'The Lion King' and OWS: Occupy Everything the Light Touches

This week I saw “The Lion King” for the first time in a long time. For about 90 minutes, I became a child again. When it came out in 1994, I saw it in the theater as a boy; I was 9 years old. After its release on video, I’d owned it on VHS for years after that. In college, we watched it at a friend’s house once in the spirit of a trip down memory lane.

But this time was different. I understood what lessons it has to offer for the first time. Sure, I’d known about the mantras of “be true to yourself,” “leave the past behind you,” the similarities to Hamlet, as well as the lessons of responsibility that have become a Hollywood staple. Even when I was young, I was able to understand the depletion of resources as a result of giving everything to everyone. After all, one of Mufasa’s lessons is that everything in life has a balance. What I believed, and still believe, is that you only get out of life what you put into it. More on that in a minute …

I couldn’t help but compare the theme of the Haves versus the Have Nots to the current hyenas on Wall Street demanding their fair share. Okay, that’s unfair to actual hyenas.

But it’s a good representation of the socialistic nature knocking on America’s door. There are people who have, and people who have not, in this world – and the point is life is this way. This is where Mufasa’s balance comes into play. Life is a cycle of what one has to offer; you don’t receive anything if you offer nothing. The protesters cannot understand this. They want something for nothing.

Apparently the ones behind the protest took a page out of the book according to Scar yet forgot what happened in the second half of the movie. “Stick with me, and you’ll never go hungry again!” In the end, it was an empty prophecy. Once all resources are used freely by everyone, guess what? No more resources. The same is true for some of the demands of our neighborly protestors. We cannot legislate the poor into wealth without legislating the rich out of it. By the time the antagonists have their way, everything the light touches has been destroyed, and the takers have come to the point of forcing the lions (that would be the evil rich in this metaphor) to do their hunting for them.

Sound familiar? Maybe Disney should’ve started “Be Prepared” with “Mic Check!”

The point in the movie and real life is stated at the beginning of the film – defining the balance in the circle of life – that everyone has their part. After living off the land and accepting zero responsibility, even a Lion King realized life is no Hakuna Matata.