REEL PAPER
This project was really interesting to me. I love watching movies and usually it is just a passive process. Now that I have taken communication, and learned about all the ways that people communicate I see different communication theories all the time in movies, and TV shows. Communication is all around us and happens without us even thinking about it. Below is the paper I wrote about the Symbolic Interaction Theory and Disney's "The Lion King." I probably could have picked just about any theory, for any movie and it would have been just as easy and fun to write.
The Lion King and Symbolic Interaction Theory
“Never judge a book by its cover,” is a common adage you hear today. That relates to the Symbolic Interaction Theory, because “we, as a people, are motivated to act based on the meanings they assign to people, things, and events. These meanings are created in the language that people use both in communicating with others and in self-talk, or their own private thoughts. Language allows people to develop a sense of self and to interact with others in the community.” In Disney’s “The Lion King” the Symbolic Interaction Theory is extremely prevalent throughout the movie, which is one of the reasons I chose it. In the movie, Simba must battle to become who he must be, with many obstacles and trials put in his path. He and his new friends must struggle so that Simba can follow the path that has been laid out for him by his lineage.
“The Lion King” was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, in 1994 and is a Disney classic. Like all Disney movies, “The Lion Kings” message that I believe Allers and Minkoff were trying to portray is that we all have a path in life, no matter how trouble or littered it is with challenges and we need to be willing to face our past to live up to our full potential of the future and our path in life. I also believe that they were trying to show just how important good friends can be. I do not think that when the show was produced, the directors were thinking of Symbolic Interaction Theory, because it is something that happens throughout someone’s lifetime and it is something that they begin to learn by being around others.
In the beginning of the film, Scar has convinced Simba that he murdered his father and that he must run away and never return. This is something that Simba believes and believes that even though he is the heir to Pride Rock, he made an unforgivable mistake and that he would be unable to fulfill his duties as the King. This supports the idea of the relationship between people and groups that are influenced by cultural and social processes. Social norms constrain individuals’ behavior. Simba was always suppose to be King because of the blood line he was born into, but Scar convinced him that having committed “murder” made it so that he could not be king. Another scene from the movie that makes it seem like Simba could not be king was his lack of a roar. In society, it is understood that to be tough and able to do hard things you must be able to ROAR, not just MEOW. Scar and the hyenas pointed out to Simba that he needed to work on his roar is he ever wanted to become king.
Simba’s sense of self was lacking when his father died. He seemed to no longer know nor believe in himself or what others thought him to be. After Simba had run away and denounced himself as king of Pride Rick, he meets Timon and Pumbaa. He “grows up” with them until one day Pumbaa gets chased by a lioness. The lioness happens to turn out to be Nola, Simba’s childhood friend. Nola tell him of the horrible conditions of Pride Rock, and that he must come back and take his rightful place as king. This turned out to be a Pygmalion effect, where Simba was trying to live up to or down to another’s expectations of him. The lioness’ and Mufasa all believed that Simba would be the next king of Pride Rock, not Scar. When the lionesses found out that Simba was still alive, they knew that he must take his rightful place as King.
Timon and Pumbaa were part of role taking, where they put themselves in another’s place. Timon said, “If it is important to you we are with you until the end. “ They put themselves in harms ways of the hyenas and did a hula, so that Nola and Simba could get by and help rescue the lionesses of Pride Rock and take Scar off the throne.
Where Simba lost himself, Rafiki stepped in and he asked Simba, “The question is, ‘who are you?” Simbas reply was, “I thought I knew, but now I am not sure.” He did not have a sense of self, or who he was until Rafiki told him that with regards to the past, “The past can hurt you, but you can either run from it or learn from it.” It helped Simba remember who he was, who his father believed he could be and, who he should be.
To introduced the theory’s author we must also state that he was the man who also lectured on the topic; George Herbert Mead. Mead was born in Massachusetts in 1863. He attended Oberlin College in 1879 at the age of sixteen and graduated four years later with a Bachelors Degree. He transferred to Harvard to obtain his Masters Degree in Philosophy. In 1888, he moved to Germany to obtain his Ph.D. but he never did complete it, because he was offered a job at the University of Michigan in Philosophy and Psychology. This is where Mead met his lifelong friend, John Dewey. Dewey ended up moving to and founding the University of Chicago’s Philosophy department. Dewey said that he would only take the position if Mead was offered a position as well. It is said that Meads’ most substantial contributions to social psychology and philosophy was the Symbolic Interaction Theory. George Mead died in Chicago as a full profession in 1931. Meads Theory attempted to explain how, “The human self arises in the process of social interaction.” Although mead did not publish much during his academic career, his students compiled notes and lectures for a book titled, “Mind, Self and Society.”
Symbolic Interaction Theory and how it relates to “The Lion King” is simple. Simba had to become who he was based on the people or animals he knew and had to talk to. Each of his experiences and conversations ended up making him the leader and King of Pride Rock that he was.
In the end, my findings revealed to me that communication is everywhere. I essentially picked the movie first and then found a theory that went along with it. I could have picked almost any movie and any theory that we have gone over this semester and it would have fit and worked. Humans use communication, even when they do not think they are; that is something that changed my perspective on communication. I noticed that positive and negative effects that communication now has on everyday life. In “The Lion King” Timon and Pumbaa say, “Hakuna Matata” meaning no worries, we all need to live with Hakuna Matata and continue to improve our communication skills.
Works Cited
1. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/mead/
2. The lion king [Motion picture]. (1994).
3. The Lion King. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/
4. The Lion King. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King
West, R., & Turner, L. (2010). Introducting Communication Theory analysis and Application (Fourth ed., p. 533). New York, New York: Frank Mortimer, Mc
“Never judge a book by its cover,” is a common adage you hear today. That relates to the Symbolic Interaction Theory, because “we, as a people, are motivated to act based on the meanings they assign to people, things, and events. These meanings are created in the language that people use both in communicating with others and in self-talk, or their own private thoughts. Language allows people to develop a sense of self and to interact with others in the community.” In Disney’s “The Lion King” the Symbolic Interaction Theory is extremely prevalent throughout the movie, which is one of the reasons I chose it. In the movie, Simba must battle to become who he must be, with many obstacles and trials put in his path. He and his new friends must struggle so that Simba can follow the path that has been laid out for him by his lineage.
“The Lion King” was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, in 1994 and is a Disney classic. Like all Disney movies, “The Lion Kings” message that I believe Allers and Minkoff were trying to portray is that we all have a path in life, no matter how trouble or littered it is with challenges and we need to be willing to face our past to live up to our full potential of the future and our path in life. I also believe that they were trying to show just how important good friends can be. I do not think that when the show was produced, the directors were thinking of Symbolic Interaction Theory, because it is something that happens throughout someone’s lifetime and it is something that they begin to learn by being around others.
In the beginning of the film, Scar has convinced Simba that he murdered his father and that he must run away and never return. This is something that Simba believes and believes that even though he is the heir to Pride Rock, he made an unforgivable mistake and that he would be unable to fulfill his duties as the King. This supports the idea of the relationship between people and groups that are influenced by cultural and social processes. Social norms constrain individuals’ behavior. Simba was always suppose to be King because of the blood line he was born into, but Scar convinced him that having committed “murder” made it so that he could not be king. Another scene from the movie that makes it seem like Simba could not be king was his lack of a roar. In society, it is understood that to be tough and able to do hard things you must be able to ROAR, not just MEOW. Scar and the hyenas pointed out to Simba that he needed to work on his roar is he ever wanted to become king.
Simba’s sense of self was lacking when his father died. He seemed to no longer know nor believe in himself or what others thought him to be. After Simba had run away and denounced himself as king of Pride Rick, he meets Timon and Pumbaa. He “grows up” with them until one day Pumbaa gets chased by a lioness. The lioness happens to turn out to be Nola, Simba’s childhood friend. Nola tell him of the horrible conditions of Pride Rock, and that he must come back and take his rightful place as king. This turned out to be a Pygmalion effect, where Simba was trying to live up to or down to another’s expectations of him. The lioness’ and Mufasa all believed that Simba would be the next king of Pride Rock, not Scar. When the lionesses found out that Simba was still alive, they knew that he must take his rightful place as King.
Timon and Pumbaa were part of role taking, where they put themselves in another’s place. Timon said, “If it is important to you we are with you until the end. “ They put themselves in harms ways of the hyenas and did a hula, so that Nola and Simba could get by and help rescue the lionesses of Pride Rock and take Scar off the throne.
Where Simba lost himself, Rafiki stepped in and he asked Simba, “The question is, ‘who are you?” Simbas reply was, “I thought I knew, but now I am not sure.” He did not have a sense of self, or who he was until Rafiki told him that with regards to the past, “The past can hurt you, but you can either run from it or learn from it.” It helped Simba remember who he was, who his father believed he could be and, who he should be.
To introduced the theory’s author we must also state that he was the man who also lectured on the topic; George Herbert Mead. Mead was born in Massachusetts in 1863. He attended Oberlin College in 1879 at the age of sixteen and graduated four years later with a Bachelors Degree. He transferred to Harvard to obtain his Masters Degree in Philosophy. In 1888, he moved to Germany to obtain his Ph.D. but he never did complete it, because he was offered a job at the University of Michigan in Philosophy and Psychology. This is where Mead met his lifelong friend, John Dewey. Dewey ended up moving to and founding the University of Chicago’s Philosophy department. Dewey said that he would only take the position if Mead was offered a position as well. It is said that Meads’ most substantial contributions to social psychology and philosophy was the Symbolic Interaction Theory. George Mead died in Chicago as a full profession in 1931. Meads Theory attempted to explain how, “The human self arises in the process of social interaction.” Although mead did not publish much during his academic career, his students compiled notes and lectures for a book titled, “Mind, Self and Society.”
Symbolic Interaction Theory and how it relates to “The Lion King” is simple. Simba had to become who he was based on the people or animals he knew and had to talk to. Each of his experiences and conversations ended up making him the leader and King of Pride Rock that he was.
In the end, my findings revealed to me that communication is everywhere. I essentially picked the movie first and then found a theory that went along with it. I could have picked almost any movie and any theory that we have gone over this semester and it would have fit and worked. Humans use communication, even when they do not think they are; that is something that changed my perspective on communication. I noticed that positive and negative effects that communication now has on everyday life. In “The Lion King” Timon and Pumbaa say, “Hakuna Matata” meaning no worries, we all need to live with Hakuna Matata and continue to improve our communication skills.
Works Cited
1. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/mead/
2. The lion king [Motion picture]. (1994).
3. The Lion King. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/
4. The Lion King. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King
West, R., & Turner, L. (2010). Introducting Communication Theory analysis and Application (Fourth ed., p. 533). New York, New York: Frank Mortimer, Mc