Labib Mahmud
How The Lion King Scarred me
Introduction
I really thought my father would never make it back home. I was 5 years old, less than 2 months fresh in a country that was halfway across the world from the only place I knew as home. I was always in fear; everything I had ever known, everyone I had ever loved, and the only language I spoke, all were now 8000 miles away. Looking back on that one night, I felt so hopeless at the time, I felt so small and vulnerable. What’s funny is that reflecting on it now, I don’t blame myself at all; I was small, I was vulnerable, and I had every right to be completely petrified. There I was, a helpless child who was freshly traumatized. If I was in anyone’s body but mine, I would feel bad for myself, but I don’t. I learned so much from that one night of just crying to myself, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
Transition
This deep fear and paranoia was caused by one of the most famous children’s movies of all time; the Lion King, a movie that still gives me the shivers.
Abstract
This whole semester I’ve been reflecting on The Lion King, and the effects it has had on my childhood. I moved to the United States when I was 5 years old. Me, my parents, and my older sister came with nothing but 2 thousand dollars to our name. We stayed in my cousin’s house: a one bedroom, one bathroom, 750 square foot apartment that was now shared by 8 people. Being in such a closed environment, I would often spend my nights watching movies with my sister and my two cousins. This was where I first saw the Lion King. The Lion King is a movie based off of a young cub, Simba, who grows up and avenges his father’s death from the hands of his uncle. The movie revolves around patience, friendship, and the circles of life: the idea that everything will always fall back into place. What made the Lion King so significant for me was the death of the father figure. That same night I saw the movie, I stayed awake crying to myself, praying that my father would make it home that night. My father worked two full-time jobs at the time and it was typical for him to get home very late, but after watching the Lion King, my irrationality and paranoia took over and made me fear the worst for my father. Although he came home perfectly fine that night and everything ended up being okay, I’ve always wondered how I would’ve ended up if he never came home that night. I decided to focus my research on one question; what effects do low father involvement rates have on the development of a child. I found that although the answer differs from culture to culture and generation to generation, children who grow up without an emotionally present father figure end up engaging in more risky activities, many of which lead directly to them flunking school and developing bad characteristic traits, such as anger issues and a lack of empathy. Although there are numerous significant outliers for this conclusion, I’m happy to realize that even as a five-year-old, just knowing my father was a good man was enough to fill the gap of emotional presence all fathers should take the responsibility of taking care of.
Powerpoint Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gp2h2ePeR7DapWReS5mEdzHMLTaczO-y5Gxy_GIX_0I/edit?usp=sharing