions lived in the beautiful Pridelands while the hyenas lived on the outside of the Pridelands in what could be considered, “the hood.” They lived in caves with skeletons unlike the lions. The hyenaphobia comes from the fear that if the hyenas were to come into the Pridelands, they would basically run down the area and the food supply would be depleted.

I was born as raised in Detroit, Michigan and have lived in some nice areas as well as some rough ones. A surrounding city of Detroit called Southfield use to be extremely nice to me as a child. This was my perception as well as those around me. If you lived in Southfield, you either had some type of money or were white. This was the idea behind the reasons why someone would live in such a nice area. As I got older, that notion we all had of Southfield was no longer the same as more and more black people moved into the city and then it started to look a little run down. We use to joke and say that the black people ran out the whites in the city but the reality is, it was probably true. “As the old unspoken fear goes, if the minorities are integrated into mainstream culture, everything will fall apart,” (Lind, Gladen 195).

It’s nothing new that the hyenas in the film represent minorities and perpetuates some stereotypes of African Americans. They are violent, the bottom of the food chain and are shown as loud, which are negative characteristics that have been tagged on to Black people.

The hierarchy is shown in the lions being the rulers and having the most power over all the other animals and even within that hierarchy, the lioness is under the lion. Here we see male dominance and it has indeed become naturalized as we expect men to have more power than women.

I’m not one to say that all Disney movies are bad but I am one to say that these movies are more than mere entertainment. What we see and what we hear definitely have an impact on us and whether we realize it or not, even a Disney movie can have much more meaning to it than we want to acknowledge.

Cultural Myths in The Bachelor

Why are women so quick to backstab each other in the back for a man? It seems like women give men too much power, making them think women NEED them and it's okay for women to fight over them. That idea is so far from the truth and goes both ways. Men don't NEED women and women don't NEED men. Having companionship is great and to want that is great and normal but to put emphasis on another human being as to say, "I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE," is a bit much.

In the book, Race, Gender, Class, Media 3.0, there is a short write-up about cultural myths and how they fuel the women battling against each other in the TV show The Bachelor. The show is a "reality" show that came out in 2002 and continues to air. The basic premise of the show involves 25 women who are on the show initially but then as time goes on, they get eliminated so the bachelor can limit the number down to the one he wants.

I personally never got into the show. It always seemed odd to me to have a show where grown women are competing for a guy. Not only that, but to know that he is courting other women at the same time to see which one he should choose just doesn't sit well with me. Women are not objects where men can just pick and choose who they want.

One of the myths brought up in the book is referred to as the Cinderella myth because the show resembles the Cinderella plot pretty closely. We all know the Cinderella story...where a young women is forced to be a slave to her stepfamily and ends up falling in love with the local prince who searches for his wife at a local ball. Once they meet and the prince receives confirmation that Cinderella is indeed the girl for him due to the glass slipper that fits her foot, they live happily ever after. In the show, "the women claim the opportunity to meet the bachelor is like being in a fairy tale and that they really do believe their foray into reality dating television is a viable way to find the perfect husband," (Lind, 209).

The reason the myths work so well as the book explains is because of, "the ideological discourse for women is based upon economic social power relationships which work to keep women in submissive roles," (Lind, 209). Therefore, the notion of an independent woman who has achieved much is not comparable to having beauty and marriage, is believed. As a result, women on the show are seen battling and backstabbing one another because everyone wants THAT perfect prince for an happily-ever ending that almost never lasts. The woman's woman myth describes women as physical objects as groomed and as the perfect wife and mother and rarely with having meaningful thoughts as explained in the text. Since women are so use to competing with one another naturally, they are use to "sizing-up" their competition on the show.

The Bachelor continues to get viewers because people like to see a fairy tale unfold and they also like drama. The culture that says, women need men and should fight for men definitely exists and will continue if women continue to watch shows like The Bachelor that support the myths.

The bottom line is...in my opinion women don't NEED men to complete them and fighting other women for a man is absurd.

Disney and the real truth...

When we hear the name Walt Disney, we may think of cartoons, Disney characters, Disney World or Land and a host of childhood movies and memories. The legendary entertainment industry figure is known for his many achievements like being the first to create the first full-length animation feature we all know as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Loveable characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck continue to win the hearts of children in every generation and to this day, the name Disney rings a familiar bell to anyone of his time and afterwards.

As a kid, I loved Disney characters and movies.  One of my favorite Disney characters is Tinker Bell and my favorite movie was Aladdin. I must have watched Aladdin about 1,000 times!  As a way to keep me occupied, family members would often sit me down in front of the TV, popped on a good Disney movie and let me laugh my little self to sleep. It never failed. But what they didn't know about the truth of Disney is what many still don't know today. 

As a preteen and early teenager, while Disney cartoons weren’t the main focus of my attention, Disney Channel was a big deal for me. In the early 2000s, Disney shows like Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, Kim Possible, The Proud Family and That’s So Raven to name a few were mostly all that I watched.

According to Zacks.com, The Walt Disney Company was one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world and rightfully so. Since it was founded in 1923, it has been a major influence in American media as well as worldwide. The Columbia Journalism Review gives a breakdown of all the entertainment companies that The Walt Disney Company owns. From films and theaters to music, television, radio, publishing, parks and resorts and more, the company owns probably over 100 companies. With this, it is safe to say that the influence The Walt Disney Company has is pretty significant.

As influential as Disney is, it has surfaced over the years that Disney movies have in fact had many shocking subliminal messages in them. From sexual images to portraying certain races in a negative light, the Disney company may have more to the agenda than mere entertainment.

So is Disney really that innocent and should kids be watching it?

After watching a movie in class, we realize that there is a pattern of a young beautiful maiden being rescued by a young man. Movies like The Little Mermaid teaches girls they should change for a man and Cinderella that teaches them that outward beauty is what is most important. We also see the images of women being portrayed as having small waist, big bottoms and breasts, long eye lashes and are overall seductive. We also see how minorities are portrayed as dirty dogs, hyenas and gorillas and are put into certain stereotypes. 

What about sexual images? Below are just a few sexual images that are portrayed in Disney movies. 

The reality is, Disney is not really as innocent as we would like to think. Many subliminal messages are put in its products and they are marketing children, teaching them the wrong things.  What we see and hear can definitely have an impact on us subconsciously. Being bombarded with negative messages such as what is shown in Disney films and shows can be detrimental to a child and how they view the world around them.

Immigration and Media Representation

We opened class with this question…what is the difference between Hispanics and Latinos? What a very good question. I used to be confused with the two terms and majority of the people I know probably would mix the two up and use the term interchangeably as well. But the reality is, there is a difference. 

As explained on the website Diffen, Hispanic is a term that contemporarily refers to the nation of Spain and its culture. A native of Spain living in the U.S. is considered Hispanic and Latino refers to people or communities of Latin American origin. 

We have explored how women are portrayed in the media versus men and now it’s time to examine how Latinos are portrayed in the U.S media. Latinos Beyond Reel is a documentary that focuses on how Latinos are portrayed in media very in-depthly. It explains how the images of Latino men being portrayed as law breakers and women as sexual, sensual and firecrackers have existed so long that they are the norm. 

After watching the film, I had to really think about how Latinos are marginalized in movies and the media that I have seen personally. When I thought about it, I could clearly see how they are portrayed in such a negative way more often than positive. It doesn't really surprise me though because minorities in general really haven't had the best representation in media all together. Just like Latinos, African Americans have also been portrayed in media as uneducated, violent and sometimes invisible until there was a crime committed. 

Something really disturbing I learned from the documentary was the fact children's movies and games are bombarded with these negative stereotypes of Latinos. We know that media representation is very influential on everyone especially children who are too young to really decipher between the truth and the negative connotations of a race of people that they see. Shows like the Speedy Gonzales cartoon is an example of a children's show that show negative stereotypes of Latinos specifically. The rat is shown speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent and was seen as overall offensive. Speedy's first appearance goes as far back as 1953. 

One of my all time favorite shows is Ugly Betty, a show about a young Latina from Queens who lacks fashion sense but is very sweet and intelligent. She lands a job at a fashion magazine in Manhattan and juggles everyday life with a mixture of her culture and American culture in a very fast paced world. This show along with others like Dora, The Explorer, The George Lopez Show and other Latino characters have left loving impressions of Latinos. The reason I like Ugly Betty is because she is portrayed as a young adult in America who is trying to get established in her new career where the fact that she is Latina is an enhancement to her overall character and not the burden. Here we see a Latina character who is true to who she is and her culture and looks like every other young adult in America in the sense that she is trying to figure life out and who she really is. The culture of Latinos isn't depicted negatively in this show but just from the perspective of young girl who is just as a part of America as she is Latina. 

The reality is, Latinos are a part of a fast growing segment of America. Their portrayal in media is important because they make up part of America. Negative connotations of the race in media need to be diminished and replaced with more positive connotations. Although the media has come a long way from the negative representation they have portrayed of Latinos, more positive shows need continue to hit the scene of Latinos showing them in a positive light as well at other minorities. 

My Super Sweet 16

I use to like to watch the show My Super Sweet 16 because around the time it aired and was popular, I was approaching “sweet 16” myself. The idea of having parents with endless money who would spend it on a huge party for me seemed cool. I use to like watching what their party themes would be about and the cars they would get. I would be amazed when these celebrities would spend around $100,000 or more on a car for their daughters. What I did not like was how spoiled they all were and how annoying they were because they couldn’t have one thing out of the thousands of dollars they were already having spent on them.

The book does well in analyzing these narratives and breaking down the whole notion of, “Daddy’s little girl.” One thing is for sure, the love that is seen here is definitely skewed. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the girls on the show are brats and probably don’t know what it means to work for something. This is my opinion.

At 16, I was told to get a job. And prior to 16, when I wanted something I knew to approach my parents with what I can do to work for it. Simple chores had to be done regardless but for something special, I definitely had to work for it. Not to say I didn’t receive gifts without having to work for it but when I worked for something, it made me feel good about earning it. 

I specifically remember being 15 bugging my parents about taking driver’s education. The course was around $300 and well…my parents weren’t rich. My dad told me to work for that driver’s ed course and as a result, I mowed lawns. My dad jokingly would say, it would help me with my steering and although part of me was tired of mowing lawns, it became fun because I knew what the end result would be.

I know my mother and father loves me to the end of the world and back but giving me what I wanted all the time was just not in their parenting style even when we did have the money. I wouldn’t consider myself as a daddy’s little girl and if being a daddy’s little girl is defined by what is shown on My Super Sweet 16, I’m glad I wasn’t.

I specifically think my generation feels entitled to have things and shows like My Super Sweet 16 doesn’t help that mindset. Just like Lind said in the book, even after the parents have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for their daughters, there is still the “I want more” attitude.

When is it ever enough?

 Also, Moms on the show are portrayed kind of in the shadow of their diva daughters. Yes they are on the show but majority of times, when they say “no” or something is too much, the girls often respond that they are going to tell daddy because they said they can get whatever they want. The end result…they end up still getting exactly what they want. So regardless of what the mother says, it’s like the father’s wallet overrules that sometimes and that’s not reality.

Personally the show is completely overrated and being daddy’s little girl is an idea that is limiting the mental growth of these girls who have always received what they wanted. The mental part comes in where you see the kids on the show throw tantrums like they're five when someone says they have to stay within a $250,000 spending budget for example. I agree completely with Lind when it is said that physically, these girls are 16 but mentally...not so much. 

Nothing is wrong with throwing a nice party for your 16^th birthday but all of the parties on that show are just over the top for a 16-year-old even if they're rich. While it is sometimes entertaining to watch, being brats and "daddy's little girls" by their standards is actually a huge turnoff.  

The Heavy Discussion

     We had two wonderful speakers in class on October 15^th, for some pretty heavy and interesting discussions. The first discussion was on victims of assault and while I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on the subject matter, I learned a great deal of information. As a victim of assault myself, it wasn’t until something happened to me that I started realizing how many other women were victims of some kind assault in their lives. The number is unreal, yet the crime continues to happen and people continue to blame the victims. Victims are even blaming themselves. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted in the U.S. 

So what is this cycle and why is it ok for a victim to have endured such pain and get told it was their fault?

I wish I knew the answer.

     I understood from the discussion that many factors contribute to blaming the victim from guilt and fear and power from the abuser that he/she think they are entitled to have. And it does make sense. The abuser wants control and power and in turn, the intentional harmful act makes the victim feel guilty as if they done something wrong to deserve it or fearful of getting help because of the risks that are there. Risks can include not being believed, the fear of the abuser coming after the victim for seeking help, severing financial or familial ties etc.

     I personally hate how majority of assault cases are overlooked and how a large number of them occur from people victims already know. According to the Victims of Crime website, 67.8% of women and 45% of males are assaulted by someone they know. 

     Majority of the time victims don’t get the proper healing they need because of the way they are treated from seeking help. Because of this, they walk around for years with feelings of pain, anger and resentment. From personal experience I know exactly how it feels to be assaulted, doubted and then have your entire character questioned by family members at the expense of the abuser who should have been held accountable.  The abuser received a green light go pass that said, “you did nothing wrong.” While it took time and I did eventually get the healing I needed only by the Grace of God and my savior Jesus Christ, my heart goes out to those who haven’t.

     Assault is serious and should never be taken lightly no matter the situation. No one deserves to be abused in any way and once that abuse happens, it is ALWAYS the abusers fault. End of story.

     On another note, the LGBTQ community certainly has a history although the name is fairly new. What I learned from the speaker was how that community was portrayed in the media some decades ago and I must admit…I was completely shocked at what I learned. 

     He shared with us many shows, actors and actresses starting in the 1950’s that portrayed someone in the LGBTQ community and how people were reacting to it. We looked at how in 1954, there was the first gay character on television. From there, we examined many other shows that laughed at people who were gay and on the show, the Jeffersons was where the first black transgender women was portrayed. Some shows that addressed gay characters in some way were Three’s Company, Archie, Mash, Cheers, Golden Girls etc.

     It was one program on CBS in 1967 called, The Homosexuals that talked about homosexuality as if were a plague. The tone was very, “scary movie” like and the fact it was called, THE Homosexuals really says it all.

     Nowadays, the LGBTQ community is more in television shows then at any other time. While it is still a controversial topic, as far as if homosexuality and the rest of the community should be accepted, it has certainly become more prevalent in media. Also not to mention the fact same-sex marriage is now legal in all states as of June 26, 2015 says a lot as far as the community being accepted. 

So...What about these gun laws though?

So let’s talk about gun control and the lack thereof in America.

On Thursday October 1, another shooting rampage took place at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. This tragedy has left 10 people dead, 20 wounded and is the 295^th mass shooting in 2015 according to shootingtracker.com. As a nation, we are so concerned with terrorists and protecting our nation from other countries seeking harm that we are ignoring domestic gunmen. Now don’t get me wrong, we should most certainly be concerned with keeping our nation safe from terrorists but what about those citizens who abuse the right to own guns by just walking in public places and start shooting?

The great debate on whether people should be allowed to buy and carry guns continues to be popular. Yes, the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms but at what point does the nation come to realize it is time for a change? I understand people want to own guns to protect themselves but if what seems like anyone can just walk into a store and buy a gun continues to be okay, the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Having a weapon should be looked at as a privilege and the moment it was abused, it should have been taken away.

Point.

Blank.

Period.

Just like any rule that is put into place, when people start abusing it, it is taken away. Within the past ten years alone, multiple mass shootings have occurred. Some of the most well known are the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, Columbine High School shooting in 1999 and the Aurora theatre shooting also in 2012, just to name a few. It’s becoming more frequent and almost mind-numbing. The country sits in shock initially, we mourn for those who are victims when all they simply did was walk outside their front door to live their lives and then time passes and everyone moves on.

The fact that majority of the gunmen of these mass shooting have legally purchased the weapons they use to do mass destruction is heartbreaking.

Compared to other countries, America is unfortunately leading the pack when it comes to rates of gun-homicide. 

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Unites States has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate than any other developed country. When it comes to semiautomatic assault weapons, handguns and certain military style rifles, there aren’t federal laws banning them. According to Business Insider, there is no legal right to possess a firearm in Canada and in order to have one, it takes 60 days to obtain, a mandatory license, a safety training course and a background check. As far as guns in the United Kingdom, someone wanting a firearm must possess a Firearm or Shotgun Certificate. Machine guns, semi automatics and other firearms are prohibited. The U.K. and Canada are countries that are examples of stricter gun laws and the results yield significantly lower gun homicide rates.  

While banning guns might be ideal, it’s not necessarily safe to say that if this banning of guns in the United States were to happen, the gun-homicide rate will go down. Unfortunately, people will still find loopholes to obtain weapons but maybe if America had stricter gun laws, obtaining a weapon would be much more of a hassle.

In light of the tragic incident in Oregon and every other mass shooting incident that has occurred prior to it, it is necessary that our gun laws be revisited and become much more stricter.  The media is often quick at covering the incidents when they happen and everyone swarms social media to state their opinions but even in doing so, gun laws or the lack of gun laws in America remain the same.