Aladdin and exoticism (Was an assignment but found it interesting)


Aladdin
The story of Aladdin as we know today is not one of a Middle-Eastern origin but written by a French writer in the 18th century, who claims to have heard it orally from a man in Aleppo. Why this tale from Fables proves to be problematic is because for the longest time and even today, Aladdin was regarded as a representation of Middle East, this despite the fact that Aladdin was set in China. This oriental story of a middle-eastern love story between two people belonging to two different socio-economic backgrounds. The Disney movie then only worked to perpetuate these inaccurate stereotypes of the Arabs from China, as the movie which was set in the city of Agrabah features the song lyrics “From a faraway place/Where they cut off your ear/If they don’t like your face/It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home”. The hero and heroine of the movie are light skinned with American accents as compared to the dark-skinned villains and lowly status people with thick Arabic accents. This orientalist representation of the Middle East made full of stereotypes about the East, as the culture of Agrabah seems to be a gross amalgamation of Indian, Muslim and other South Asian cultures showing how little research was actually put into the fairy tale and showing how little importance it was given despite it being a gateway of knowledge about the Middle East and its culture for majority of the West. Aladdin’s love interest originally named Badroulbadour was changed to Jasmine to make it easier for the Western audience, the main target for this tale. Furthermore, Jasmine was dressed in the attire of a belly-dancer despite being a member of the royal family. The exoticism of these characters was heavily accentuated and the historical and cultural inaccuracies largely ignored.

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