Psychological Debriefing Of The Lion King Film. Personal Development. Masculinity

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

The plot of the film (both film and cartoon) "The Lion King" has a deep metaphorical meaning with psychological overtones and shows the history of the formation of personality and the formation of male identity. Let's do a detailed analysis of the plot.

In fact, the film was shot 20 years after the cartoon was shown. It turns out to be a rather interesting situation - relatively speaking, the fairy tale grows up with us (in childhood we were shown a cartoon, and now - a full-length film).

The whole storyline is permeated with the idea of parent-child relationships and parental care for children. This makes us think that in adulthood we really lack the care of loved ones and we want someone to protect us and guarantee our safety.

At the beginning of the picture, the beautiful and rich life of a family with a child is shown, but already in the first minutes the main conflict of this family system is revealed, which flared up between the two brothers Mufasa, the king of the savannah, and Scar, who dreams of seizing power into his own hands. Scar's role in the conflict can be interpreted as a reflection of the shadow part of the family system or Mufasa's mental life. The main part of the consciousness of the king of the savannah is occupied with power - this is the Ego, which is responsible for making decisions in our life (we will work, do adult actions, clean, listen carefully to the husband or take care of the wife). However, he, like each of us, also has a shadow part, repressed by consciousness and completely denied (fear, guilt, shame for oneself and others, etc.). For example, in real life, these can be scary fantasies that visit us in moments of crises or difficult life situations (“You'd better die!” - about a close and beloved relative).

Many people are afraid of the manifestation of such fantasies, because this is their shadow part of consciousness. In general, these are absolutely normal thoughts, even Z. Freud believed that the psyche is thus unloaded. For example, in a family one of its members is terminally ill, and the other thinks that it would be great not to have a sick person in his life. Another situation - a mother dreamed that her child was dying, waking up in sweat from fear, she was experiencing a strange feeling of tiredness from motherhood, overwork from constant psychological stress, so she had thoughts: “It would be better if you weren't there, it would be much easier for me!.

To voice such a desire aloud is akin to blasphemy, but in the psyche of each of us there is an inner need to escape to a secluded and comfortable place where it will be easier.

How is this situation played out in the picture? There is a beautiful house, life is full of abundance, but there is also a dark spot into which everyone has been unloaded, displacing the most unpleasant and cruel moments of life. The displaced family member (Scar) decides to leave the family system on his own, but there are situations when the family directly stimulates to certain large-scale actions. So, Scar is the dark part of Mufasa's soul (for a deeper understanding of the dark sides of our soul, you can read the book by James Hollis "Why do good people do bad things?"). Both brothers occupy the same position, in other words, are equal in parity.

Time passes, children grow up. Initially, the lion cub obeyed his dad in everything and followed on his heels, but with age he tries to separate from his parents. The first separation in parent-child relationships begins at the age of 3, when the child tries to prove to everyone that he can do something himself. In the film, this behavior is additionally promoted by the flared up internal conflict of Mufasa in the person of his brother Scar (“Show your dad that you are brave, but only the brave and courageous go where you cannot go!”). Growing up, children always go against the prohibitions of their parents, often reflect their shadow parts and show them in their actions. Over time, they will learn to hammer their behavior and not pay attention to it.

Mufasa has absolute power and reckless courage, and the little lion cub tries to ward off this shadowy part of the parent ("I'll do it well too! I'll show you how brave I am!"). According to the plot, he decided to disobey his father and go to a dangerous and forbidden place with his girlfriend the lioness Nala. Scar's idea of getting rid of his hated nephew with the help of a sudden attack of hyenas fails - Mufasa himself comes to the aid of the little lion cubs. A rather interesting moment is also shown here - every child wants to know that he has reliable protection and support in the form of a parent behind his back.

In real life, it is not at all necessary to "run with an open mouth" at all the offenders of your child. For example, a kid is bullied at school by classmates, but this does not mean that the parent needs to go to school and swear with other children, it is important to give the child an inner support that he can rely on in moments of abuse. Sometimes it's enough just to say, “Say like this and do it”).

To learn to growl, the lion cub first observes the father, listens to his roar, and then makes attempts to repeat. So in real life - you can transfer certain character traits to a child by showing them by example.

The next rather interesting moment is Mufasa's educational conversation with Simba ("You endangered not only yourself, do you realize this?"), As a result of which the lion cub obediently agrees that he was wrong, and the lion king then admits his vulnerability to his son ("You you know, for the first time in my life I was terrified that I would lose you. I was very scared ").

Thus, Mufasa tells Simba that everyone has their own feelings, experiences, fears, pain; everyone is afraid of something; the vulnerability of the soul must be; and it’s okay to be imperfect. An adult lion has shown by his own example that he is imperfect, and each of us has every right to be imperfect.

In life, everything happens differently - parents can scold the baby for hours, not realizing that there will be no real benefit from screaming ("How could you even do that? What were you thinking? Why did you do that?"). The child, after an indignant and long tirade, simply huddles somewhere in a corner and dreams that the parent does not raise this topic anymore.

Give children the tools of psychological support, develop internal resources. This is very important for their further development. After the death of Mufasa, Simba suffers from a deep trauma of attachment - he has not yet "eaten" to the full of merging with his father, has not asked much, has not learned more. The separation of the parent and the child occurred too early, the latter was not psychologically ready for this, besides, the lion cub experiences irrational guilt in the form of a Scar. It is always natural for a person to take the blame for some pain caused to another. This is how our psyche works, especially in childhood, when we still do not know what is good and what is bad. In the context of the tragedy played out in the film, it was very important to explain to the lion cub what was happening.

If the parents do not talk with the child about some difficult situations that have occurred in the family (for example, dad died), at a deep unconscious level, he will feel his direct guilt (“It's my fault, I did something wrong, so father died ). In addition, the words of relatives must be confirmed by the attitude - mom, grandmother, grandfather do not broadcast that someone is to blame for this.

We often take on irrational blame, try on feelings of shame, and experience childhood fears. However, a small child, faced with so many complex and contradictory feelings, cannot cope with his emotions and withdraws into himself, trying not to show his vulnerabilities to anyone. After the death of his father, a lion cub has a deep emptiness in his soul - the loss of his father, early separation and the colossal endurance required to maintain self-control eats him from the inside. Desert travel is a metaphor for the emptiness Simba is trying to survive. Timon and Pumbaa help him cope with pain and a state of mental emptiness - friends filled the void with idle pastime and showed that you can live according to completely different principles (“Live without thinking about anything! Life is beautiful!”). In reality, people who are eaten from the inside by a state of mental emptiness are quite often attached to destructive personalities (they periodically go into binge drinking, suffer from eating disorders, sit on some kind of pill).

Why is this happening? Emptiness draws them in like a black hole, they feel spiritual insignificance, and they want to fill this bottomless abyss of blackness. Nevertheless, no matter how hard they try to forget everything, from time to time they will be visited by excruciating melancholy, something very familiar from childhood, but forgotten long ago.

The responses of a childhood traumatic situation in adult life are the trauma funnel action. At such moments melancholy, irrational fear or inexplicable shame wake up, but we push these sensations deep into consciousness (until a crisis occurs - only then a person comes to therapy, deals with all the deepest problems and "puts everything on the shelves."

In any case, the trauma makes itself felt and requires a huge amount of internal energy - in order to survive the emotional shock and force it out of consciousness. At this time, the entire inner rich world of a person is destroyed, turning into a poor one. Metaphorically, when a man (growing up or adult) tries to supplant his belonging, destiny and responsibility, the drought destroys everything in his soul.

If a man is unable to face problems and deal with them, to take responsibility for everything that happens, women, children and the whole world around him suffer greatly. Why? Establishing rules and monitoring their implementation, teaching discipline, arranging everything in a certain order and structuring - this is by default a man's task. If there is no firm male hand, there will be chaos and disorder.

Let's go back to Simba's life. After meeting his new friends, he accidentally meets Nala. A spark flares up between the adult lions. In fact, matured and matured Simba begins to think about his spirituality - “Who am I? Where did I come from and where am I going? What for? . A turning point in the cartoon - looking at his reflection in the river, Simba is surprised to see his father. In the story, the shaman asks the lion to look at the sky, and among the impenetrable clouds he also sees the dear face of Mufasa, whom he has been madly missing all this time.

Then Simba hears important words that any man longs to hear: "My son, I'm proud of you!" The recognition of his father gave the young lion a solid support and became the impetus for him to accept his fate - "I am the son of my father, and I am destined to become a king!" It is at this moment that Simba takes responsibility for his world, for the women and children who remain in it, and shows a willingness to change everything for the better - all the inner parts of his soul (girl and mother, Timon and Pumbaa, etc.) are united into with a united impulse to return the father's house and protect it.

What helped the young lion to deal with the family conflict (in fact, paternal, but in this case, the trauma was passed from father to child) in the form of a Scar? Firstly, the realization of the simple truth - his guilt in the death of the parent is not (understanding this fact allowed Simba to mobilize internal resources and energy). Secondly, the determination and composure of the future king - only possessing these two qualities could one deal with the enemies of the native pride.

So, to summarize - how is male identity formed?

The first step is to understand how much a man looks like his father. First, a person identifies himself through mom and dad, and later begins to perceive his personality. Recognition of a kind and parents in particular, obtaining a return recognition (at least within oneself, if this cannot be done in reality). In the second case, it can be the image of the parent (as in the cartoon), which he managed to leave in the soul of a boy or a growing man, the main thing is that he is stable and safe.

The second stage is to accept yourself and your destiny. Some have dysfunctional families (for example, the father is an alcoholic or drug addict, abandoned the family or beat the mother), but it is important to accept this fact as a given (like something you were born with - for example, with three hands - and you will have to somehow adapt to life). Having accepted ourselves and what is given to us, we can choose further our fate, having previously worked through the mistakes of the parent (emotional, moral and spiritual) - this is how the family system and the world as a whole are arranged. Learn to swim against the tide, take responsibility and face problems without hiding from the complexities.

The third stage is to withstand the emotions of your close woman (girl, mother, sister). If we talk in particular about the mother, for the harmonious development of a man's identity, he must leave his mother for a while (in other words, wander with the world, gain experience and fight for his beliefs). A man must definitely visit a familiar environment of his own kind and learn to compete with the male sex. As a result of this stage, the boy acquires a masculine identity, separates from his mother and thinks completely differently. To understand all the deeper aspects of the formation of male psychology, you can read the book by Robert A. Johnson "He", written in the form of a myth.

Having understood myself and answering the questions “Who am I? Where and where am I going from?”, Each of us can find ourselves and our true path in life, get support. All of us are traumatized in childhood, tormented by immense guilt and burning shame or fear, which are rooted in our family system. This is what prevents us from becoming adults. But there comes a day when everyone is faced with intense desire and excruciating experiences (such as love or severe crises that trigger earlier trauma). Knowing who we are

are in reality, we can meet one on one with our demons and, having gained the upper hand over them, become truly strong and independent personalities and learn to resist the entire Universe (after all, this is the only way to realize that the Universe is not going to crush us, and with it you can live in peace and complete harmony).