The Portrayal of Arabic Culture is Disney's Aladdin - Term Paper Example

The Portrayal of Arabic Culture is Disneys Aladdin Introduction: Nobody wants to be the victim of truth. Much less falsehood. But in the modern ways of men, even as “globalisation” has become a byword and household term, some few, some millions, and some people of race, colour or origin still fall prey to the ones who force on their power to their fellow humans. And although modern media may claim to be the propagators of truth and freedom, has questionably done so in blatant and discriminatory manner. Like Hollywood and pop culture. In this paper, the Disney animation feature “Aladdin” will be discussed as an “Orientalism” view of westerners, and will dissect what may be wrong with it. Synopsis: The original story of Aladdin found in “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights” is translated by French Antoine Galland who claimed to have heard it from a Syrian Christian storyteller from Aleppo by the name Youhenna Diab although another name is mentioned as Abu abd-Allah Muhammed el-Gahshigar. The original full text was allegedly very anti-semitic where naïve Aladdin was exploited and tricked by a Jewish merchant. An upright Muslim competitor saved Aladdin from the treacherous Jew. Aladdin was able to marry Asian princess Badroulbadour from China with the help of the “djinn”, but later on, the sorcerer tricks Aladdin’s wife and got the lamp and the djinn. In the end, Aladdin was able to recover his wife and the lamp (Wikipedia, 2006). The Walt Disney animated version of Aladdin is openly revised commercially and for western viewing purposes. It took place in a mystical medieval city called Agrabah based in Baghdad as home of the 1001 Arabian Nights. It opened with the daily lifestyle of poor boy Aladdin who snatches from merchants for a living. He has a pet monkey called Abu who connives with him along the way. The other main characters are Princess Jasmine, whom Aladdin saw one time in the marketplace, her father the Sultan, and the sultan’s vizier Jafar, the sorcerer who wants to become the sultan himself. Through the manoeuvring of Jafar, Aladdin was able to get the magic lamp and became like a prince himself to make Jasmine fall for him. But Jafar soon stole the magic lamp and revealed the lies of poor Aladdin. Jafar went as far as wishing he himself is the powerful genie. Of which he was imprisoned back inside the magic lamp (Walt Disney, 1992). Discussion: While regular movie viewers, especially for Disney animation fans, may find the movie “Aladdin” a classic Disney “family” movie and a comedy hit as entertaining, and with “general patronage” rating (Movieweb, 2006), those who may be conscious of its “Oriental” roots may find it discriminatory, if not downright insulting to common sense. Since it is blatantly portrayed as an Arab-set movie, some of the characters, basically the palace guards or soldiers, were portrayed as dimwits. Also, the Sultan was also portrayed as someone easily swayed by a vizier’s opinion and one who played loosely with his daughter’s feelings and emotions. This is not always the case in Asian countries. While it may not be altogether denied that there are some Eastern traditions where fixed marriages still are part of the present situation, it cannot be generalised that even a Princess is compromised to marry anybody whom her parents choose. Edward Said (1979) cannot be more exact in his claim about the “westerner” claiming knowledge of the “Oriental” in the Disney movie “Aladdin.” Everything “oriental” was used as a mere backdrop of the story which has become as western as it could get --- except for a few almost unrecognizable themes: it has become centred on the individuals in Jafar, Aladdin, Abu, and Jasmine. Aladdin who seem to exist for himself and Abu by amorally taking things from merchants in order to live and eat, Abu by taking in what he wish, Jafar for taking everything beyond his wants, needs and capacity, and Jasmine for what she hopes, wishes, or believes in. The oriental marketplace, the Arab costumes, merchants, soldiers, palace, have become a plain “production” design that seem to accidentally happened in the fortunate or unfortunate “oriental” city, or place. The familial bonding which is undoubtedly oriental is hazed, and clouded as the greed of supposedly “Moroccan” (or allegedly “western”) Jafar which cannot be seemed justified due to his accent, became the overpowering theme to be subdued (Wikipedia, 2006). What maybe the most revolting about the movie is the portrayal of oriental women as liberal and Las Vegas stripper types, from Jasmine to the genie’s dancers (Buck, 2005) and other musical overtones and extravagance the movie presented. If anything, night-club dancers and bikini-clad entertainers are also of western innovation. Jasmine, despite portrayed as a princess in Baghdad, wore low-waist pyjama pants paired with a bra-type top which cannot be said as something common, or ever practiced at all in the orient, except for very modernised select places. Jasmine also never wore a face veil, and although some of the women dancers had veils, these veils were the transparent type worn by Hollywood starlets in parties or gatherings. While it is a common practice among westerners to “flaunt it when you have it”, meaning to show body curves and skin whether in the confines of their homes to the street and leisure places such as the beach, eastern people may find baring the skin as provocative, if not rebellious and simply out-of-place. So, to portray an Oriental princess in a way like Jasmine in the movie, is very much western in concept and depth. Said (1979) further noted that early western travelogues carried, “place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences” about the east, or the oriental. So, that this notion has made a stereotype of thinking among westerners in the popular culture, specifically the movies. Said (1979) wrote “the Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity...” which Aladdin perfectly presented. In fact, there is short of claiming “morality” as a western monopoly, as if the basis of “western” morality originated elsewhere but. It had seemed that Orientals are non-rational, non-thinking and non-feeling beings as exemplified by Jafar’s soldiers or guards who blindly obey his orders despite the presence of a sultan. “The Orient of Orientalists is a constructed artifact through which the West explains, expounds, objectifies and demonstrates its own contemporary concerns” is what Sardar (1999) echoes in his observation about western notion of the orient. By presenting an “Oriental” themed movie “Aladdin”, the West through Disney manifests mastery on the ways, culture and tradition, and lifestyle of the people of the East, which, when actually viewed by an Oriental, is actually as foreign as it (Aladdin the Disney movie) could get. Conclusion: The movies, specifically Hollywood, have become a modern “presenter” of “facts” for most of its viewers. All forms of media are not surprisingly devoted and produced fanatics which can no longer separate fiction form real life. This has become so that fiction becomes the truth when magnified in the movie. Unfortunately, it has also become for most the truth, however discriminatory and false, as long as high grossing such as Aladdin. And the larger tragedy is the multitude of movie followers or viewers who have become victims of distortion. The notion of “Orientalism” which has been noted by Said and Sardar, among other observers, is not limited to fiction and the movies. In fact, even supposedly academics and educated elites may have a seemingly “fascinating” view of eastern, Arabic or Asian culture and practices as if culture, tradition and beliefs are like “monopolies” of a few. Most “modern” or western groups, organisations and individuals seem to concern themselves over the “backwardness” or exoticism of the east, as people from the east are imported to their places to take care of their sick, disabled and helpless. At most, some propagate about spreading “care and kindness” as such high standards of modernity, value and high form of morality, while they import “caregivers” from the Orient. If Aladdin the Disney movie was a clue, it only signifies the utter lack of knowledge of the west regarding the Oriental, except for what Marco Polo could have revealed to them centuries ago, of the East’s advancement in the arts and sciences, luxury of garments and accessories, food and drinks, grandeur of architecture and lifestyle. In my opinion, media, from entertainment to serious news agencies, must be very careful on how to portray delicate issues such as beliefs and faiths as mainstream “other” cultures have not penetrated the mass influence of their western counterpart. Race, ethnicity, religion and other distinctive features of peoples around the world have already caused so much misery and misunderstanding as obscured by mass media. The people behind and upfront must learn from it. Respect must always be viewed as a two-way process and not something to taunt what are perceived as “others” from the self. No wonder, Sardar (1999) described Aladdin the animated movie one of the worst movies of all time. Had it not used one people’s culture and practices as a “mere backdrop,” it could have passed as a world classic. Reference: Buck, Joan Juliet. “High Adventure.” Vogue, November, 2005. Burton, Richard Francis. 1001 Arabian Nights. Kamashastra Society. 1885. Bushnaq, Inea. Arab Folktales. New York: Pantheon Books. 1986. Crocker, John. “The History of The Arabian Night’s Entertainments.” 2006 from http://www.crock11.freeserve.co.uk/arabian.htm Felperin, Leslie. “the Thief of the Buena Vista: Disney’s Aladdin and Orientalism.” A Reader in Animation Studies ed. By Jane Pilling. J. Libbey. 1997 Freeland, Cynthia. “1001 Resources and Links for A Thousand and One Nights (“Arabian Nights”).” January 26, 2005. 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