Disney, Aladdin and 'Subtle' Racism | Film Essay and Analysis

Just because you add colour, comedy and caricatures, doesn't make it not racist.
Letterboxd profile: letterboxd.com/CaelinRGT/
Music:
Background music via www.FesliyanStudios.com
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:35 What is the Orient?
03:53 Before Aladdin, there was...
05:59 The Thief of Bagdad
08:32 Disney's Aladdin - Story Recap
09:45 Aladdin: The Setting
13:30 Aladdin: The Characters
16:31 Why, Disney? Why?
22:23 Conclusion
Sources:
"Orientalism" book, Edward Said, 1978
www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019...
www.pookpress.co.uk/project/h...
www.rogerebert.com/reviews/al...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...

[@ruliak]

It is such a shame all of those cultures have been historically blended together in the name of imperialism. As an american I have only recently scratched the surface of the individual richness of different countries, and how much we have destroyed and taken from them.

[@ethanotoroculus1060]

It's wonderful to see that people are starting to break down the prejudices we were taught growing up. Maybe our generation will do a bit better.

[@wiel5908]

america is literally a melting pot where the immigrants culture are absorbed in a greater one

[@yurironoue5888]

The Middle East isn't just Arab and Muslim. Centuries of Arab, Kurdish, Iranian and Turkic Islamic Imperialism have rendered the region's other ethnoreligious communities, namely, the Assyrians, Copts, Yazidis, Maronites, Arameans, Mandeans, Samaritans and Armenians among others to be ethnic minorities in their own lands.

[@user-zy4jd9fn7g]

Bro we are talking about the arabs this video is talking about the arab people not the middle east as a hole you missed the entire point of the video to blame a religion okay so a guess Christianity is at fault for wiping out the natives American's it's at fault of colonialism and forced conversation because before colonialism most of the people of Africa were pagan and what is even is Islamic imperialism and as a know must Egyptian converted to islam the Muslims took centuries to become the Muslim and most of these groups you mentioned are leaving the middle east by there own will nobody is forcing them but there leaving you are literally everything this video is talking about this video is talking about arabs it talking about Arabia not the middle east

[@lkeke35]

Making their villains darker in skin tone to the heroic characters is a common feature in most of Disney's 2D animation. I would argue that it was a fairly common trope, and who knows what ultimate effect that trope had on the millions of kids watching Disney films as they grew up!

[@michaelahellmich7843]

It is nothing new. In Greek and Roman times the heroes and the beautiful are more often than not coloured brighter. It showes their noble upbringing etc. They do not have to work in the sun and darken their skin etc. The trope is as old as time.

[@houselemuellan8756]

The Twisted Musical's "Why is everyone in the Kingdom white?!" joke was the perfect jab at this movie lmao

[@Cyberleader672]

I will defend one part of the movie. There is a reason why the world of Aladdin is portrayed as more violent than other DIsney movies, it's becasue one of the movie's themes is how poor people are treated harshley by soiciety and you need the setting to be portrayed as more dangeorus to fit that theme

[@andreadrussel2716]

Robin Hood's Nottingham wasn't portrayed as a violent place despite having the same theme of poor versus rich. If Aladdin only had the guards being brutal because they work for Jafar (also acab) it would be fine, but having the merchant willing to cut someone else's arm is too much.

[@Cyberleader672]

@@andreadrussel2716 That's because Robin Hood is almost entirely comedic. Even what the villains do is supposed to be funny in how mean it is rather than serious like the Sherrif stealing from a kid's birthday or children being thrown in jail, supposed to be funny because it's so over the top. Robin Hood gets out of every fight winning and the villains are always portrayed as jokes. Aladdin on the other hand while comedic has those serious moments like Aladdin singing about how he wishes people saw him differently or when Jafar sends him away. So the movie needs this more violent edge to it to help get the message across

[@SergioArellano-yd7ik]

Song of the south was not racist. It played all over Africa. They were proud because they recognized brer rabbit and Fox as characters from their own folklore.

[@thatonestarkidfan3918]

i grew up thinking i was white and just a bit different-looking (my mother is iranian, but i never met her until later in my life), and i remember aladdin being my favourite disney movie, until i became a bit older and realised that a lot of the villains looked like me, which sparked some mental health issues in me from a young age... i dont think people realise how detrimental these stereotypes can be for children who are middle-eastern as well!!

[@carri0n977]

Thank you for making this video. I watched Aladdin for the first time with my brother yesterday, I don't know much about Arab countries but seeing the warning in the begining and just the things the characters said and did I thought this movie was build on stereotypes, my brother said I was exagerating and that it was probably similar to how Coco portrayed Mexico (we live in Mexico). Boy was I right and actually understating how bad that was

[@victorlolxd7347]

14:36 I am pretty sure they only gave them slightly different skintones so they would not clash But like… Jasmine looks NOTHING like a White American teenager 13:37 Her nose is long and narrow the skin around her eyes have slight color to it (Which i guess is meant to be makeup but you get the point) her eyebrows are Big and bushy aswell and her eyeshape is clearly the middle eastern one That is a semitic girl if she had White skin she would have looked like a ethnic jewish woman or albino And they clearly went out of their way to make sure she looked semitic Compared to the other 2D Brown Disney heroines like Pocahontas looks nothing like an arab (cause she aint) Same thing with Esmaralda… She clearly aint arab either

[@alexisgarcia1344]

The interesting fact not stated in this video. When Aladdin came out, the US was going to invade Iraq. The creators gave the city a different name as a way to distance itself from Bagdad. The story underwent several changes as Aladdin would be closer to 12 with a mother. However, they realized it didn't quite work for the film, but many of the ideas were used in the 2014 Aladdin Broadway show. It can not be remiss that since 1979, the US involvement in the region has been volatile. US relations with Iran were detorating. The US Embassy hostage situation, the Iran/Iraq War in the early 80s, conflict in Beruit, oil embargos, and a plethera of geopolitical conflict. Aladdin was in production before Beauty and the Beast with story changes, character changes, and other creative influences. Long story short, the creators are American looking at the Middle East from Western eyes. Which is very nuanced by region, dialect, politically, and historically. I do not believe anyone on the team was from the region, or if they were, they were not in a position to contribute to the film in a meaningful way. The problem with the live action still has an enmeshment problem. Indian culture is not the same as Arab culture. There may be things that overlap but are very different, culturally and linguistically. The other side of this historical/political coin is Disney was and to some extent, an entertainment powerhouse. Aladdin was the first non-white character/story undertaken in the modern cultural collective for Disney. Aladdin was marketed to young boys to be the hero, which was different from previous "princess" stories. This means Aladdin was fetishized, too.

[@gaudium-wille9470]

the thing is Aladdin is an arabic story (yeah, we know he was *chinese* but China of that age is not china of this age.. persia could be considered part china in the eyes of an ancient arabic citizen) yet there is no arabc presentation.. even the costumes are all wrong??? most costumes are either pakistani/indian/persian or Turkish inspired.. not one is arabic??? the location, the castle shape, even the exotic words that Gemie apparently uses in his songs are not arabic (a lot were turkish)... legitimately when I watched this movie when I was younger, I tjought Aladdin and Jasmine were south asian.. and Disney Aladdin feels like an amalgamation of south asian cultures.. but one thing destroys that amd that is: the Arabian nights song at the beginning

[@antonioemilio5179]

The Genie culturally appropriating the color blue from the Smurfs is definitely not subtle racism.

[@keldaoldman4826]

Another fantastic video! I'm so hyped for an analysis of the remake 😊 I really liked your comparison with the thief of Baghdad as I'd never heard of it before and it was really interesting

[@taylornusteling8692]

Yes, do the same with the remake.

[@begaydocrime5719]

they literally wanted to base aladdin on Tom Cruise, a WHITE GUY, so yeah, there's definitely some weird brown face undertones in the character designs

[@tylerr-zj8ou]

So what... there casting a BROWN WOMAN as snow WHITE lol the white face is real

[@mongezisibande9289]

Great video!!! Appreciate it so much

[@miguelbayne4506]

I'm surprised you didn't discuss the scene with the lady who says "Still I think he's rather tasty."

[@Jessica-fg1hf]

Great video!

[@julianosvonskingrad7009]

This definition of "Orient" is only correct for english-speaking countries. In the majority of languages / countries, the Orient ends with the "typical arabian / nowadays muslim countries", meaning somewhere at the pakistanian-indian border. It is extremely uncommon to include asian countries. Those are always referred as "Fast East".

[@seyspectra]

Uh, but the countries before India are Asian too. Asia starts after the Uralic and Caucasian mountains basically, that means everything after (and including most of) Turkey is Asian.

[@wiel5908]

i dont get the point, the entiry history in the original book was written by muslim about how they perceived china, a mystical distant place, you know, it turns out that even brown people can be racist with yellow people and have their own version of orientalism

[@psychguy]

Yay one of the best cartoons of ALL TIME! Classic.