Rooney Disney's Aladdin

I was anticipating that Aladdin would, shall we say, not be the most politically correct of all the movies
I’ve ever seen… but good lord, Disney, you lasted a whole minute of the movie before calling the
“land far away” barbaric. That has to be some kind of record- on several accounts.

This is, however, an improvement from the original lyrics: “Oh, I come from a land From a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear If they don't like your face It's barbaric, but
hey, it's home.” At least now we are discussing the heat and the city as being barbaric, not the people
themselves. Oof.

It would be depressing and tedious to detail all of the racial profiling in the first 20 minutes of the film,
like the accentuated noses, intense accents, and aggressive nature of all of the men; not to mention the
brief portrayal of the snake charmer and fire walker, as no vague Middle Eastern town would be complete
without them, so let’s move on to one specific one. Where are the intellectuals?? If we are in a
medieval/renaissance era ~Arabia~ , which, as there are not colonizers present and the Sultan is in
power, we are, the Middle East is a bustling hub of incredible cultural and intellectual development. It
isn’t called the Islamic Golden Age for no reason! I feel like I should spend this blog post discussing
incredible Islamic philosophers and poets like Abu Nuwas or Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali to counteract all
of the negative stereotypes present in Aladdin.

Instead, Agrabah is depicted as a mystical town of the very poor, the peddlers, and the Sultan and
company- this is how we know, from the very beginning, that this movie is nothing but a manifestation
of Western fetisization of the ~Orient~ while making sure it remains inferior.

However… I’m not gonna lie and say that I didn’t enjoy some parts of the movie. I absolutely found
myself singing a long and giggling at the genie’s many impersonations. I have always adored Robin
Williams and there’s something incredibly comforting about every role he plays; the genie is warm,
protective of Aladdin, hilarious, and feels like a safe character. You know that he is genuine and he
wouldn’t choose to turn on Aladdin (if he can help it).

And lastly, Jasmine's awesome. Any princess that has a tiger as a pet and is the only one who can tame
him is pretty dope in my book. She doesn’t want to be married off, she knows she can take care of herself
without a husband, she didn’t automatically forgive Aladdin for lying and fall into his arms, and her
best quote: “How dare you — all of you! Standing around deciding my future. I am not a prize to be
won!” Though many of the men in the film, primarily Jafar, try to treat her like an object or something
to use to improve their social status, Jasmine doesn’t take any of it. She will not stand to be treated as
anything less than equal, she makes her own decisions, and she speaks up. I love her for it.