HOD 2015: Aladdin and Said

In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the darkness in the story is the Congo. In 2015, our Heart of Darkness can be found in the Middle East. In the novel, lack of mutual recognition between the European imperialists and the Congolese is very similar to the idea of "orientalism." In Edward Said's Orientalism, Said defines the term as " a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S" According to the idea of orientalism, these differences are seen as exotic, uncivilized and backward.

In the story, as Marlow observes the Congolese, he makes the remark that he must remember that they too are human. The fact that Marlow even had to comment on such a thing reflects how there is no mutual recognition at all unless you force yourself to see it. An example of orientalism that is more close to home can be found subtly in Disney's Aladdin. 

At the beginning of the movie thru when Aladdin is steals the bread in the market place, orientalism is everywhere! I've seen Aladdin about 100 times in my life and I never really noticed all the orientalism until Mr. Goldberg pointed it out to me. The movie opens to a man who is trying to sell you low-quality crap and is wearing a huge turban. And as the movie progresses into the song "One Jump Ahead," the viewer sees a lot of exotic (and stereotypical) things about the Middle East such as someone eating fire, a man laying on a board of needles, and another man taking a nap on what looks like to be coals.

Aladdin exaggerates the differences of the Middle East and makes it look exotic. Because of movies like Aladdin, people across different cultures will never achieve mutual recognition nor cultural understanding; something I believe is a serious loss in our ever-globalized society.