10/05/2022
Aladdin might be a kids movie, but have you ever thought about the connotations of it about the orient and people there? This portrayal of the middle east is an unfair and demeaning collection of stereotypes that displays a precedent about The Orient. When watching the movie as a child, you tend to overlook all of the questionable content because it’s about a pretty princess and a magical blue genie; but when the adults have a closer look, they start to notice all the things with it that just doesn’t seem quite right. From the child having to be married at such a young age, the starving people in the city forced to steal, and exploring how much control the royal family actually has. But what is most troubling, is how Aladdin portrays the manipulation and capture of the royal family. Of course a happy ending is mandatory with these types of Disney movies, but it would be a much different story if it actually happened somewhere in the Middle East. The stability and reputation of these countries is put at risk because of this illustration. Though Agrabah is a made up land and is not claiming to be a specific real country, if you mix up the letters it actually spells “Baghdad” like Baghdad, Iraq. The white and uncultured creators of this satire shows representation of brown people in traditional middle eastern clothing, but it is still americanized so much that it is unrecognizable. Jasmine is well known as the ‘teenage rebellion American princess’ because it is obvious that the movie is not geared to teach about the culture, but uses the culture for publicity and attraction.
Aladdin displays a broken kingdom searching for a new king or Sultan, and even though the movie has a happy ending, Jafar still tries to take control of the people in charge, which could have genuinely led to an entire devastation of the country. The introduction of the movie explains all the bad things about Agrabah, and especially the Arabs living there. Aladdin showcases the villains as darker skinned and with jumbled accents being seen as ugly, barbaric and scary people, while the heroes are more lighter skinned and americanized. These stereotypes perpetuate bad views about The Orient from a young age, making ignorant people believe more racist views about Arabs than there already are. The introduction song and all the comments later on explain Agrabah as a gross and uninhabitable place but the people don’t care because “hey, it’s home”, but throughout the movie there is one major problem. The royal family does nothing to fix these problems within their country, in fact there is barely any mention of it throughout the entire movie, the movie is just based on the internal affairs and drama of the royal family and how it affects them as opposed to the common people they are meant to protect. This interpretation of how the Middle East operates is harmful to the image, and makes it seem like countries in the Middle East are dirty, overlooked, and broken; making tourism and the amount of people moving there go down.
While we may not know if magic is real, and the mind control couldn’t have happened in real life, it does speak on the fact of how easily manipulated the royals are, and what effect it can have. Jafar tries to mind control the Sultan, ruler of the land, to allow him to marry Jasmine, and also attempts to control Jasmine herself into loving Jafar. This borderline assault could be so harmful to Agrabah, as well as Jasmine; the young role model. This goes to show how amenable the country of Agrabah and therefore the Middle Eastern countries it represents really are. Jafar was a trusted helper of the Sultan, and though he did use his magic snake staff to gain control, it is a very real thought that the crown and any position really can be taken at the snap of a finger, It may not be a magical weapon, but even the people closest to you can betray you and stick a knife to your throat. Like in Arabian Nights by Hussain Haddawy, when the king found out that the queen was unloyal, he killed her. This interpretation of the Thousand and one Nights showed how the possession of women as property is far more important there than actual relationships. The king was so distraught over losing his power, but didn’t care much for his wife or women in general as people, and vowed to sleep and then kill with a new woman every day. This connects back to Aladdin with a common theme of how power is there for the taking, and also shows some similarities of how women are treated and viewed; this is not the best representation for little girls looking up to these movies for power and strength to keep going. Overall the Aladdin movie may be a good superficial and uplifting movie for kids, but once you dive into the details, the representation it gives about “The Orient” outweighs all the bad.
I love how coherent and precise your essay is the whole way through and you make a good argument about the way the Orient is represented in an unfair manner. You make very clear claims about the portrayal of women and your descriptions of your chosen image align well with your statements. As important as it is to consider the impact it has on kids, I think maybe you should try to emphasise a little more on the way the movie negatively alludes to the Orient, making sure that your argument does not veer in a wholly different direction as your intended one. The quote about mixing up the letters of Agrabah is interesting, but I suspect it’s not one of high importance in this context (if you really want to keep it in, I suggest adding it in a different paragraph). Overall, I love your writing style and the way you argued your point with ease. Good job, Sofia!