Lord knows I have not been well recently at all. Like… At. All.
I don’t know if I have suddenly developed an intolerance, or
if I have an allergy, I am not aware of? But right about now, my body seems to
hate me.
So please excuse my temporary leave of absence.
That aside, my sudden bout of illness has inspired this post,
in a weird kind of way.
I am about to take you on a little roller coaster ride to
land this point, so hold on tight and keep your arms and legs inside the cart
at all times. Try to keep up because my train of thought slows for no one.
PART I- Lessons from the Lion King
I AM A HUGE DISNEY FAN.
Yep, despite how unbelievably problematic it is for them to
monopolise the entire entertainment industry, I was raised a Disney baby.
Whether it’s Disney or Pixar, I love it all- I know the
songs, scripts, stage directions- you name it!
You don’t even have to be a Disney fanatic to keep up with
the film I will be referring to today; especially due to its iconic status. It
even recently had an all-star live-action version created (or as live action as
you can make talking animals).
Yep, you guessed it- THE LION KING.
I don’t know what it is that makes The Lion King so iconic-
the plot, the music, the loveable characters? Whatever it is, the film has been
a house-hold name for decades.
A fun fact that never fails to amuse me is that The Lion
King was never expected to do well in the first place. It was essentially an
extra project for Disney’s B-team to work on whilst the big dogs worked on Disney’s
Pocahontas- and though I love Pocahontas, I must say, the underdogs really did
show them.
So, I am going to assume everybody has watched the film, you’ve
had a 26-year grace period, so I am not even going to give you an official “SPOILER
ALERT” warning.
The character I really want to talk about today is Scar.
In classic American fashion, this characters evil intentions
and actions are reinforced by his British accent. He is also clearly evil
because he’s the darker lion (problematic, but we won’t get into that right now)
and everyone calls him Scar. (Now, I don’t know if that’s his government name,
but if everyone were to call me Scar it would be enough to turn me evil too).
Scar is a top-tier Disney villain, and well known for one of
Disney’s most villainous acts - KILLING MUFASA IN COLD BLOOD (and convincing Simba
that the death of his father was his fault, which clearly had a great psychological
toll on the little lion cub).
However, I don’t think people understand why Scar was deemed
as a villain or a “bad guy” even before the death of Mufasa. It’s almost like
you knew he was bad, and you knew you didn’t want him to be the ruler of the Pride
Lands, but you did not really compute why.
Sure, there was the fact he associated with the hyenas, who
were clearly bad news, but it only really clicked to me what really made Scar a
bad guy from the get-go.
The lion king has a primary theme introduced first by one of
the most iconic songs in Disney cinematic history, ‘The Circle of Life’, and even
in Mufasa’s monologue to Simba:
“Everything you see exists together, in a delicate balance.
As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures--
from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. When we die, our bodies become
the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the
great Circle of Life.”
Both talk about the series of events that formulate one’s
life, and how all animals are interconnected and dependent on one another. Interestingly,
Pocahontas explores similar themes about this intricate connectedness of
species.
Scar, on the other hand, does not have any respect for this ‘circle
of life’. He is the personification (or lionification?) of gluttony. Whilst he
is the ruler of the Pride Lands, he doesn’t kill prey as a source of food in the
way Mufasa taught Simba, he kills prey on a mass scale for sport and to quench
his greed, putting the ‘circle of life’ out-of-wack.
This is why the Pride Lands are a complete state when Simba returns
(something that has always confused me).
PART II- Gluttony & Global Warming
So, what the heck has this got to do with my tummy troubles
of late.
Whilst going through all the possible explanations for why my
insides are trying to kill me, I briefly considered that maybe I got food poisoning
from some bad meat.
And thus, I was vegetarian for a week or two.
And, without sounding pretentious or anything, it got me
thinking about our meat consumption and just the pure gluttony that rules over
the meat industry.
As a species, we went from hunting and gathering our dinner ourselves,
to mass industrial meat production, and trust me darlings, it shows!
We eat more and produce more purely because we can! We are
Scar and the meat industries are the hyenas working to meet (pun intended) our
needs.
Did you know:
- Forest fires are deliberately set to make room for domesticated animals required for industrial meat
- 14.5% of greenhouse gases are produced from animal products
- Indigenous people are forced off their own land to make room for the industry
- The meat production industry is susceptible to modern-day slavery
- Wildlife are killed and pushed out of their homes
- Diseases are more likely to cross over from the animal kingdom to mankind as they rehome closer to human settlements
In history, overeating became a sign of status. It meant
that you had the means to overeat in the first place. This even seeped into
what was deemed attractive and seen as a sign of wealth, as around this period,
full figures were glorified for this very reason (for me King Henry VIII comes
to mind).
Even today, at social gatherings and big events such as national/
religious holidays e.g. Christmas, you will find a surplus of food that is there
to mark the special occasion. In the instance of Christmas, Easter and the American
Thanksgiving, there are even meats particular to these occasions, and they are
the pinnacle and trademark of the meals for these special occasions.
I have not been to a single Christmas dinner where less than
3 types of meat were served, and to be honest, I would have looked down on one where
that was the case.
But, now, with this knowledge, I plead for you to ask yourself
Ask yourself
- Do I need 3 different types of meat in one meal?
- Do I need to eat meat for every meal in the day?
- Is there any way to cut back on my meat consumption?
- Can I buy my meat locally?
- Do I need to eat as from fast-food chains as frequently?
I am not out here trying to convert anyone to veganism or
vegetarianism, especially when I myself am neither.
I genuinely do not believe that there is anything inherently
wrong with eating meat, we are omnivorous animals, and eating meat has many nutritional
benefits. Like I say, Mufasa was a good guy, not because he refused to eat meat,
but because he was responsible and consciously aware of his role in the ‘circle
of life’ and the impact it would have on the rest of his environment and ecosystem.
But I am calling for us to challenge the gluttonous behaviour that fuels the
meat industry before we eat our way to the end of the world as we know it.
For more information, as always, I have included links to
the sources I have used, and sources providing further information!
…
Thank
you so much for reading this blog post! I am hoping that I can continue to post
every weekend, but I have not been feeling too great, so it may be on a
fortnightly basis. Like always, I hope you’ve taken something from this, (even
if it’s just to watch the Lion King for the millionth time).
But ultimately, I just want you to know what I know, you
know!
Signed,
IAMLENGA
…
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…
*Alongside my own
opinions, this post and the points made within it were inspired by a range of literature
that you may want to check out if you found this to be an interesting read:
·
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02409-7
·
https://aeon.co/essays/are-we-eating-ourselves-and-our-planet-to-extinction
If you want to know some more random facts about The Lion King, I
thought I would include a few light-hearted sources:
·
https://www.tor.com/2015/06/19/the-lion-king-was-the-most-unlikely-success-story-you-will-ever-hear/
·
https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2014/10/11/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-lion-king/
·
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ranahabibbb/lion-king-character-b9qeslkx9n
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