In the midst of writing my own summary and response essay, I have a newfound appreciation for John Morton and his ability to generate a thought provoking academic "conversation" in his summary and response essay, "Simba's Revolution: Revisiting History and Class in The Lion King." Most broadly, Morton's essay is a direct response to Robert Gooding-Williams' essay, "Disney in Africa and the Inner City: on Race and Space in The Lion King." In his original piece, Gooding-Williams made several argumentative points, including the notion that Disney's Africa in the Lion King is without history until Scar's revolution as well as the claim that the inclusion of the hyenas in the film signifies social inequality.
In my opinion, Morton successfully takes these questionable claims and not only qualifies but expands upon them, as a summary and response essay is supposed to do. By including a mixture of agreeing and then expanding and also disagreeing with Gooding-Williams throughout his essay, Morton establishes a balanced tone that is effective at preventing the reading from feeling lost or overwhelmed by bias.
In direct response to Gooding-Williams' claim that Disney's version of Africa, with its "Circle of Life" anthem, is completely lacking history, Morton points out the fact that even after Scar's revolution, Africa still remains a place that lacks history. Instead of being an oasis, Pride Rock transforms into a wasteland, or in other words a place living in "The Circle of Death."
I especially enjoyed Morton's point that instead of analyzing the struggle between Simba and Scar/the Hyenas in racial terms, he suggests that the struggle may just represent the eternal power struggle between classic symbols of good and evil. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Morton's writing that expanded upon many of Gooding-Williams' arguments in respectful but effective ways, and ultimately adds many good points to the ongoing literary academic conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment