The Dark Side of Hakuna Matata

I must admit that I am one of those twenty-somethings that still watches and thoroughly enjoys Disney Movies. I watch them because not only do they remind me of my childhood and all of its innocence, but because gosh darnit! those songs are so freakin’ catchy! My mother has given me multiple accounts of when I used to sit down to watch a movie with her (e.g. Robin Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) and pretty much recite the entire script as well as provide a bit of the acting. Those of you who have ever watched a movie with me (one that I love) will notice that this little tidbit about me hasn’t really changed. There’s something terribly satisfying in singing “A Whole New World” at the top of your lungs, or referring to someone as “the pink of perfection”, or dreaming about living in a sweet-ass treehouse on a deserted island, or getting extremely disappointed when you find out in third grade history class that Pocahontas doesn’t end up with John Smith and that talking willow trees didn’t have a hand in the British colonization of America! But it’s these sorts of things that stay with us all through our lives. We feel a connection to others when we understand their references, whether if it’s by quacking to cheer someone on or by giving a shrug and a hakuna matata to someone who feels they should apologize…

Which was why my mind was utterly blown a few weeks ago when I realized the true purpose of the phrase “Hakuna Matata” in The Lion King.

So maybe I was a little slow in figuring this out, but for years I thought that Hakuna Matata was this great thing that lets you enjoy life as a free spirit and eat bugs and look at cool waterfalls and all that nonsense. I’ll admit that I hadn’t actually watched The Lion King for a few years before it started coming on ABC Family recently (I think the last time I watched it was my Sophomore year in high school French class, and I don’t think that actually counts), but I know all the words to every single song in that movie! Okay, maybe not “Be Prepared,” but cut me a little slack. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that “Hakuna Matata” is/was their favorite song in the movie. And why shouldn’t it be? It’s incredibly catchy and sung by a meerkat and a warthog! Duh! Of course everyone is going to love it! It’s not until you put the term into context (which apparently I hadn’t ever done until recently) that you discover the true nature of the phrase. Once you figure this out, you realize that Hakuna Matata is as much as the enemy as Scar. It’s so unassuming since it has such a catchy name and tune, but it’s what essentially alters Simba’s mind to think that forgetting his past and giving up his kingdom is a great idea because, hey! No worries!

Hakuna Matata?

First of all, I think we should go back to the very origin of the phrase. In Swahili, “Hakuna Matata” translates to “no worries,” as I’m sure many of you already know since it’s in the song. What you might not know is that this phrase is connected with Ubuntu, an African humanistic philosophy that places an emphasis on the connectivity of humans. I think Nelson Mandela illustrates the idea very nicely in this interview by saying:

“A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”

Umm, sorry Simba, but I’m pretty sure there was no “enriching” during your Hakuna Matata phase. Instead of Hakuna Matata meaning “no worries for the rest of your days,” it refers to the “no worries” that comes with understanding that not everything is in your control. It is a phrase to put things into perspective and helps you to realize that everything happens for a reason. Things don’t always go according to plan, but don’t worry because life goes on. This is a very beautiful way to think of the phrase.

Moving back to The Lion King, it’s important to understand that Timon is kind of an idiot. If you’ve ever seen The Lion King 1 ½ (which everyone should because it’s hilarious – I own it if you need to borrow it), you’ll know that Rafiki is the character who actually introduces Timon to the idea of Hakuna Matata. After leaving his home, Timon journeys across the savanna looking for his dream home (he sings a song about it) until he finds himself lost and sitting under Rafiki’s baobab tree. Cue the omniscient monkey and his fortune cookie advice. When Timon describes his dream home, “a carefree place where I don’t have to hide or worry,” Rafiki tells him that he seeks Hakuna Matata, and in order to get there, “[he] must look beyond what [he] seek[s].” And since we all know that Timon is an idiot, it’s no surprise that he translates this into literal terms, essentially just looking off into the distance until he sees Pride Rock. Rafiki had the right idea though. He was trying to tell Timon that in order to achieve “no worries,” he must look past all the bad things in order to be at peace in his mind. Rafiki meant it to be spiritual advice, but we all know that Timon has the spiritual capacity of… well, a meerkat!

Yes, this is an incredibly stable individual.

Knowing this, the whole Hakuna Matata lifestyle that Simba experiences in The Lion King is understandably explained. So here’s the problem: The Lion King 1 ½ came out after The Lion King. There was originally no explanation to why Timon or Pumba lived by the misunderstood motto. And poor Simba, just seeing his father die and nearly dying himself… No wonder he took so quickly to the phrase. For him, it was an easy way to forget his problems and live in the present. I don’t necessarily think living in the present was bad for him, but remember that his mother, his best friend, and the rest of the pride are left with Scar as a king. Simba’s innocence as a young cub insures that he doesn’t see his uncle as a villain, nor does he truly understand his responsibility to the kingdom. Timon and Pumba’s interpretation of Hakuna Matata just makes this worse. When the characters first meet the troubled Young Simba, Pumba, the slightly more Ubuntu one, tries to explain to him that he has to put his past behind him (“You gotta put your behind in your past…”) Timon then opens his mouth and the following dialogue occurs:

Timon: It’s “You got to put your past behind you.” Look, kid. Bad things happen, and you can’t do anything about it, right?

Simba: Right.

Timon: Wrong! When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world.

Simba: Well, that’s not what I was taught.

Timon: Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me: Hakuna Matata.

Not great words to tell someone in Simba’s position. So Timon continues to rip away the ideals taught to Simba by his father, and share with him a false definition of Hakuna Matata. But then again, we’ve already established that Timon is an idiot, so… Simba is in such desperate need of reassurance that he lives by this idea until he grows into a man.

If that's not the awkward adolescent phase, then I don't know what is.

When Nala arrives, it all comes crashing down on him. Scar as the raving lunatic king who has brought ruin to the pride lands came as a surprise to everyone apparently. Don’t they know that Jeremy Irons does his voice? How could they not have seen this coming? Did no one else notice the menacing scar over his eye and the fact that he’s the only black-maned lion ever? Simba simply can’t handle this new realization. He’s put his “behind in his past” and tried to live a carefree life… by not caring about anything but himself (and Timon and Pumba). You’d think this would take him a little longer to piece together, but Disney being what it is, instead of spiraling into a pool of depression and anxiety and probably other psychological disorders, Simba learns that he can learn from his past and reclaim his kingdom.

[So I realize that Mufasa was already guiding Simba in the ways to rule the animal kingdom (i.e. the continuous cycle of predator and prey that is refashioned as “the Circle of Life”), but what now? Simba is so incredibly inexperienced, I’m surprised he’s successful enough to bring a sequel (but that’s not what this post is about, so I’ll spare you a lecture on inexperienced and immature monarchs from history).]

You must see the problem in the Hakuna Matata lifestyle that Timon and Pumba introduce to this poor lion cub. They’ve taken an incredibly humanistic and empowering phrase and turned it into a giant pile of selfish horse crap. Of course I don’t blame Timon for this; he’s incredibly thick and has his own problems to work out in the beginning. And Pumba just follows Timon’s lead. So, who do I blame? Rafiki. That’s right. The baboon. I understand his attempt to make people realize themselves what they must do or what they’re looking for, but it creates an impossibly large problem for the rest of the characters. A problem that he could not really have foreseen, but for an omniscient monkey, you’d think he’d be able to read people better.

No, please! Let's all take advice from the omniscient monkey. He's not crazy at all!

So what do you think about that catchy little song now?

Enough said.