Is Mufasa a little hypocritical?

[TheLionPrince]

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, KEEP IN MIND I'M PLAYING THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE!

In the beginning of the movie, Mufasa tells Simba about how to treat his royal subjects, "Everything you see exists together on a delicate balance, and as king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures...from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope."

While he treats the animals in the Pride Lands as equal (although he eats some of them), he treats the hyenas like complete trash. I know, lions and hyenas are natural enemies, and that the hyenas tried to kill his son and Nala, but if I can play devil's advocate, doesn't Mufasa look like a hypocrite?

He respects the animals (elephants, gazelles, antelopes, zebras, ants, etc.) as equal, but the hyenas are not as respectable for some reason, therefore, they must live a fruitless wasteland away from the Pride Lands.

I notice Simba has this same mindset in Simba's Pride concerning the Outsiders (singing "We are One" yet the Outsiders are not part of the "One"), but here, he is justified because Zira was a dangerous threat to his kingdom.

So, I want your opinion on this, and choose an option on the poll above.

[Meskhenet]

In my opinion he is because you shouldn't say one thing and do the complete opposite.

[Carl]

He is hypocritical, but if he wasn't, then the hyenas probably would have been less inclined to help Scar. After all, if ALL the lions were treating them as equals, as opposed to only one lion treating them even close to that, then they wouldn't have had much of a reason to help him. So, yes, Mufasa was a hypocrite, but the story would have been completely different if he wasn't. Besides, having him be a bit hypocritical adds depth to his character IMO and makes him more like an understandable, relatable character. Not even Mufasa is perfect.

[DGFone]

Do remember that The Lion King is Simba's story. Therefore, everything we know about Mufasa, we know about him as Simba does - as a father and king, and therefore, as the most perfect lion around (except for Sarabi maybe).

So while it is easy to see how some of what Mufasa preaches doesn't actually quite work in practice, as far as Simba is concerned, Mufasa is not being hypocritical. So a bit of both?

[KentuckyWildcat]

I don't think he was hypocritical. I tend to think that Mufasa knew how dangerous the hyenas would be to all the animals of the Pridelands and wisely kept them out rather than randomly discriminating against them. If they weren't going to respect the balance of life, it was Mufasa's duty as the king to keep them in check for the good of his kingdom.

[Regulus]

[quote="DGFone"]Do remember that The Lion King is Simba's story. Therefore, everything we know about Mufasa, we know about him as Simba does - as a father and king, and therefore, as the most perfect lion around (except for Sarabi maybe).

So while it is easy to see how some of what Mufasa preaches doesn't actually quite work in practice, as far as Simba is concerned, Mufasa is not being hypocritical. So a bit of both?[/quote]

Yeah, basically.

The truth is, we don't really know the backstory behind it. We don't know why the hyenas were exiled, or what they did. We have no way of knowing how that conflict started.

Basically, leave it to the fanfics.

[Carl]

[quote="KentuckyWildcat"]I don't think he was hypocritical. I tend to think that Mufasa knew how dangerous the hyenas would be to all the animals of the Pridelands and wisely kept them out rather than randomly discriminating against them. If they weren't going to respect the balance of life, it was Mufasa's duty as the king to keep them in check for the good of his kingdom.[/quote]

Honestly, I don't think the hyenas would have been dangerous at all if they hadn't been discriminated against. After all, they didn't seem to enjoy violence, and pretty much just wanted their share. The elephant graveyard didn't have much to offer, after all.

[KentuckyWildcat]

[quote="Juliette"][quote="KentuckyWildcat"]I don't think he was hypocritical. I tend to think that Mufasa knew how dangerous the hyenas would be to all the animals of the Pridelands and wisely kept them out rather than randomly discriminating against them. If they weren't going to respect the balance of life, it was Mufasa's duty as the king to keep them in check for the good of his kingdom.[/quote]

Honestly, I don't think the hyenas would have been dangerous at all if they hadn't been discriminated against. After all, they didn't seem to enjoy violence, and pretty much just wanted their share. The elephant graveyard didn't have much to offer, after all.[/quote]

Eh, that doesn't really fit in with my personal view of the hyenas. They seemed to enjoy chasing Simba and Nala as well as torturing Zazu, so it seems a bit of a stretch in my mind to think that they were peaceful. Also, towards the beginning, Zazu referred to them as poachers. Poachers usually hunt illegally either for sport or black market profit rather than for survival. It's circumstantial evidence, but it fits more with my view of their characters.

That's not to categorically say that you're wrong though. Since the movie doesn't give the hyenas a backstory, your idea is also possible, and a valid theory. That's what makes these types of discussions fun. We can use our imaginations.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

Depends on what context:

1) If he keeps out the hyenas because of overhunting (as we saw towards the end of the film) then no. He is keeping that balance. True, he said 'respect all the creatures' but I don't think he saw hyenas as 'equals' because in LK context, hyenas are like parasites (No offense to cleargreenwater). They needed to be controlled.

2) Disney was not clear that Muffy was speciesist. If he was, I think that would have made him a bit more three dimensional. Look at King Triton in The Little Mermaid. Even he realized he messed up. Mufasa did not really have that moment.

[DGFone]

Here's something interesting I came up with:

We all know that Scar uses the hyenas to do his dirty work for him, and he loved large, intricate plans. So imagine this: When Scar realized that he would not become king, he had the hyenas do various things for him, that unknown to them, breaks laws and causing panic to spread throughout the Pride Lands. If Mufasa was already king, he would have to banish the hyenas, and if he wasn't it would be Ahadi who would do so. Either way, the hyenas, by following their friend Scar, get banished, but he reassures them that they did nothing wrong and that the king is at fault.

So with the hyenas banished, they now hate the king of the Pride Lands, and are able to be manipulated by Scar into eliminating the evil establishment. First by trying to kill Simba and Nala, and then finally causing the stampede that killed Mufasa, followed by Simba's 'death'.

I like this idea because while somewhat far-fetched, it can work, and it's not against Scar's twisted personality to abuse his friends for his personal gain, even if the pay off is far into the future. As far as Scar is concerned, the longer the wait, the sweeter the revenge.