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<p>The Lion King, is arguably my favorite Disney animation. I cannot tell how many times I've seen it. And each time I see it again, I most likely grab something new. The hidden innuendos, jokes and symbolisms.</p>
<p>However, my attention was brought to something about the animation, in a post on Facebook. Someone said the movie had elements of toxic positivity, and this was present in the characters; Timon and Pumba. Up until that moment, I had never heard of the term 'Toxic Positivity'. For clarity, toxic positivity according to a quick Google search, involves dismissing negative emotions and responding to distress with false reassurances, rather than empathy.</p>
<p>Reading up on this new term, I immediately saw the point in the post. At the time Simba meets Timon and Pumba, he had just lost his dad. And when he tells them, they basically respond with the phrase 'Hakuna Matata', meaning: 'no worries'. Sure.. that's much better. Rather than comforting the poor cub who just lost his dad, and had to run away, his new friends tell him not to worry about it.</p>
<p>I also realized that this sort of response is common within our environment. People are made to 'forget' about their grief, rather than process it. Sometimes, 'look on the bright side', is not what a victim of misfortune needs to hear immediately. What this encourages, is suppression of emotions. One of the most popular examples of toxic positive is the response to bad news with; 'at least you're alive'. Yes, I'm alive, but I still feel hurt from the bad situation, at that moment.</p>
<p>When a person is hurting, let them express it. Let them cry if they need to. Frankly, we need to start embracing a more empathetic approach towards negative feeling. Suppressing emotions leads to an individual walking around with a burden. I understand that people do this, so that they wouldn't have to deal with their sadness and grief. But the sadness doesn't go away. Just like in Simba's case. It finds a way to resurface, leaving an even worse effect on us when it does.</p>
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Have you heard about 'Toxic Positivity'?
By
Jefferson Nnadiekwe