Lion King is Fascistic Says Reviewer. Yes, Really.

Lion King is Fascistic Says Reviewer. Yes, Really.

Lion King is Fascistic Says Reviewer. Yes, Really.

Disney’s remake of its 1994 animated classic The Lion King will hit theaters next week. Early reviews of the film are mixed, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 60% positive rating. Many reviewers found the CGI animation to be a bit too realistic for their tastes; some said it entered too far into “uncanny valley.”

The trailer shows how technically excellent the film is. But whether animated or CGI, parents will be taking their kids to see The Lion King. Perhaps it will bring back memories of seeing the original film when they were children.

But you know in this era of identity politics, there will always be that turd in the punchbowl who has to put a political spin on a family film. And yes, writer Dan Hassler-Forest, writing a commentary of The Lion King for the Washington Post, is that turd. Here’s the title of his article:

“‘The Lion King’ is a fascistic story. No remake can change that.”

It gets worse.

“As we watch the herbivores congregate to bow down before their newborn ruler, “The Lion King” offers us a seductive worldview in which absolute power goes unquestioned, and where the weak and the vulnerable are fundamentally inferior. In other words: “The Lion King” offers us fascist ideology writ large, and there seems to be no way out for the forthcoming remake.”

Um, maybe because among wild animals there is “absolute power?” And lions and other carnivores are the animals who wield it. Did Hassler-Ford not hear the first words of the trailer? Life is not fair. That especially goes for the natural world.

Oh, and he found some white supremacy, too:

“But by using predator-prey relationships to allegorize human power, the film almost inevitably incorporates the white supremacist’s worldview, one in which some groups of people are inherently superior to others.”

That’s because in terms of power, carnivores are superior to herbivores. The exceptions might be elephants or hippos, but that’s because they’re bigger than lions or leopards. However, I once saw a shocking nature film in which a pride of lions took down a wayward elephant, so even that can happen.

Of course he had to point out the oppressed minorities who suffer under the lions’ fascism. Those would be the hyenas:

“. . .the hyenas transparently represent the black, brown and disabled bodies that are forcefully excluded from this fascist society.”

Well, yeah, because hyenas are odd-looking, ungainly scavengers. I’d tell Hassler-Ford that God made them that way, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t believe in Him.

lion king

Credit: giphy.com.

In his long-winded rant, did Hassler-Ford reference — dare I ask — Nazism? 

Of course he went there. He served up the cheapest allegory ever:

“Simba’s final ascent to the throne, his masculine roar . . . is nothing less than the Führer Principle at work: the idea that those we entrust with positions of leadership are blessed with a natural, even divine superiority.”

Now I remember in the 1994 animated film the hyenas goose-stepped before the evil lion Scar like Third Reich soldiers. As a parent whose child loved The Lion King, I thought this plot device was rather contrived. On the other hand, this was no “Führer Principle.” It was merely a few seconds on a movie screen.

lion king

Credit: wizardofdork.blogspot.com. 

But, Dan Hassler-Ford calls himself a “cultural theorist” and apparently delights in being an identity-obsessed killjoy:

This is where we are as a culture when a beloved child’s movie is disparaged as a tale of fascism. Plus BuzzFeed has delved into Disney cartoons to find 16 characters they claim are “probably gay.” On top of that, the LGBT site PinkNews giddily reported that Simba would come out as gay in the new movie. After all, they got the scoop from a Disney source!

“According to the source, Simba realises that he is gay during his teenage years after chancing upon same-sex couple Timon and Pumbaa in the wilderness.”

Except PinkNews reported this on April 1, 2017 — April Fool’s Day. However, when hundreds took to Twitter to spread their joy about a gay Simba, PinkNews had to publish a second piece explaining the hoax.

Why must activists destroy what little bit of innocence remains in this culture? It’s because their goal is to demolish whatever Judeo-Christian worldview remains. They must destroy the traditional concept of good defeating evil — which is at the heart of The Lion King — and replace it with their religion of identity politics and power. But they are the real fascists in this tale, not the CGI lions in a Disney family movie.

 

Featured image: conespider/flickr/cropped/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

Written by

Kim is a pint-sized patriot who packs some big contradictions. She is a Baby Boomer who never became a hippie, an active Republican who first registered as a Democrat (okay, it was to help a sorority sister's father in his run for sheriff), and a devout Lutheran who practices yoga. Growing up in small-town Indiana, now living in the Kansas City metro, Kim is a conservative Midwestern gal whose heart is also in the Seattle area, where her eldest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson live. Kim is a working speech pathologist who left school system employment behind to subcontract to an agency, and has never looked back. She describes her conservatism as falling in the mold of Russell Kirk's Ten Conservative Principles. Don't know what they are? Google them!

12 Comments
  • Johnathan Birks says:

    If Goebbels were alive, he would subscribe to the Compost. The Big Lie is alive and well in Bezosville.

  • CaptDMO says:

    “On the other hand, this was no “Führer Principle.” It was merely a few seconds on a movie screen.”
    IMHO, with (eg)Disney animated ANYTHING, there is no “merely a few seconds on the screen”.
    ESPECIALLY with cel animation, consider what goes into producing “a few seconds”.
    They’re not going to risk wasting THAT on mere “filler”.

  • George V says:

    “…same-sex couple Timon and Pumbaa…”
    What burns me up is how these “activists” pretty much destroy anything good. While same-sex relationships do exist, these people have pretty much destroyed deep friendships. Back when the world was civilized (i.e, when I was a kid) boys could have a best friend, the guy you met up with first after school to play army, skateboard, build a fort, whatever. The guy who you camped with in the backyard, biked to the ice cream place, hiked with back in the hills.
    Today I have the impression that two boys who had that sort of friendship would be called “gay” instead of “good friends”. We’ve lost yet another thing in our children’s lives to the constant war for “social justice”.

    • George V says:

      Forgot say that in fear of being considered gay, boys will avoid such a deep friendship.

    • Wyldkat says:

      Thank you. I’ve been saying the same thing.

      Heck, I can’t even watch certain shows anymore. I know the characters are good friends, but due to the LBGTQIXWZ praising the shows, I have become sensitive to overt displays of affection – even friendly affection.

      {thought just went through my mind, man I hope they never try to redo Lavern & Shirley.}

      • Wfjag says:

        A suggestion for your time: Go to a big book store or log on Amazon. Buy any book by Eric Lawson. You won’t miss any of those shows, again.

  • Wyldkat says:

    I tried to read the original piece. My brain hurts. How much idiocy and hate and self-loathing can you pack in one piece? Apparently a lot. I had to stop reading. A white dude explaining how TLK is about white supremacy and patriarchy is too much. Dude apparently does not know anything about real lions. (hint, pride is ruled by 1 or 2 MALE lions with the females doing the hunting and child raising) He claims to have taught Shakespeare, but openly mocked someone on Twitter for pointing out the obvious – TLK is Hamlet. “I’m well aware of the parallels. They’re just not really relevant for this particular perspective.” If you know they are the same story, why are you discussing TLK and not Hamlet?

    “BuzzFeed has delved into Disney cartoons to find 16 characters they claim are “probably gay.”
    What ever happened to being good friends? Once upon a time people could hang out, laugh, even hug each other and be friends. Now, if two people stand close, lean on each other, show any sign of affection, they must be a couple. AAARRRHHH WTH.

    • Wfjag says:

      Now you understand why I say “Thank you, Kim” [and other Victory Girls] nearly every day. She reviews the WaPo, and other rags and mindless TV commentators, so I don’t have to waste my time, and threaten my last meal with the nausea that accompanies being exposed to such drivel. It’s a tough job, and I’m glad somebody else is doing it.

  • Scott says:

    “Because I’m a horrible person who’s incapable of experiencing joy, I wrote this @washingtonpost article on why #TheLionKing presents a worldview that is fundamentally and irreducibly fascist. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/10/lion-king-is-fascistic-story-no-remake-can-change-that/?utm_term=.dac47ea2d410 …”

    Hey, at least he got one thing right….He is a horrible person who’s incapable of experiencing joy…

  • GWB says:

    FWIW
    “White Supremacy” =/= “Fascism”

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