'Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam
'Where it's flat and immense, and the heat is intense, it's barbaric, but hey, it's home'
You can tell that Disney was in the zone when the censored lyrics are actually better poetry than the original.
But still, Disney's Aladdin, like The King and I, shows the ignorance of the civilization that produced it.
We did not, and still do not, understand Arabic civilization here in America. How do you represent a civilization that you don't understand?
(answer: do your research. It's not that hard to learn another culture. But this is far easier for an indie artist like me. All others have corporate bosses above them....)
To their credit, Disney took out of the opening song at least those terrible references to 'where they cut off your hand'.... even the corporate people saw through that once we pointed it out to them.
But many of the parts of the movie that my Arabic friends think is representing Arabic culture in a negative light are actually innocent Americanisms.
For this movie is also an American fairy tale of the traditional type.
And so, my Arabic friend, let me point out the Americanisms in this movie.
Okay, let's start at the beginning.
The trader from the opening.
I have heard my Arabic friends on the Internet refer to this guy as a 'greedy trader'.
But to us Americans, we love him.
He is one of the most likeable guys in the whole movie.
The fast-talking New York salesman, Arabic style.
This is not a negative stereotype; we love this guy! We want to hang with him!
A shmo like us, out to make a living, here to tell us a story!
And then we meet Aladdin, stealing food on the streets.
Poor Arabic civilization, cannot take care of the orphan.
But wait! This is an American fairy tale.
Aladdin is basically Cinderella.
And we here in turn-of-the-millennium America are having a real hard time taking care of the poor in the 'hood.
Aladdin's poverty represents America's failures, not Arabia's. We just assume that the poor in the 'hood have it bad everywhere.
And then there is the appearance of the characters. All the villains have beards and look like Arabs, while Aladdin is clean-shaven.
But wait! This is an American fairy tale.
Aladdin is barely out of his teens. The hero in an American fairy tale is young, very young.
Aladdin isn't clean-shaven- he is too young to have a beard! I couldn't grow one until I was in my 30s!
And wait- what about that trader from the beginning?
He has a beard and looks like an Arab, and we love him!
And what about the Sultan? He is the most likeable guy in the whole movie!
In post-Watergate America, if the guy at the top is a likeable shmo like us, that is a real good sign!
So, yeah, Aladdin is a flawed masterpiece, but not nearly as flawed as you think.
And the rest? simply ignorance. We in America are still in the process of learning about the wider world.
We know next to nothing about how women dress in the Islamic world, save for the dancing-girl stereotype, which is very similar to how rich movie stars and pop stars dress in Los Angeles. Hence Princess Jasmine's dress.
We are still in the process of learning about the wider world.
Hope this helps!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson