Aladdin and Orientalism

Throughout my lifetime there have been many occurrences of orientalism I have never noticed or even thought twice about. Said's theory of orientalism can be seen in our society in movies and songs that have been produced. Western society, especially here in America, portrays the middle east as something much different and even barbaric. This view can be clearly seen in movies directed towards children such as Aladdin.

In the movie Aladdin, there are many stereotypes in place from what is worn to how the characters act in this exotic land they live in. With this movie being so popular for children, there is a false depiction of Middle Eastern countries for many American children who have no other experience of Middle Eastern culture. All of the characters carry swords and are dressed in turbans throughout the movie. The stereotyping does not stop here though, even in the first song of the movie the lyrics have a terrible depiction of the Middle East.

Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
it's flat and immense
And the heat is intense
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home

These lyrics perfectly show how Aladdin falsely interprets the Middle East. These movies have terrible effects on our country due to the false images flowing into the minds of children watching a seemingly innocent movie. There needs to be more movies created to correct these problems we face, but nothing will ever truly be able to completely fix the mistakes Disney made by creating Aladdin.