Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 7:34am

Who Are The Fascists?

 

The Washington Post, but of course, has published a piece claiming that The Lion King is all about Fascism and White Nationalism:

 

Hassler-Forest continues to draw comparisons between the fictional animals and real world politics, claiming that the iconic Pride Rock is “a kind of Trump Tower of the African savanna” and, bizarrely, that “the hyenas transparently represent the black, brown and disabled bodies that are forcefully excluded from this fascist society” and are “noticeably marked by their ethnically coded “street” accents” (a point which seems to be in and of itself racist as the hyenas have not been heard yet and fans are only aware of the casting of Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, and Keegan-Michael Key for these roles). Hassler-Forest also believes that the divide between the citizens of the Pride Lands and those who have been exiled to the Outlands for breaking the ‘circle of life’ and the over-hunting of other species, such as the hyenas, is reminiscent of fascistic dividing of communities into specific ghettos:

“Just as fascist leaders constantly pinpoint specific groups they seek to villainize and cast out from “natural” society, the film’s heroes are preoccupied with keeping their kingdom free of contamination by undesirable elements, who are consigned to the shadowy ghettolike areas “beyond our borders” — on the wrong side of the tracks. With these elements in place, the film’s plot centers on what happens when the “natural” supremacy of traditional patriarchal rule is interrupted. This foul betrayal of tradition is predictably orchestrated by Scar, the misfit lion whose opportunistic desire to advance the status of minorities echoes the way conservatives speak of liberal politicians, when they act as if compassion is merely opportunism.”

Through the course of the article, it appears that Hassler-Forest projects the real world struggles of ‘out groups’ upon the exiled hyenas, as he puts forth that the heroic return of Simba to the throne of Pride Rock actually enforces a fascistic principles of hierarchy:

“But as so often in Hollywood films, the explicit Nazi iconography serves primarily to distract us from the heroes’ own fascism. Simba’s final ascent to the throne, his masculine roar returning Scar’s dystopia to its Edenic natural state, 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. Groups who question this system or rebel against it are presented as genetically inferior and malicious beings who must learn to acknowledge their proper place in the social order. As Matt Roth has written, the movie thereby idolizes bullies by mythologizing the most brutal social principles: “only the strong and the beautiful triumph, and the powerless survive only by serving the strong.”

Curiously, though he appears to sympathize with the plight of the exiled hyenas, Hassler-Forest makes only one reference to Scar, the character actually based on fascists Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, lamenting that “the social outcasts’ rebellion against Mufasa’s autocratic regime is explicitly associated with the imagery of goose-stepping Nazis.” To view Scar and the hyenas, a group who believe they have an almost God-given right to rule the Pride Lands and will even murder children in pursuit of that goal, as the ‘true’ heroes shows a shocking disconnect between Hassler-Forest’s personal political views and the actual plot of the film.

 

 

Go here to read the rest.  Of course this is all quite understandable.  The contemporary Left is authoritarian to its core, so it is quite predictable that Leftists would tend to be confused as to who the real Fascists are in an animated movie, since that is merely reflecting the real life confusion that allows them to support Fascist tactics, street violence, suppressing free speech, etc, with a clear conscience, hilariously in the name of anti-Fascism, never suspecting that they just might be the Fascist baddies with their black costumes, black flags and worship of violence.

 

 

 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 6:32am

You can tell by the fact that Mufasa sounds just like well known German actor James Earl Jones.

Tom Byrne
Tom Byrne
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 8:27am

Real fascists also twist traditional tales to suit their purposes. Watch Disney’s WWII short “Education for Death”: a cartoon summary of a book on Nazi education written by an American teacher in the late 1930s.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 8:30am

The animated Disney film released 25 years ago? The one which includes “Can You Feel the Love” in its soundtrack? You may not be interested in the gleichschaltung, but the gleichschaltung is interested in you. The author of this inane treatment has a post at a Dutch university. As always with higher education, what, pray tell, is it higher than?

Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 9:24am

It is not known as The Washington Compost for nothing. The Compost is one of the most arrogant and at the same time most stupid publication I gave ever read.

T. shaw
T. shaw
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 11:20am

The World already suffered from huge surpluses of idiots. Public education adds to it.

“The word Fascism [racism] has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’.”

Anyhow, If you need to speak with a democrat or anybody 30 years-old or under, it pays to assume, until otherwise proven, that that person is an imbecile. Act accordingly. If you absolutely must, slowly, using monosyllabic words, ask: One, “What facts, data, proof do you have?’ Two, “Compared to what?” Three, “How much will it cost and from whence will the money come?”

OrdinaryCatholic
OrdinaryCatholic
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 11:56am

“The Washington Post, but of course, has published a piece claiming that The Lion King is all about Fascism and White Nationalism:”

Don’t they have anything better to do than watch cartoons all day and then report what they watched as if it were news? I wonder if their circulation shot up with that story.

CAM
CAM
Saturday, July 13, AD 2019 9:39pm

Why am I not surprised about his academic credentials? Hassler-Forest is assistant professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Utrecht University. He publishes widely on media convergence, genre cinema, critical theory, and zombies.

Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, July 14, AD 2019 6:38am

The animated Disney film released 25 years ago? The one which includes “Can You Feel the Love” in its soundtrack?

No, the remake.
Zero interest in watching “live action” remakes of cartoons that aren’t even that old, but I’ve been informed by folks who do think it’s a cool idea that they tried to stay as close as inhumanly possible with the computer generated version.

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Sunday, July 14, AD 2019 11:31am

Has Disney acquired the screen rights to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ouevre yet?

‘Cause you know what the world needs isn’t love, sweet love; it’s cgi cats singing Cats.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Sunday, July 14, AD 2019 11:54am

Hassler-Forest is assistant professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Utrecht University.

I think this sort of thing is taught out of the communications faculty and degrees in it are now as common as degrees in anthropology. (At least in this country). Sigh.

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Sunday, July 14, AD 2019 2:58pm

You just might be a fascist if you don’t believe that that person with a penis showering in a high school girls locker room is actually a girl.

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Sunday, July 14, AD 2019 4:22pm

Except they call themselves anti-fascists. Just as Huey Long predicted they would.

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top