Media Perceptions

Although some fringe movements of other religions are quite radical and violent, extremists in the Muslim world receive a disproportionate amount of media coverage.

whereas Sabu is Indian and portrays an Arabian thief. Throughout the film, I could not help but

Extremist and terrorist are terms synonymous with Muslim. But who is responsible for this negative, simplified word association? Do we need to cast a critical eye over the role of the media? This is simply because that is how the media typically portrays Islam. They have an influence over our perceptions of many controversial issues such as Islamophobia. But has there been strategies and efforts used to prevent and eliminate Islamophobia?

The movie’s oddness use of ethnic stereotypes makes it fall under the category of movies that represents Orientalism at its finest. The first main character of the movie is Aladdin himself who is a “diamond in the rough”(Kidd & Wenzel, 1992). Aladdin has an American accent as well as Western physical features with a

The world of Disney it is not necessarily magic for everyone. In Western popular culture there is an endless buffet serving stereotypical ideologies for racially marked women. The media often relies on representation of articulation of ethnic women as animalistic, inferior and outside the natural. Films tend to utilize signifiers that express race, class and gender to develop characters. For this assignment, I have chosen to critically analyze Disney’s (1992) Aladdin; this movie exemplifies the racialization of female bodies through visual illustrations that reinforce ideas of stereotypical roles of Middle Eastern that have been over-looked through the eyes of children. Aladdin; is considered a modern example of Edward Said’s concept of orientalism from a Western perspective. In this paper I will examine how Disney’s Aladdin perpetuates ideas of ‘othering’ through orientalism, over-sexualized characters and reinforces islamophobia.

‘Journey to the West’ is a self-portrait of Abdul himself, wearing a ‘monkey mask’. He is places slightly off centre in a stage set in traditional lavish Muslim wedding style. Abdul created these work to highlight this treatment of Muslims in his town, but also communities all across Australia. He created this image to showcase the ignorance of genuine Muslims faith and as how they’re treated as ‘inhuman’. The staging of the background references weddings as part of his religious background but

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.

One Arab merchant even tries to cut off Jasmine’s hand when she doesn’t have money to pay for an apple she gave to a hungry boy. Not once in the movie does it show a wealthy man living outside the palace among civilization. This is not only unrealistic but it is also very insulting towards the Arabic culture.

In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (“SQs of Media Outlets”). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quick information, with a purely impartial view on the facts as they are known. However, this modern media system has not maintained an objective view, pushing opinionated and slanted reporting onto the population in order to create profit and gain customers. The exploitation of information media for personal gain has created a toxic and inaccurate present, constant in today’s society.

The groups in the film are not only ethnic groups but also groups involving occupations. There are two main ethnic groups that interact in the

Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.

Sidhwa makes the Muslim protagonist, Ice Candy Man, disgrace, shame, humiliate and ruin Shanta (India). Led by Ice Candy Man, the Muslims abduct and manhandle Ayah (India) while she is in a condition of shock and trauma at the hands of her one time lover (183). The punishment given to Hindu Shanta, by her one time Muslim lover is more than a personal and isolated act of violence. The Hindu Ayah is a symbol of India and she is abducted and taken away by the Muslims against her will. Sidhwa, instead of revealing her Pakistani identity, and presenting Pakistani perspective, questions the Muslim demand for Partition after centuries of their rule over India. She presents it as the worst betrayal. The fact that Ayah is taken to the red light district, is meant to show the disgrace and shame heaped upon Shanta (India) by her own lovers. Sidhwa is suggesting that Ayah (India) deserved a better treatment from her one time lover and wooer, Ice Candy Man, the Muslim. This is the worst one can expect from the lovers towards their beloveds, both at the personal and public

Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.

Edward Said describes ‘the Orient’ as people who are from the East; particularly Asia and the Middle East (Said, 2001). Oriental culture is often represented as ‘exotic’ or ‘other’ in some cases; this is because the West believes the East is to be feared. I will explore the key elements of Orientalism and explain how this functions in the film Aladdin (Ron Clements, John Musker: 1992). In Aladdin, there are distinctive differences between the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ which Said states, creates binary oppositions between them. This is demonstrated through the exploration of characters Aladdin and Jaffar. The key elements of Orientalism I will be exploring are: representations of race, sexualisation of the Orient and the exoticisation of

“Aladdin” is a cultural production about a young man, Aladdin, who endures the malicious vizier, Jafar, while attempting to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. Consequently, I will discuss the orientalist portrayal, the source of knowledge, and the effects of American exceptionalism in “Aladdin”. This is done by reviewing the symbols in the film that represent the Middle East, which are depicted through Disney’s lens of intermingling of Arab and American values creating a postcolonial interpretation of the film. (Borthaiser)