Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 33
Racism in Disney's
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Americans. Baloo and Bagheera's unconquerable aversion for King
Louie and the monkeys is typical of that of many whites, for,
according to Joel Kovel, "Aversion is the cardinal manifestation of
modem American racism" (83). In this light, the apparent violence of
King Louie and the monkeys may reflect increasing white paranoia
about African-American violence, which was fueled by the words of
such leaders as Malcolm X and incarnated in such events as the Watts
riots in Los Angeles in 1965. In a way, the movie can be seen as an
attempt to formulate a response—albeit reactionary--to the
increasing racial tensions of the day.
The taint associated with King Louie and the monkeys becomes
more intelligible when examined in terms of the dynamics of racism.
As Eldridge Cleaver suggests:
In a society where there exists a racial caste system ,.
. . the gulf between the Mind and the Body will seem
to coincide with the gulf between the two races . . . .
Any attempt by [those at the bottom] to heal [their]
wound[s] and reclaim [their] mind[s] will be viewed as
a malignant desire to transcend the laws of nature.. . .
Coming from the other side, if a member of the elite
should attempt to bridge the gulf, it will be conceived
as the rankest form of degeneracy and treason to caste.
(175)
We have already shown that the film makes the case of Baloo
and Bagheera against the monkeys as one of "brains" vs. "brawn," or
mind vs. body. Cleaver’s analysis further explains why Mowgli must
be "saved" from King Louie and the monkeys, and why they must be
banished from the reconstructed social order at the end of the film:
the longer Mowgli remains with them, the more he is presumably in
danger of degenerating into something like them—i.e., lazy,
libidinous, and stupid. Thus, Bagheera's continual efforts to get
Mowgli to the man-village where he "belongs" can be seen as a
desperate bid to preserve caste lines, especially after Shere Khan
disappears, and the nominal rationale for saving Mowgli no longer
applies. Clearly, for Baloo or Bagheera truly to accept King Louie
and the monkeys or encourage Mowgli in his emulation of them would