The subject of willful ignorance in the movie Philadelphia is obvious as the
partners in Andy's law firm pretend to not notice that he is sick with the deadly
syndrome AIDS. This is a form of power on their point because they use it to
justify firing Andy for fear of contamination. Willful ignorance is also a major
part of The Lion King. The main difference in the two movies though is that in
Philadelphia, willful ignorance is shown through the characters of the law firm
partners. In The Lion King we as an audience are the ones who are invited to be
ignorant to the subject matter held within.
The main points of the forced ignorance in the movie are the fact that Scar's
sexuality is masked through the movie and that his true identity of being a
homosexual is never discussed, only hinted at. The fact that the hyenas represent
inner city black youth, is never discussed or pointed out is another example. The
last example is how in The Lion King the circle of life is a paradox to the food
chain. This shows how the lions symbolizing white suburban America is always on
The fact that Scar is gay in this movie is a curious one. The movie's villain
turns out to be gay. So what does that say about the communities outlook on
homosexuals. Scars quote to Simba when he is younger " You have no idea" in
response to Simba's statement "You're really weird uncle Scar", hints at Scars true
self. The audience's ignorance is invited by the movie through dialogue like this.
The audience's hatred for Scar comes into play when Scars sexuality comes into
question. They are forced to hate Scar for being the villain but why not make Scar
gay so the audience has not choice to hate gay people. The comment by Mufasa's
messenger " There's always one in every family.", is another example of how the
...