Analyzing The Lion King Through a Marxist lens and a Feminist lens, we can be enlightened and critical of a major film of our childhood—a film that conditions/forces Americans to think certain things/ways, right?
Lion King under a Marxist and Feminist Lens
Lion King voices Three hyenas = three subjugated populations: Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi, Black woman Cheech Marin as Banzai, Hispanic man Jim Cummings is the voice of Ed, the “insane man”
James Earl Jones is Mufasa, though… Mufasa is supposed to be the white, big, strong, studly, cool, jock-like, brawn-over-brains, capitalistic leader. A critic would “get around” Jones’s blackness by saying that “Jones sounds ‘white’ though” according to what American society has deemed “white-sounding.” This is said often about President Obama. (white = smart)