Aladdin Pan Colonialism

In addition to this, is necessary to understand that white supremacy is deeply connected to the process of colonization, and these two concepts configured a unique social context in which the identities of the indigenous and Afro-descendant populations were diminished, and their humanity were denied as a part of this process.

Aladdin is a proletariat, trying to stay alive by stealing food. Due to his social class, he is unable to wed princess Jasmine because a law forbids commoners to marry royalty. On the other hand, Jasmine is part of the bourgeoisie. Trying to overcome this obstacle, Aladdin pretends to be a prince through one of his wishes granted by the genie. However, the evil Jafar uncovers him and eventually this conflict is solved by Jasmine 's father, Sultan. After seeing the courage of Aladdin, he changes the law and allows a commoner to marry his daughter. This compromise happened due to the conflict of social class between the poor commoner and high royalty.

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

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).

Throughout history, different people are treated with isolation and discrimination. This is shown in our culture through songs, movies, television shows, and other forms of art in every corner of the world. For example, the movie and song “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” parallels the oppression of minorities, specifically with the ‘Code Talkers,’ in the novel, Code Talkers, by Chester Nez, during World War II.

In 1899, the term “white man’s burden” was coined by Rudyard Kipling to depict the social responsibility that white men believed they had towards blacks. Although the term is out of date, the meaning behind it has not left society, as the “white messiah” has come to replace it. Although the connotation of the term is no exactly the same, the basic meaning behind “white messiah” is that a white male protagonist will save a desperate group of people from the evils that superior, white society has placed on them. The “white messiah” figure can be seen in the film, “Avatar”, directed by James Cameron. Even though Avatar deviates from the typical “white messiah” formula occasionally, according to Mitu Sengupta in her article, “Race Relations Light Years From Earth,” one can conclude that the entertainment industry is still perpetuating racial inequalities and racism. By analyzing “Avatar” and the concept of the “white messiah”, one can argue racism still exists in the American society and whites feel guilty about the racial inequalities. Even though they have this guilt, whites will not change if it means that they must give up their “white privilege.”

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

Aladdin is a street-rat and is looked down upon by society. He hates how society judges him and aims one day, he will live in a castle with no problems. Although he commits crimes such as stealing, he is ultimately good-hearted,

Whiteness is an integrative ideology that has transpired in North America throughout the late 20th century to contemporary society. It is a social construction that sustains itself as a dogma to social class and vindicates discrimination against non-whites. The power of whiteness is illustrated in social, cultural and political practices. These measures are recognized as the intent standard in which other cultures are persuaded to live by. Bell hooks discusses the evolution of whiteness in an innovative article in which she theorizes this conviction as normative, a structural advantage, an inclusive standpoint, and an unmarked name by those who are manipulating this interdisciplinary. Most intellects, including hooks, would argue that whiteness is a continuation of history; a dominant cultural location that has been unconsciously disclosing its normativity of cultural practice, advocating fear, destruction, and terror for those who are being affected by this designation.

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.

One of the biggest mistakes that the white population makes in Mainstream American society regarding the way they view racism is the way in which they actually think or envision racism. Racism is thought to be events that have happened in history, but that don’t necessarily happen “anymore”. Many of American’s that are white typically think of significant occurrences such as slavery, segregation, wars between races, and internment camps. Racism is viewed very differently for the non-white population. Discussed in lecture by Professor Chernega, “non-whites think of racism in terms of something that happened to them yesterday, today, or even potential racism they will face in the future” (Chernega, 2017). This produces two very different views that two different populations experience simultaneously. There is a reason for this difference in understanding what discrimination means. It is no surprise that blacks have faced a much longer period of discrimination when compared to whites. Another idea that plays a large part in the reason for these differences of understandings is the way in which history is told. Many historic stories are told as if racism is something that only occurred in the past and doesn’t necessarily happen anymore. More often than not, racism is not addressed as a current issue when historic events are explained. Author Kohl discusses the issues regarding children’s literature

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.