My Side of the Story:
Scar as Outcast
The steady hum of rain hammered the Pride Lands; thunder’s roar occasionally pierced the sky. Dark rain clouds blocked the light, uniformly shrouding a cave high above the trees where a young, dark lion lay alone. A prepared den laid towards the sealed back end of the cave: dried leaves were meticulously arranged in a circular fashion to allow for comfortable sleep. Its normal inhabitant had left hours ago; the patriarch and his royal attendant were en route to the hyenas’ abode to establish a treaty. Using his authority, the patriarch would banish the accursed hyenas further away from the Pride Lands. At the sudden onset of the storm, Scar was separated from his brother Mufasa and his mother. Scar, who had already started towards the cave, gingerly made his way to the cave while altering his balance between his front two paws. Having arrived at the cave, he entered, crawled forward, and collapsed only a few meters from the entrance. Scar’s eyes abruptly opened. He scanned the moist yet rough walls slowly then gazed out of the cavern entrance towards the dark sky. The incessant dripping became static as hours passed. Separation had happened an indeterminate amount of time ago – it became amorphous yet banal.
The steady hum of rain hammered the Pride Lands; thunder’s roar occasionally pierced the sky. Dark rain clouds blocked the light, uniformly shrouding a cave high above the trees where a young, dark lion lay alone. A prepared den laid towards the sealed back end of the cave: dried leaves were meticulously arranged in a circular fashion to allow for comfortable sleep. Its normal inhabitant had left hours ago; the patriarch and his royal attendant were en route to the hyenas’ abode to establish a treaty. Using his authority, the patriarch would banish the accursed hyenas further away from the Pride Lands. At the sudden onset of the storm, Scar was separated from his brother Mufasa and his mother. Scar, who had already started towards the cave, gingerly made his way to the cave while altering his balance between his front two paws. Having arrived at the cave, he entered, crawled forward, and collapsed only a few meters from the entrance. Scar’s eyes abruptly opened. He scanned the moist yet rough walls slowly then gazed out of the cavern entrance towards the dark sky. The incessant dripping became static as hours passed. Separation had happened an indeterminate amount of time ago – it became amorphous yet banal.
He paced back and forth for a few steps
before grimacing and lying down again. His eyelids closed again, ushering in
another spell of rest. After an apparent
eternity, his mom and brother finally returned.
Joined by his mother and brother, Scar
was no longer alone, at least for today. Scar asked in a disquieted tone, “What
took so long?” His mother responded, “I am glad that you are safe and well. Mud
slowed us down to the point that we had to find another way. We also had to
avoid getting struck by lightning.” Mufasa chimed in, “Glad you came back here,
given your frail body.” Scar flashed a discomforted face briefly but returned
to a neutral expression before anyone noticed.
A few days prior, Mufasa and Scar had
been playing in the savannah amongst the other orderly citizens of the animal
kingdom led by the lion patriarch. They wandered through the grass, impeded by
swathes of vegetation. Leaping forward, Scar tried to pin a mouse down; instead
he landed squarely on the ground where it had been moments before. Mufasa, who
had feinted to the left, kicked his legs off the ground, letting his momentum
carry him towards the mouse. Seconds later, it was in his paw; he ate it
without a second thought. Though Scar frowned, this emotion was entirely lost
on Mufasa who was quite proud of his very first unassisted kill. Mufasa gloated, “Look at that glorious kill!
My very first one!” Scar responded in a subdued tone, “Yes, yes. Nice job,
brother.” On the way back home, Mufasa repeatedly described the flawless
mechanics of his surprise attack on the mouse. Scar kept quiet, though he did
keep his head raised. They arrived home. Mufasa walked excitedly towards his
father and eagerly informed him of what had happened, earning praise. The
patriarch spoke of the long-deceased kings of old embodied as stars who watch
over the kingdom; he speaks to Mufasa about how all living creatures are
related in the circle of life. The devoured mouse was a part of the same nature
as the lions. Hearing this, Scar – who had moved further back to be with his
mother – furtively smirked. Mice who were eaten and other animals were part of
the animal kingdom but not the hyenas. The
hyenas were outcasts, pushed further from the brilliant Pride Lands into the
darker neighboring lands. Scar had never met one.
Another eternity passed as they waited
in near-silence for their father’s triumphant return from creating a diplomatic
solution with the hyenas. A large shadow appeared at the mouth of the cavern:
he had returned. A stern expression on his face, the patriarch iterated,
“Hyenas are cowardly and stupid. They are dopey-eyed and lack morality. They
only succeed when they work together and even then—“ Scar interjected, “And
what happened?” The lion king continued, “I have protected the sanctity of the
Pride Lands by pushing the hyena territory back in exchange for not wiping them
out. Our kingdom of light remains safe from their manipulative, evil ambitions.
Leaving here can only mean certain doom. We have everything we want here. Why
would we ever leave?” Having finished his passionate speech, the patriarch took
a deep breath and fell into silence. Scar, who had been intently listening,
raised his head but kept his eyes locked onto his father. Mufasa turned his
head away following the end of the speech. None of the four lions looked at
each other; instead they gazed at different parts of the ceiling.
The next day, while his mother and
brother were lounging about in the grass and his father was meeting someone
important, Scar snuck out. While he did not know the specific path to follow,
he knew the general location: beyond the boundary between light and darkness
during mid-day. Rocks became more jagged and spire-like. Brown steadily drained
into black. Color faded altogether. Darkness hovered closer as if the light was
unwilling to advance along with Scar. Quick footsteps suddenly reverberated
through the dismal space, reminding Scar to find shelter. He dodged behind a
tall rock and listened very closely. The footsteps increased in volume and then
dropped again. Scar glimpsed at the feet’s owner from the side of the rock: a
wide-eyed male hyena was trying to figure something out. He laughed multiple
times and kept walking back and forth in the same place as if he had no idea
what he was doing. Scar withdrew into the safety of the rock; instead of a
down-oriented gaze, he smirked. The footsteps reverberated more and more softly
until even the echo’s echo had faded. Scar confirmed that the hyena had left before
letting out a contemptuous laugh.
Scar heard an angry whisper and looked
behind him. He saw the owner: the lion king. Scar’s face fell as his father
harshly criticized his egress from the brilliant animal kingdom. Once they had
crossed over into the Pride Lands, they fell into silence. As they ascended the
path leading to the cave, the lion king sternly said, “An irresponsible lion
like you cannot become king. Especially not one brazen enough to go enter the
domain of hyenas in such a curious manner. The dark lands are a place that
should only be visited when one is strong enough to keep the hyenas in check. I
have decided that I want Mufasa to be king instead, even if you could
technically become king too.” Scar responded, “But I – I want to be king and
rule the kingdom!” His father rebuked, “But you have betrayed my trust. I
cannot forgive this. I and Mufasa will keep a closer eye on you to prevent you
from ever repeating this mistake.” Scar stared furiously at the ground as he
entered the cave; he did not say anything.
Reflection
Scar from Disney’s The Lion King is interesting because he conveys so many potential deviations from the typical Disney protagonist who is shown as fair-skinned, often male, and usually able-bodied and straight. Scar’s feminine flipping of his hair suggests that he is perhaps gay. We learn another interesting detail about Scar from one of his exchanges with Mufasa after the presentation of Simba. Scar explicitly describes his strength as sub-par compared to the other male lions. In other words, Scar is not perfectly able-bodied. In writing this narrative, I wanted to extend Scar’s physical weakness into his childhood. I made Scar a frail child to explore this notion of ability though adult Scar is significantly stronger. His conventional masculinity is thwarted by this weakness because he is not as capable a hunter or fighter as Mufasa. I tried to symbolize Scar’s alternative gender expression with his difficulty in capturing a mouse when Mufasa succeeded. Simultaneously, I wanted to explore the general idea of being “Other,” which means falling out of the normed state of being white, male, able-bodied, and straight. Throughout large parts of the story, Scar is forced to be in isolation, no matter how many people are around him. Failing the constructed norm can be isolating and difficult to cope with; as a result, I wanted to show what being Other might do to Scar. The hyenas are also outcasts, which draws Scar to them, though he does project his negative views onto them. These views come directly from Mufasa and Scar’s father extensively censuring the hyenas’ behavior. Although Scar does manipulate the hyenas, he clearly relates to them, at least enough to visit them multiple times throughout the film. Scar’s treatment of the hyenas noticeably changes after he becomes King of Pride Rock; during his reign he lets everyone, even the hyenas who had supported him, starve. I believe that Scar became power-hungry in order to compensate for his isolation, rather than being an inherently bad person. In writing this story, I wanted to suggest how Scar became someone who stands out from the socially constructed norm – in short, a typical Disney villain.
Scar from Disney’s The Lion King is interesting because he conveys so many potential deviations from the typical Disney protagonist who is shown as fair-skinned, often male, and usually able-bodied and straight. Scar’s feminine flipping of his hair suggests that he is perhaps gay. We learn another interesting detail about Scar from one of his exchanges with Mufasa after the presentation of Simba. Scar explicitly describes his strength as sub-par compared to the other male lions. In other words, Scar is not perfectly able-bodied. In writing this narrative, I wanted to extend Scar’s physical weakness into his childhood. I made Scar a frail child to explore this notion of ability though adult Scar is significantly stronger. His conventional masculinity is thwarted by this weakness because he is not as capable a hunter or fighter as Mufasa. I tried to symbolize Scar’s alternative gender expression with his difficulty in capturing a mouse when Mufasa succeeded. Simultaneously, I wanted to explore the general idea of being “Other,” which means falling out of the normed state of being white, male, able-bodied, and straight. Throughout large parts of the story, Scar is forced to be in isolation, no matter how many people are around him. Failing the constructed norm can be isolating and difficult to cope with; as a result, I wanted to show what being Other might do to Scar. The hyenas are also outcasts, which draws Scar to them, though he does project his negative views onto them. These views come directly from Mufasa and Scar’s father extensively censuring the hyenas’ behavior. Although Scar does manipulate the hyenas, he clearly relates to them, at least enough to visit them multiple times throughout the film. Scar’s treatment of the hyenas noticeably changes after he becomes King of Pride Rock; during his reign he lets everyone, even the hyenas who had supported him, starve. I believe that Scar became power-hungry in order to compensate for his isolation, rather than being an inherently bad person. In writing this story, I wanted to suggest how Scar became someone who stands out from the socially constructed norm – in short, a typical Disney villain.
Works
Cited
The Lion King.
Dir. Roger Allens and Rob Minkoff. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994. Film.
Byrne,
Eleanor, and Martin McMillan. Deconstructing Disney. London: Pluto
Press, 1999.
Print.
Lippi-Green,
Rosina. English with an Accent: Language,
ideology, and discrimination in the
United
States. New York: Routledge, 1997. Print.
