FOR ‘90s kids who spent their diaper days watching and re-watching their VHS tape of Disney’s The Lion King (1994) animated movie, the live action remake that came out this year was probably something they’ve been looking out for.
Leaving the movie reviews and opinions to the experts, I’d like to focus more on what actually piqued my interest after watching the movie as an adult.
Beyond the actual plot, I found the social dynamics going on in the Pride Lands—particularly Pride Rock—pretty interesting. And because of this, I ended up reading up on the lion pride and its social structure.
Right now you’re probably thinking: “Way to go, girl! Thanks for making something in the entertainment industry boring.” But hear me out—how a lion pride works is actually super interesting. Fair warning though, it’s a little glass-shattering and almost as feminist as the “Gazorpazorp” episode in Rick and Morty.
What Happens at Pride Rock
For those—like me—who didn’t know, lion prides vary in size. An average pride has up to two or three male lions and a dozen female lions (cubs included). Males typically stay in the pride until they’re about three years old then they have to wander around and live the nomadic life until they’re strong enough to either make their own pride or take over the pride of another. Otherwise, they’re just nomads with no offspring because the fertile females usually belong to a pride already.
You can see this sort of dynamic in The Lion King when Simba left the Pride Lands to the land of “Hakuna Matata.” In the movie, he left to run away from his shame. But technically, it was a more sped-up (and sugar coated) process of what male lions naturally go through.
On the other hand, female lions make up the core of the group and usually stay in that same pride from birth until death—unless they get booted out due to factors like overpopulation or the inability to hunt.
Notice the almost-permanence of Nala, Sarabi (Simba’s mother), Sarafina (Nala’s mother) and the other lionesses. They stuck together on pride rock when Mufasa was king and they did the same when Scar was king, even when they weren’t happy with the leadership.
Funnily enough, this goes to show that Mufasa was right. The alpha male or lion king’s time as ruler does rise and fall like the sun—once males aren’t fit for the pride, or stronger males come along, they get the boot.
“While others search for what they can take, a true king searches for what he can give.” - Mufasa, The Lion King (2019)
In this case, if a lion has nothing to give, another with more to offer will come along and probably take the pride from him. This proves that, in reality, there is probably no true king of a lion pride—only true queens. Talk about girl power! (Insert queen emoji here.)
Looking at the bigger picture, females might still be finding themselves raging war against the patriarchy (or, at least, fighting for equality) in a lot of societies today. But, with this in mind, perhaps they can find comfort in knowing that lion prides exist and are keeping that whole “delicate balance” Mufasa was talking about by functioning matriarchally, in some way.
I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar
Hopefully, women around the world can take this as a source of inspiration to bring each other up instead of trying to compete with each other and tear each other down. Stand by each other, sisters, because looking out for one another—just like a lion pride—is definitely something we can all be proud of!