When I was little I would try to wake up at 6:00am almost every Saturday morning just so I could beat my brother to the TV for his Saturday morning cartoons. Yes, I did love Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones but if I ever got to the TV first, I would instead insert a Disney princess movie. My favorites were Mulan, The Little Mermaid, but especially Aladdin. In my five year old mind Jasmine was the best princess. I mean, she lived in a gorgeous castle, rode on a magic carpet, and had a pet tiger!!
However, Aladdin is a clear embodiment of Orientalism. The movie opens with the famous song "Arabian nights" immediately planting heavy stereotypes into the viewers minds. The lyrics state: "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." This depicts the east as "barbaric", completely "uncivilized" compared to the west. The "dangers" of the east are implanted into our minds consciously and unconsciously.
Jafar, the primary villain, maliciously inflicts harm on others throughout the movie, embodying the stereotype of cruel Arab villains. This extends beyond Jafar into the eastern stereotype that masculinity is defined by violence. The scarce representation of women is shown through a orientalist image of the Arab woman. Either submissive like the servants in the palace or exotic and lustful like Jasmine. To prevent this dangerous mindset, we need to look at eastern countries through an open mindset and not let our preconceived notions cloud our judgment.
Wow! this is eye opening in many ways. I never thought about how Disney movies, Aladdin in particular really stereotype different cultures and people. This is a very well though out entry and made me thunk about how false information was fed to us as youngins.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you chose a classic Disney movie as they are often extremely problematic when one looks beneath the catchy songs and the pretty animation (ex.Pocahontas, Dumbo, etc). "Aladdin" specifically is often glossed over as the audience cares more about the Genie than the questionable lyrics. It just goes to show how common Orientalism is and how easy it is to miss when one isn't looking for it; a consequence of it being widely accepted by Western culture for so long. Great analysis :-)
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