Memories that were buried so very deep...
Like many worldwide, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the new "The Lion King" movie.
Hearing about the live action movie brought back the childhood nostalgia I had every time we watched that movie. It took me back to the summer of '96'.
During that summer, my siblings and I watched that movie all day, every day, with our three younger cousins because that's all that they wanted to watch. It didn't bother us any because we actually enjoyed watching it as well. So much so, that each one of us had characters that we memorized the parts for and many times, we would put the television on mute and speak our assigned character's part throughout the entire movie.
Yes, I was beyond excited when I found out last year that "The Lion King" was going to be once more. So much so, that I was actually willing to battle crowds of people and the like to go to the premiere.
But, today, that all changed.
Why, might you ask? Because of a song...
I was on YouTube, looking up the song/video that Beyoncé made for the movie, when it had "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" listed as a suggestion. So, me being "The Lion King" fan that I am, decided to check out what the remake sounded like. Hindsight says that that was a fool ass move.
What the song ended up doing was reminding me of all of the "ugly" that happened that summer.
That summer, I was a rail thin twelve year old girl with an insane crush on a boy that considered me absolutely annoying, and probably ugly (most boys considered me ugly as a kid). I remember watching "The Lion King" and pretending that this boy was Simba and I was Nala; that instead of watching to lion cubs fall in love, I was watching the two of us.
That summer, I was starting to grasp the fact that there was never a chance in this universe that my parents were going to ever get back together. My father's growing absence in our lives sadly helped with the realization that their divorce was imminent.
That summer, I began learning about two-faced friends and the drama that comes with those kinds of friendships. I should've taken that initial lesson and carried it with me through my teenage years, but instead, it would take me many more two-faced friends before I learned that not everyone could be trusted, nor do they deserve a second chance once that trust was broken.
That song brought up every sad emotion I felt during the times that I used to watch the movie play out on the television. That song reminded me of the awkward little girl that little boys didn't like and many little girls couldn't stand, and of the family unit that I knew I was to have no more. Most importantly, however, that song reminded me of the fact that the mind remembers what it wants to and blocks out what it doesn't...
