When does a boy become a man?

When does a boy become a man?

“A Simba Perspective”

By Qaadir Morris

Have you ever seen the Lion King? As a child my brother loved to watch that movie and he would watch it over and over again. I loved the way that the character of Simba evolved. He went from a curious cub, to easy going teen, to finally the Lion King. That’s pretty cool if I must say so myself, but before Simba could become the Lion King he had to go through a lot of hardships. If you recall the story you can recall that Scar implanted the seed of guilt in the mind of Simba, causing Simba to believe that he was the reason for the death of Mufassa. He was supposed to never return. He was supposed to be killed by the hyenas. He was supposed to disappear so that Scar could rule the land and finally become the all mighty king. Scar wanted to be the man or I guess in this case”the lion”.   As I recall the movie Lion King it led me to ask the question: When does a boy become a man? Thanks Simba for the motivation.

Initially Simba wanted to be king for selfish reasons. He didn’t care about being just and being strong for his people, he cared about being able to do whatever he wanted without restrictions. So many of us young men share ties to the character. We all crave power, yet we know not what to do with it once we obtain it. We crave the ability to do what we want and to be on top of people that we tend to forget about the other million or so people in the world. If you can recall the lead song from the movie Lion King “I just can’t wait to be king” Simba never talked about being diplomatic. He talked about being the “man”. Simba’s idea of being the man is comparable to what a lot of us in the real world think make us men. We think that our position in life determines our manhood, and that men are defined by their ability to be strong and their ability to conquer.

Sometimes in life we as young men must be humbled by our situation to appreciate our potential destination. In the movie Lion King Simba ran away as Scar instructed. He found two partners in a meerkat and a warthog. Timon and Pumba could be the grown men who race off into obscurity to escape the pressures of the real world. These two created a pseudo reality for themselves. I think a lot of us in the real world tend to subliminally internalize the phrase “Akuna Matata”. As the song says “it means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s our problem free philosophy. It’s simply Akuna Matata. How many people do you know who act as if they don’t have a care for the world? They could care less about being responsible. They could care less about being anything. They just wake up everyday to the same routine. “Chillin”. In the movie Timon, Pumba, and Simba just chilled. Constant coolin as they ate bugs, looked at the stars, sung songs and lived everyday on cloud nine. Simba at that point of the story didn’t even think about his past. Why go back to that when you can just chill and live an average life with no worries. To bring it back home so many people would rather chill and let their true potential lay dormant. Why strive to be great when you can live a care free life where responsibility does not exist. Why not embrace “Akuna Matata.”

Sometimes we as young men need wake up calls. In the movie Lion King, Nala was Simba’s wake up call. A dose of reality to awaken him from his slumber was all that the young Simba needed. Nala knew the true potential that lay in Simba. She knew the lineage that he came from, yet Simba still tried to run far from his destiny. How many people do you know that have all the potential in the world to do something productive, yet even through all your motivational tactics they still can’t see the bigger picture? I know so many people who could have been, who should have been, or would have been if they only would have awaken from their sleep. You can walk around all day in the land of the living and still be sleeping. Simba was sleeping, as a lot of my peers, and some of yours are. Rafiki showed SImba what he needed to see. It wasn’t Mufassa that he showed him, but it was himself. To bring it back home until you look deep down in yourself you can never fully become a man.

In order to become a man or in Simba’s case a Lion one must accept who you are. You have to embrace that ideal, and not run away from it. The more you continue to run the more you continue to stay in limbo. Simba after accepting who he is went back to Pride Rock. He faced his demons, and though he may have been nervous he did what he had to do. Once we as young men face our fears, and stand firm in our belief that we can succeed the sky at that point is the limit. By facing Scar and proving to himself that he really was worthy Simba became what he was destined to be; “The Lion King”

The story of the Lion King I feel applies to real life. I believe that to a certain degree we as boys share some of the same characteristics of a young Simba. We are trying to find our niche. We are experimenting. We can be pompous at times, and we seldom listen to the advice of others. It’s sad to think that until we are faced with a situation we then truly begin to open our eyes and see the bigger picture. In the case of Simba he lost his father, but luckily he was able to get back on track. The journey they say is more rewarding than getting to the destination, to overcome and to persevere is a great strength that lies in each and every one of us. As a writer I know that I am still evolving, and as a young man I know that I still have room for growth. I know that there will be trials and tribulations, and I know that how I handle them will determine how far I can go, so with that being said I conclude by quoting the infamous song that was mentioned a little earlier; “OH I JUST CANT WAIT TO BE KING”.

Qaadir Morris