My Opinion on Scar's Guilt/Lion King Theme

[AnnaM]

This is my opinion about how Scar's experiences and possible mental disorders relate to his accountability.

I've seen the question "Was Scar loved?" asked (viewtopic.php?f=47&t=9012&hilit=was+scar+loved). That topic made me feel disturbed when I read it. I pictured Scar as a victim, whom his brother and father didn't love, who helplessly victimized others. (I had to write this essay to help myself get overt he sad feeling.) Even though he never existed, the real life applications of his existence are sad. How Scar was unrepentant when he died--how he seemed so determined to get his way, yet failed, and wouldn't surrender--makes me sad, because there are real people like Scar who choose repeatedly to do evil and die without remorse, never getting out of life what their hearts seek.

And I also think that choosing right over wrong is harder for some people than it is for others. So maybe Scar was predisposed to do evil, or had experiences that made him want to, while Mufasa wasn't and/or didn't. Maybe Scar had deceived himself so much by listening to the negative thoughts that entered his head he was beyond the ability to find fulfillment, to be brought to the light out of his darkness. Not being loved by others would be a major reason to succumb to negative emotions and thought patterns, and if these were continually fueled, they could have lead to irreversibility.

Because Scar was physically disadvantaged and not the one to be king, maybe he felt that life was unfair and hopeless, and that everyone around him was unjust, favoring other lions over him based on birth status. Maybe he had fooled himself into believing that, by becoming king, he could bring justice (that he perceived as missing) to others ("I know it sounds sordid, but you'll be rewarded when at last I am given my dues and injustice deliciously squared. Be prepared!"), so maybe in his mind, he was doing good.

When I see that Scar was unwilling to step down when the only alternative to stepping down was fighting Simba, I feel so bad for him, because I see he really truly thought he was the rightful king. It's like he was going to keep his power (perhaps power to bring justice?) or die trying. That, or maybe he was an overconfident psychopath. According to [1], psychopaths are just overly bold and incapable of weighing the consequences of their actions, so maybe when Scar started the fight with Simba, he was just acting on impulse and not thinking of the possibility of him dying. Maybe he thought himself invincible. Also, Scar's skill at premeditated murder points to psychopathy. That's it! Psychopaths are actually more likely to commit premeditated murder [2]. His aggressive nature, which is symbolized by his constantly protracted claws and manifested, for one of many examples, in the way he slaps the defiant Sarabi, is yet another criterion. Yet, if psychopathy is the case, Scar's begging for Simba's and the hyena's mercy shows that he was on terms with reality with his psychopathically imagined invincibility. So if he was psychopathic, he wasn't totally deluded beyond persuasion, so maybe his conscience wasn't calloused beyond repair. He was selfish enough that the thought of losing his own life certainly made him think about his own mortality.

So now that the idea that Scar was basically willing to die for his cause has been taken care of by labeling Scar as a psychopath (I think he fits the criteria), here are some points against the idea that Scar's (possible) delusions told him that he was doing good because Mufasa/other lions were enemies to justice/love (and thus that "disposing" of them was good and justifiable).

*If bringing justice to the Pridelands was Scar's cause, then I can see why Scar might have been so determined to be king, as he might have thought of the current king (Mufasa) and other lions as enemies to justice/love based on how they treated him (if they did, in fact, mistreat him). Yet, if his cause was to gain the love of others, what's that have to do with being king? Scar being so smart, you'd think he shouldn't have expected that other lions would love him (if they hadn't already) just because he became king, so why did he seek to be?

*If Scar really saw other lions as enemies to his version of good, and the hyenas shared this common enemy, and were also "mistreated" like he was, why didn't he stand up for them? The hyenas were born into a lower status than the lions, yet Scar never went out of his way to help them unless it was for his own gain. If Scar wanted to bring justice to the hyenas, he wouldn't have said "The hyenas are the REAL enemy" when he thought Simba was going to kill him. If he wanted to live, he should have just pleaded for mercy without placing the blame solely on the hyenas (they were partially to blame, since they executed Scar's commands, but Scar was even more guilty, so he shouldn't have made it seem as if the hyenas were THE enemy). The following quote makes it clear that Scar doesn't value the hyenas' right to exist unless that existence leads to his gain: "I never thought hyenas essential. They're crude and unspeakably plain. Yet maybe they've a glimmer of potential if allied to my vision and brain." So he hypocritically bases the worth of others not on equality for all, but on intelligence--a quality animals are born with and can't affect. Since he was so smart, he should've been able to counter the hypocritical thoughts that entered his head.

*Why does Scar (mentally) blame Simba as a child for what Mufasa has done to him, assuming that Mufasa really did mistreat Scar? Was Simba one of the lions Scar viewed as the cause of his suffering? Surely he wasn't foolish enough to hold a child accountable for his father's actions. If Scar was against treating people differently based on birth status, because this mistreatment was something he had experienced in his life, then why did he treat Simba differently just because he happened to be Mufasa's son? The only semi-acceptable reason for him to get rid of Simba would be for the advancement of his cause to become king, and of course that only counts as "semi-acceptable" under the assumption that Scar wholeheartedly believed that the advancement of his cause was the only way for him to do right.

*Why did Scar do sadistic things that didn't advance his causes? Scar's blaming of Simba for his father's death at least advanced his goal of becoming king (Simba and Mufasa's lives/presence were the only obstacles in his way of inheriting the throne). But Scar said cruel things to Mufasa/Simba before he killed/attemped to kill them ("Long. Live. The King!" and "Here's my little secret: I KILLED MUFASA"), and these words' only purpose was to cause additional emotional suffering to his victims before they died. The only perverse-version-of-good reason he could have wanted to do this was because maybe he thought Mufasa and Simba deserved to suffer as much as possible (to a point that such suffering wouldn't endanger the accomplishment of his goal of killing them), yet how could this even qualify as legit? No way, Scar, no way. YOU WEREN'T TRYING TO BE GOOD, EVEN IN YOUR CRAZY MIND!

*Not all victims become victimizers. Wasn't Simba a victim? And didn't he say "No, Scar. I'm not LIKE you"? So even if Scar was victimized, that victimization didn't necessitate his victimization of others.

It's possible to be a psychopathic sadist (malignant narcissism) [3], so maybe that's what Scar was.

Scar stated his heart's real desire, which wasn't love: "Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning, [and] decades of denial is simply why I'll be king, undisputed, respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder I am!" He clearly was maintaining himself in a state of dissatisfaction because he'd never be satisfied unless everyone groveled at his feet, drooling (come on Scar, not even I want to grovel at your feet, drooling). That (Scar's self-imposed inability to be pleased) must be why Mufasa said, "What am I going to do with him?" Mufasa was probably trying to brighten Scar's world by involving him in family events like Simba's presentation, but Scar was never pleased with how Mufasa treated him no matter how hard Mufasa tried.

My Conclusion About Confusing Conclusions:

I don't believe that Scar just couldn't help himself. Why should anyone be held accountable for their wrongs if it can be argued that people who willfully, deliberately do wrong things can't help themselves and that argument is accepted? Doesn't every non-remorseful, non-confessing murderer have an excuse? People actually even are questioning whether psychopaths should be held accountable for what they do, because they seem to be literally incapable of sympathy and there are differences in their brains. If a good theme is to be gained from TLK, it's certainly not the theme that the world is just full of inescapable injustice. But that's the theme I'd draw from TLK if I assumed true the idea that Scar was incapable of not doing evil. TLK would then be about an evil uncle (Scar) incapable of choosing right over wrong and then getting punished for his decisions, while these decisions, on the other hand, caused the death of his brother and trauma and loss to Simba and all the other lions, so that the whole movie is just about sad, bad, inevitable events. That's why I hate the following quote by Kiara from TLK2: SP: "My father said there was a darkness in Scar that he couldn't escape." It makes me cringe! I can't stand the idea of that. It's too sad and not even in accordance with my beliefs.

So I say, interpret the story in one of two ways: 1) Scar did what bad he did with complete understanding of morality and consequences and was accountable and deserving of punishment or 2) Scar didn't really do what he did and was just a rock-your-socks kind of "actor" playing the fake role of murderer. Muahahaha, I choose the latter, 'cause that's the only way to enjoy Scar's awesomeness! Afterall, wouldn't the TLK bloopers confirm that all the characters are just actors? There is hope for Scar!

[1] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/min ... ychopath-0
[2] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/han ... sychopathy
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malignant_narcissism