Sonia Maryam
IB English
Ms.Rowe
February 20 2015
Aladdin and Orientalism
Could anyone have thought that the movie Aladdin had more to it than just showing a little bit of the Middle East? That is because the movie Aladdin shows Orientalism in many ways. Orientalism is a canonical text of cultural studies where Said has challenged the concept of Orientalism by: the difference between east and west, the start of European colonization the Europeans came in contact with the lesser developed countries of the east and found their civilization and culture very exotic and established the science of orientalism which was the study of the Orientals. The movie Aladdin was successful because it should a new way of using magic and a culture not many were aware of but unfortunately it was judged as being bad from being a Middle Eastern movie and now Aladdin had more to it than just showing a little bit of the Middle East and the way for having similar examples as Orientalism that is still presented in the Western society today. From the examples below it will be more clear and easier to understand how the Disney film Aladdin as being shaped by the forces of Orientalism, as outlined by Edward Said.
The first example to support that I perceive the Disney film Aladdin as being shaped by the force of Orientalism, as outlined by Edward Said is by having stereotype of having an Arab accent and the differences between the east and west. One example from the movie Aladdin to
The mouse we all grew up to love and adore, Mickey Mouse, the face of the Walt Disney Corporation, has a racist past. Although he was initially created to become a satirical character, he ended up as the face of racism as well. Sadly, not many are aware of Mickey Mouse’s cartoon shorts, Mickey’s Mellerdrammer and The Opry House, which incorporate blackface in a minstrel and vaudeville show. Considering, that these films were made in the early 1930s, it is not surprising that they contain racist ideals. Thus, this raises questions about Disney’s past. It even makes me wonder if this all started from the creator, Walt Disney, because many assume that “Walt Disney himself was a famous anti-Semite, and under his direction, notoriously racist and sexist films were completed” (Dague 1). For instance, after the Mickey Mouse debacle, films, such as Pocahontas and Peter Pan; contained racist characteristics. Ironically, Disney always reiterates the importance of teaching a moral lesson, so it is quite baffling that they would have forms of racism and cultural appropriation in their films.
Literary Analysis of Aladdin Disney’s Aladdin is a film that attempts to stereotype and westernize Arab culture. Using racially inaccurate stereotypes, an inaccurate depiction of The Middle East, as well as countless cultural generalizations, Aladdin creates a setting of “exotic orientalism” and Islamaphobia. “[Aladdin depicts…] the Arab world as backwards and irrational, the film’s distorted ethnic representations fuel the western world’s fear of alternity and perpetuates dangerous stereotypes.” (Heydt).
One thing the film did not do so well was an accurate representation of the Arabian people.
When comparing the two films you can delve deep below the surface and begin to question how much of what we perceive as racism is actually racist or just general bigotry and self-importance. And how much of what we perceive as innocent is in fact insidious by nature. Tarantino switches things around and makes Django, a black male; the main protagonist of the film. By the end of the film he is the sole male survivor and therefore superior to the white characters. While Aladdin, a film about Arabs, has white American voices cast for all of the characters. The villain is the only Arab looking main character, while the hero and heroine are drawn with more Western features or skin colour, “Aladdin looks and sounds like a fresh-faced American boy.” (Brunette et. al. 2006, p. 2).
Even in the movies, sociology can be found. Most people think sociology is limited to just worldly problems, but it can be it can be a very broad term. Symbolic Interaction is a communication theory that states society and individuals are created based upon the interactions between each other. One Disney movie that stands out is Aladdin. I feel this movie does a great job of providing examples of symbolic interactionism. My plan is to discuss symbolic interaction and provide examples of the theory.
The animated classical Disney movie Aladdin has became one of the most successful movies since it was released in 1992. This movie may seem to be fairy-tale based and entertaining for children since they are the main target audience of Disney, but with a deeper look into its details this is not the reality of it. The ideas that children are exposed to from watching this movie help create and structure their mindsets as well as reinforcing unrealistic images of the Arabian world. In addition, Aladdin is a great illustrative tool in reflecting the concept of Orientalism, a term coined by Edward Said, which emphasizes on representing the Orient with certain clichés and characteristics that are misleading about the true nature of reality (Said, 1978). With that been said, this review paper will be focusing on the main characters and the way they are
Disney’s Aladdin is a fit example of misrepresentation of diverse cultures from a Westernized perspective. Disney is famous for lending representations of world from a Western viewpoint. According to Edward Said, orientalism is a way of expressing Arab peoples and Islamic cultures as compared to Western or European society (Palestine Diary). Said’s explains orientalism is the framework that we use to
By continually representing the Muslim or the Arab as the heartless villain, even cartoon movies contain a biased perspective against the Muslim image in America. All that glitters is not gold, and this is true for films fresh off the reels of Hollywood, as some contain an unfair perspective of Muslims.
see how this production had a major influence on Disney’s Aladdin. More specifically, in the
When it comes to the illustrations of his popular characters in Aladdin, Disney proves to be quite racist. Most of the small-part, background characters and especially “the bad guys”, such as Jafar and the palace guards, all have incredibly distinct Arabic appearances. Every one of them stereotypically consists of “beards, large noses, sinister eyes, and heavy accents, and they’re wielding swords constantly” (Giroux, 104). In contrast, Aladdin the hero, looks and talks like an All-American man. His skin is pale and he wants to be addressed as Al, which is an American name rather than Arabic. He does not have a beard, big nose, turban, or accent. The key point in this illustration is that Disney is establishing that Aladdin looks right for the part of a hero, while Jafar looks right for a villain.” Jack Zipes, author of the essay “Breaking the Disney Spell”, clarifies that “though the characters are fleshed out to become more realistic, they are also one-dimensional. There is no character development because the characters are stereotypes, arranged according to a credo of domestication of the imagination”
In brief, this study discusses about the representation of orientalism idea which is portrayed in the film Avatar. The film tells about the conflict between human and native people in Planet Pandora, where human exploits the land and oppresses the native. This study explores in what way the idea of orientalism is represented and how both narrative and non-narrative aspects of the film helped in delivering that representation.
I want to research whether portrayals of Orientalism in the media are used to retroactively justify decisions such as imperialism or the Vietnam War. I chose this topic because I found Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism very thought-provoking and wondered if it can apply to contemporary society. In addition to that, I have not seen a lot of contemporary analysis on Orientalism of Southeast Asia. My initial inspiration was when I watched the film No Escape, which seemed blatantly racist and problematic. I narrowed and refined my topic by further researching the concepts of Orientalism and otherness, and considered how they could be applied to this film. Sources that have been key in defining my research topic include scholar articles on Orientalism
Even the most seemingly harmless of __ can change the way we treat peopl. In Aladdin, Aladdin is a street rat until he finds a magic genie lamp, which can grant him three of his wishes. However, the villain Jafar, who put him up to finding the lamp, has a different idea for its uses. In the end, Aladdin has to save Princess Jasmine and the city of Agrabah with the influential help of the genie from Jafar and his evil forces. In Disney’s Aladdin, the culture in Agrabah is presented through an orientalist lense, suggesting the population in Agrabah needs, wants, and would be better off with the influence of western culture; this representation is in order for Disney to justify the United States cultural colonization.
BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management firms with over 5 trillion assets under management. It’s a multinational investment management firm, based in New York City. It manages the assets and also provides guidance to investors like individuals, financial institutions and professionals. BlackRock started its operations in 1988 and was founded by eight people; Larry Fink, Robert S. Kapito, Susan Wagner, Barbara Novick, Ben Golub, Hugh Frater, Ralph Schlosstein, and Keith Anderson.They started this organization with a shared view of providing asset management and risk management services to institutional clients. Transformational leadership and advanced technology paved the way for BlackRock’s success. BlackRock has its own investment platform called Aladdin, which combines trading, risk management and client reporting. BlackRock as an investment and risk manager is distinguished with the Aladdin’s capacity for insight. Aladdin also laid down foundation for BlackRock Solutions Business.
The misrepresentation of minorities is frequent in Hollywood films and Arabs are one of the many minority groups Hollywood misrepresent. Arabs are portrayed negatively in films for long time even before 9/11. The Arabs characters are portrayed with always having accent, wearing traditional attire, untrustworthy, aggressive and almost always associated with terrorism. The continuously falsification could lead to stereotypes, misjudgment, and damage to Arabic culture.