and mother of his children. Nala refuses since she's already been betrothed to Simba, prince of the Pride Lands as an infant by their parents, Sarafina, Mufasa and Sarabi and flees the Pride Lands to find help. Reception Critical reception towards Nala has been generally mixed; both film and feminist critics have accused the film of lacking empowering roles for female characters, including Nala. James Berardinelli of ReelViews appreciated the fact that "after three animated motion pictures centered upon the love of two people from different worlds", the love story between Nala and Simba has been relegated to that of "a subplot." Desson Howe of The Washington Post advised parents to remind their daughters that despite the fact that Nala "pads in the supportive shadows, awaiting her inevitable marriage to Simba, it doesn't mean human girls can't grow up to be monarchs too." Nala's role and demeanor during the film's romantic "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" sequence has drawn criticism in regards to her "submissive behaviour". The New York Times' Janet Maslin cited the film's lack of a strong heroine among its weaknesses, dismissing Nala and Simba's interaction throughout "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" as "obligatory" and "gratuitous". Joel W. Martin wrote in the Journal of Religion and Film, "One song later, [Nala and Simba] have fallen in love. Playing one day, they literally tumble down a hillside in the jungle, and he ends up on top of her. This time, she does not bear her teeth, but instead, shows 'bedroom eyes'". Martin ultimately accused the scene's "reversal of positions" of "establish[ing] male dominance." Criticizing the film for "being merely distracting when it could have been both meaningful and instructive", Robert Humanick of Slant Magazine wrote, "Small potatoes, then, when Simba's former childhood friend and betrothed queen Nala ... unexpectedly reappears in his duty-free, protein-rich life, demanding he return to his kingly responsibilities and coaxing the lion to sleep tonight with arguably the most blatant 'fuck me now' face to ever appear in a PG-rated film." Kathryn LeBey Davidson of Her Campus believes that Nala's reputation is harmed by her limited screen time and role, ranking her the 19th greatest Disney heroine. More recently, the possibility of an incestuous relationship involving Simba, his mate Nala, Scar and Mufasa has surfaced. According to Johnson Cheu, author of Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and