There are three main male characters in the Disney movie Tarzan: Tarzan, Kerchak, and Clayton;
and three lesser characters of questionable roles: the Professor, Terk, and
Tantor.
Tarzan
Tarzan, abandoned as an infant by the tragic death of both
his parents, is adopted into the ape family by an ape whose own child had just
faced the same tragic fate as Tarzan’s parents. Tarzan is adopted into a
community more than a family. He basically only has a mother because the one
male, Kerchak, is shared by the entire community. His adoptive mother is there
to support him, advocate for him, love him, and he learns to love and take care
of her in return.
With no positive male role model, Tarzan is left to himself
to learn the ways of survival. Like Phil Collins sings in his song, “Son of
Man,” which plays during the scene in which Tarzan is learning his new skills, “Though
there's no one there to guide you/No one to take your hand/But with faith and
understanding/You will journey from boy to man.”
Tarzan is the epitome of today’s fatherless generation of
boys. Unfortunately, unlike Tarzan, today’s boys do not “journey from boy to man.”
“Faith and understanding” are not things that “will come to you in time.” These
things are taught and with no one to teach our boys faith and understanding,
they grow into adult-sized children, pursuing their own adventure and pleasure
instead of growing into responsibility.
In the end, upon the death of Kerchak, Tarzan assumes
responsibility for his new combined family.
Apes, in comparison to humans, are behind in development—and
will never catch up because, contrary to what evolution says, they were created
only to be fruitful and multiply, and not to take dominion, as man was. If we
translate this to social classes, the ape community (the many) is the lower
class, as compared to the elite upper class of the human trio that originally
sets foot on the island. Tarzan is the middle class that joins the two worlds
into one family and then gains governance over both.
We also see this in DreamWork’s movie Antz, in which Corporal Weaver (military middle class) acts as the
middleman between Z and Azteca of the worker class and Princess Bala of the
royal class. Notice that the middleman is called Weaver, as the one who weaves
together the two classes. Balaa in Arabic means something greatly unwanted.
Interestingly, instead of bringing the lower class to the
level of the elites when creating “one family,” the elites descend. This is
exactly what happened in the Soviet Union, under the influence of Marxism,
which seeks to destroy authority and replace it with one entity, the governing
State (Tarzan) on its way from socialism to communism. Why is it that they want
to destroy the class of authority? All authority is given by God (Romans 13:1),
not to all but to the few and not necessarily even to the faithful. To destroy
the authority over them would mean getting one step closer to dethroning God.
Kerchak
Kerchak is the loving father of Kala’s young child but when
the little ape is killed by the leopard and Kala adopts Tarzan, Kerchak is
estranged from his “mate” (for he is really one male to an entire community of
females) in his refusal to accept Tarzan as a son. Throughout the entire movie,
excepting the very end, he is portrayed as a hostile, unjust, conservative
character who is afraid of change. He is the obstacle to connecting with the
world of the elites. He fought against it his whole life and his removal was
necessary in order to blend the lower class with the elites.
In reality,
Kerchak is the true male protector, who keeps his family from harm and who
leads them in the direction he should go. He is the portrayal of one aspect of
biblical masculinity which Disney wishes to discredit. It is upon the death of
the biblical man that the new order is able to be established. The death of
Kerchak’s son and heir to biblical masculinity, and the entrance of the new
order via baby Tarzan, who resists the Kerchak’s order over the course of his
maturity, is symbolic of the beginning of the end of Kerchak’s order.
Clayton
Clayton, the treacherous “protector” of science and the
elite quest for knowledge, as Disney portrays him, is actually another twisted
portrayal of biblical manhood. He is the visionary man who leaves his home to
discover the unknown places and use his discoveries to prosper himself and his
family. This is biblical dominion. Disney, however, villainizes Clayton for his
plan to capture and sell the gorillas and for the use of his gun.
The plan to capture and sell the gorillas can be translated
into an attempt to put the lower class—the welfare class—to work, to generate a
flow of money and resources for the market economy. This (hard work) would
bring them into the world of the elites. The governing State (Tarzan) is the
protector of the lower class, to keep them dependent upon the government
instead of allowing them to work for their social elevation.
Also, keep in mind that dictatorships in history (like
Hitler’s and that of the Soviet Union) de-gunned the people before they were
able to run the full course of their plan. All of America’s current anti-gun
talk is leading the nation towards the same result.
The Professor
Silly and an evolutionist, the Professor is a grown-up child.
The only elderly character, he should have been revered for his head of silver,
which has gained much wisdom over the course of its years. Disney, however,
would have us dismiss the elderly as silly folk and unworthy of our respect.
Terk
Terk is a female but I never guessed it because she sounds
like a guy, she acts like a guy, and she hangs out with the guys. This is how
Disney wishes to portray females today. They are actually guys in female bodies
and are pushy and bossy, leaving no room for male leadership or the meek and
gentle spirit that is to be woman’s.
Tantor
Whereas Terk sounds like a guy, Tantor sounds like a girl,
especially in his childhood. When he grows to maturity, he is a weak, fearful
male, unworthy of female elephant attention (hence his friendship with non-elephants).
He is commendable only for his show of masculinity at the very end, when he
rescued Tarzan from the ship. The weak man is the one whom Disney portrays as
the help which brings the new order to power.
