Cheyenne's post about The Little Mermaid in connection with 100 Years got me thinking about another childhood movie we have all seen and loved that is related to the book. The Lion King. From class the other day, we were told that many myths begin with the breaking of a taboo- the taboo in 100 Years being incest. The Lion King is also full of it. The main characters of the movie, as the title suggests, is a pride of lions. A pride "consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males." Mufasa, king of the Pride Lands and Simba's father, is the clear alpha male, or the one who would impregnate all of the other lionesses. As a result, Sarafina, Nala's mother, would've had to have been impregnated by Mufasa if she was going to be a part of the pride. Therefore... Simba and Nala, the lovers of this wonderful production, are related (they are half-siblings) and their relationship is incestuous. Then they have a child. IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!!! (Cyclical repetition of names, personalities, events, lineage, in 100 Years, and the birth of same-family cubs in Lion King).
If you open the link, you may have missed it watching this movie as a child, but this is clearly a sex scene when Nala and Simba are grown up and reunited after they haven't seen each other for so long.
3 comments:
It is very interesting that you made the connection of half-siblings that are also related on another level. As in 100 years, Aureliano and Jose Arcadio Buendia II also have sex with Pilar Ternera. (Note: p.60 states that Pilar had 2 recent children by unknown fathers, most likely Aureliano whom she has been sleeping with regularly. It is disturbing to us to consider that these half siblings are also cousins. Just as in a pride of lions, the family is intermingled, which makes it fortified. The family is not only lion-like in its "pride," or family, but also in its mental and emotional "pride". The boys in the Buendia lineage are strong, proud individuals who will do whatever it takes to preserve their honor, such as killing a friend for mocking their sex life and continuing on to stake their claim. Lions, too, are ferocious, courageous, and strong, as the stereotypical definition of a "manly man" ought to be.
It's amazing that during that time period incest was so much more accepted. Although they didn't want to have sex within their family due to the fear of their children being born with pigs' tails, that was pretty much the only reason that they were against it. The moral side of it has nothing to do with their doubts! Today, there is no way that that would even be remotely acceptable. Even now, there are situations about people dating their ex-girlfriends' moms (weird, I know), and people freak out, and reasonably so. I can't even imagine it being a normal idea to sleep with a member of your family!
This is an interesting connection. Similarly, in A Bug's Life, a less renowned but still nostalgic movie, I vaguely remember that there was a romantic relationship between the two main characters (two ants) in the ant colony. Since an ant colony basically consists of one queen and all of her descendants, everyone (except the queen of course) in the colony would be siblings and the relationship would be incestuous. Although it is not as elaborate as the one in The Lion King, it's still pretty weird.
Post a Comment