"All's Not Well in the Land of 'The Lion King'" -Margaret Lazarus

I am convinced that our society sometimes has the propensity to over-analyze every fictional story in order to prove that it is not satisfactory for our children. Lazarus in her essay, "All's Not Well in Land of 'The Lion King,'" provides a review that unforunately finds the Disney classic to be full of stereotypes and complacent attitudes. For example, Lazarus points out that with Whoopie Goldberg as one of the hyenas with an inner-city dialect, one cannot help but compare those creatures in the film to that of the life in the ghettos. While discussing Scar's reign over the Pride Lands, she criticizes the lioness for not taking a stand against the evil lion.

These points may very well be true, however, other than her boys, who apparently found these errors, no child will care or even think about these things. Disney movies always provide a wise balance between adult humor and children entertainment, in order to attract all audiences. With this in mind, it is also important to remember that Disney is in the business of creating fictional, fun entertainment. Do you think Jay Leno thinks about how he may be creating a biase feeling when cracking a joke about a presidential candidate? Did Hans Christian Anderson consider religious confusions while creating fictional characters that deal with magical things?

If Lazarus has a problem with the "Lion King," I cannot imagine how her feelings would be about other children modern-classics such as "Harry Potter" and the "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Her assumptions about how this simple Disney movie will affect her children's psychological development is absurd. Perhaps Lazarus should be more concerned with other factors that play into a child's growth.

Lazarus fails to realize that many good themes are portrayed in the movie, which I am sure will be more prevelant to a child, than Disney's stereotypical characters full of complacent attitudes. For instance, take the idea of friendship. Tumon and Pumba stood by their lion friend even when things were dark, evil and scary. It's a film about accepting life's changing ways, coping with death, making friends, and, of course, like every Disney movie, a little love. Certainly it is these things that a child can take away, as well as the easy to sing-along music and funny lines exuded in the movie. Some things just should not be over-analyzed and 'Lion King' is one of them.