Lucla Cabrera

11C2 !uly 2010

1

PSYCB0L0uY ASSIuNNENT II
Tbe lion Kinq

1he movle l declded Lo waLch whlch deplcLs dlfferenL aspecLs of adolescence ls `1he Llon
klng (1994)
Cne of Lhe flrsL characLerlsLlc of adolescence porLrayed on Lhe fllm and one of Lhe clearesL
ones ls when Slmba breaks Lhe rules hls faLher seL regardlng vlslLlng an elephanL graveyard
Mufasa clearly Lells hlm he ls noL allowed Lo go beyond Lhe borders of Lhe rldelands because
of Lhe posslble dangers he may flnd neverLheless Slmba and nala go Lo Lhe graveyard knowlng
Lhey are breaklng Lhe rules
No/o lts teolly cteepy
5imbo eoblsot lt qteot?
No/o we coolJ qet lo blq ttooble
5imbo l koow
dolescenLs usually go Lhrough a phase ln whlch Lhey re[ecL whaL ls lmposed on Lhem and
aLLempL Lo empower Lhemselves MosL of Lhe Llmes Lhey feel LhaL parenLs are belng over
proLecLlve 1he adolescenL may Lry Lo be dlfferenL from Lhe malnsLream and show LhaL
Lhey are dlfferenL from Lhe resL lL ls posslble LhaL Leenagers Lry Lo challenge adulLs and
auLhorlLy ln general so as Lo be accepLed ln Lhelr cllques as well as provlng LhaL Lhey can
manage on Lhelr own and LhaL Lhey are maLure enough 1hey Lry Lo esLabllsh a personallLy
dlfferenL from Lhelr parenLs as well as Lhe dlfference of generaLlons
ln Lhe flrsL half of Lhe movle we see Slmba as a cub as Llme goes by he grows up Lo become a
llon noL only he changes ln slze buL also hls volce changes (and hls roar) and he grows a
mane nala hls chlldhood frlend changes as well ln slze and her volce
s SanLrock descrlbes adolescence ls Lhe Llme when puberLy Lakes place lL ls a process of
rapld physlcal changes and hormones causlng Lhese changes may be responslble for mood
swlngs aLLracLlon ln Lhe opposlLe sex lor glrls puberLy means LhaL Lhey wlll have Lhelr flrsL
mensLruaLlon publc halr wlll grow Lhelr breasL wlll enlarge among oLher changes 8oys on Lhe
oLher hand wlll change Lhelr volce (becomes deeper) have Lhelr flrsL e[aculaLlon faclal and
publc halr wlll grow 1here ls no exacL age ln whlch Lhese changes Lake place however some
boys and glrls may develop earller Lhan Lhelr peers Clrls who develop earller wlll experlence
Lucla Cabrera
11C2 !uly 2010

2

more confllcL due Lo Lhe facL LhaL because of vlslble changes Lhey are more llkely Lo be Leased
and aLLracL Lhe opposlLe sex Cn Lhe oLher hand boys wlll `en[oy Lhls phase because of Lhe
poslLlve aLLenLlon Lhey geL 1hey wlll become more aLLracLlve Lo glrls and may become Lhe
leaders of Lhelr cllques hyslcal changes play an lmporLanL role ln Lhe Leenager's llfe Lhey
have Lo become ad[usLed Lo Lhe way Lhelr bodles look and come Lo Lerms wlLh lL MaLurlng Loo
early or Loo laLe may cause some problems for Lhe adolescenL
WlLh puberLy as menLloned above noL only come physlcal changes buL also changes regardlng
Lhe Leenagers' sexuallLy L Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe movle nala and Slmba see each oLher as
frlends and noLhlng more Lhey dlsllke Lhe ldea of belng romanLlcally lnvolved 8uL when Lhey
meeL agaln when Lhey are boLh adulLs Lhey are almosL lmmedlaLely aLLracLed Lo each oLher ln
a more sexual way
otu Ob jost look ot yoo two llttle seeJs of tomooce blossomloq lo tbe sovoooob oot
poteots wlll be tbtllleJ wbot wltb yoot beloq bettotbeJ ooJ oll
unq 5imbo 8ewbot?
otu 8ettotbeJ loteoJeJ AfflooceJ
unq No/o Meooloq?
otu Ooe Joy yoo two ote qoloq to be mottleJ
unq 5imbo ock
unq No/o www
unq 5imbo l coot motty bet 5bes my ftleoJ
unq No/o eob ltJ be so weltJ
dolescence ls Lhe flrsL Llme when Leenagers have Lo deal wlLh sexual feellngs and deslre
1eenagers begln Lo feel sLronger aLLracLlons Lo opposlLe or same sex peers someLlmes Lhese
feellngs lnclude developlng frlendshlps wlLh oLher Leenagers oLher lnclude wanLlng Lo be
physlcally close Lo anoLher person Cver Llme mosL Leenagers wlll come Lo ldenLlfy Lhemselves
as prlmarlly heLerosexual homosexual or blsexual Powever Lhey may be confused abouL
some of Lhese lssues durlng Lhelr Leen years 1hls Llme of llfe may be Lroubllng for adolescenLs
who begln Lo ldenLlfy Lhemselves as homosexual or blsexual especlally lf Lhese ldeas are noL
openly accepLed by famlly members frlends or Lhe socleLy ln whlch Lhey llve ln Lhls case lL ls
especlally lmporLanL for Lhe boy or glrl Lo flnd someone Lhey LrusL wlLh whom he or she can
Lalk openly ueallng wlLh sexuallLy may be more dlfflculL for Lhose who developed laLer on or
noL aL all
Lucla Cabrera
11C2 !uly 2010

3

fLer Slmba ls Lold by hls uncle Scar LhaL hls faLher's deaLh was hls faulL he decldes Lo leave
home ln Lhe [ungle he flnds 1lmon and umbaa Pe grows up Lhere and leads a carefree llfe
he does noL have Lo explaln anyLhlng Lo anybody lL ls noL Lhe klnd of llfe he was used Lo buL he
has no responslblllLles and llvlng llke Lhls makes lL easler for hlm Lo be wlLh 1lmon and
umbaa Pe makes some compromlses buL on Lhe oLher hand he ls ln a way Lhe leader of Lhe
group and Lhey look up Lo hlm and accepL hls as he ls Pe llkes hls llfe Lhere buL aL Lhe same
Llme he ls afrald Lo go back home because he fears Lhe resL of Lhe prlde wlll see hlm as a
`murderer and Lhey wlll noL be able Lo undersLand hlm and LhaL he dld noL mean for any of lL
Lo happen
Pere Lhere are Lwo feaLures of adolescence deplcLed llrsL Lhe facL LhaL Leenagers feel LhaL
Lhey have Lo belong somewhere or Lo some group ln splLe of whaL Lhey may have Lo do Lo be
a parL of LhaL cllque s SanLrock explalns Lhe peer group deflnes whaL ls normal for lLs
members ln aLLlLude LhoughL and behavlour lf Lhey ear Lhese cloLhes Lalk Lhls way acL LhaL
way Lhen Lhe group wlll accepL Lhe adolescenL ln Lhls way young people galn selfesLeem
from separaLlng from parenLs and Lhe group grows as well Lach new member ls followlng Lhe
code and accepLlng Lhe groups lnfluence sLrengLhens Lhe code among Leenagers
second aspecL of adolescence deplcLed ls LhaL of noL belng undersLood by oLhers
?oungsLers belleve LhaL Lhelr parenLs or anybody else has ever been Lhrough whaL Lhey are
golng Lhrough and Lhey wlll noL be undersLood or even worse [udged by oLhers 1hose who
may be able Lo relaLe are hls peers buL Lhls ls noL always Lhe case
noLher aspecL of adolescence porLrayed ls LhaL of Lhe role Leenagers are expecLed by socleLy
Lo fulfll Slmba ls LreaLed dlfferenL for belng Lhe male son of Lhe klng and Lherefore Lhe fuLure
klng Pe ls consLanLly remlnded LhaL he wlll be klng and LhaL ls hls desLlny
Cne Lhe one hand we can relaLe Lhls Lo whaL adolescenLs go Lhrough aL some polnL ln Lhelr
llves Lhey are faced wlLh Lhe quesLlon `WhaL am l supposed Lo do wlLh my llfe? `Who do l
wanL Lo be? s Lrlkson explalns adolescenLs go Lhrough whaL he calls an ldenLlLy crlsls lL ls
here where Lhey have Lo really Lhlnk abouL who Lhey wanL Lo be ln llfe whaL klnd of person
Lhey wanL Lo become Lrlkson descrlbed ldenLlLy as a sub[ecLlve sense as well as an
observable quallLy of personal sameness and conLlnulLy palred wlLh some bellef ln Lhe
sameness and conLlnulLy of some shared world lmage () ln Lhe young person we see emerge
a unlque unlflcaLlon of whaL ls lrreverslbly glvenLhaL ls body Lype and LemperamenL
glfLedness and vulnerablllLy lnfanLlle models and acqulred ldealswlLh Lhe open cholces
Lucla Cabrera
11C2 !uly 2010

4

provlded ln avallable roles occupaLlonal posslblllLles values offered menLors meL frlendshlps
made and flrsL sexual encounLers
lurLhermore as SanLrock wrlLes LhaL based on Lhe Leenagers' gender socleLy ln some ways
lmposes cerLaln rules on how Lhey should behave 1hls adds Lo Lhe pressure Lhe adolescenL
feels Lhey make cholces condlLloned by socleLy and noL necessarlly because Lhey wanL Lo Lhe
way parenLs LreaL glrls dlffers from Lhe way Lhey LreaL boys Clrls are expecLed Lo do well ln
school and show lady llke behavlour whlle boys are expecLed Lo be good sLudenLs buL wlll noL
be as `crlLlclsed as glrls would be lf Lhey performed badly academlcally
llnally near Lhe end of Lhe movle Slmba ls faced wlLh a moral dllemma he has Lhe chance Lo
klll hls uncle buL he decldes noL Lo do so 1hls ls a clear characLerlsLlc of moral developmenL
he had Lhe `rlghL reasons Lo klll hlm and Lhey were alone chlld may noL conslder LhaL an
acLlon ls wrong lf nobody ls Lhere Lo wlLness lL furLhermore Scar had done someLhlng wrong
so he `deserved Lhe punlshmenL
kohlberg afLer carrylng ouL a serles of experlmenLs he developed a Lheory ln whlch he
explalns Lhe slx dlfferenL sLages a person can go Lhrough ln llfe 1he earller sLages correspond
Lo chlldren as we grow up we move Lhrough Lhese sLages he clalms LhaL Lhe moral sLages
mlghL be relaLed Lo sLages of loglcal and soclal LhoughL whlch conLaln slmllar lnslghLs usually
adolescenLs or laLe adolescenLs are deallng wlLh Lhe flfLh sLage of moral developmenL Lhey
aLLempL Lo negoLlaLe beLween whaL Lhey belleve ls rlghL and whaL Lhey are Lold LhaL ls rlghL
Lhey reallse Lhe relaLlvlLy of moral codes" 1hey aLLempL Lo creaLe a code based on Lhelr own
experlence whlle flndlng an undersLandlng wlLh whaL ls lmposed on Lhem
ln concluslon l belleve LhaL Lhe movle shows varlous aspecLs of adolescence some of Lhem are
noL porLrayed ln depLh buL allow Lo reflecL on Lhem lurLhermore l feel LhaL one of Lhe mosL
lmporLanL changes adolescenLs go Lhrough ls relaLed wlLh moral developmenL l do noL mean
Lo say LhaL Lhe oLher changes Lhey go Lhrough are less lmporLanL ln any way buL l do Lhlnk LhaL
moral developmenL ls one of Lhe aspecLs LhaL makes a person who Lhey are and lL has greaL
lnfluence on Lhelr personallLy and Lhe klnd of human belngs Lhey end up belng