Frequently, American filmmakers turn to the culture and aesthetics of the East, which is unusual for Western audiences. However, the vision of Eastern countries in such films is characterized by cliché in the image since filmmakers pay more attention to the scenery and plot twists without trying to understand cultural identity. This aspect corresponds to the theory of orientalism, which is a style of thinking based on the ontological and epistemological differences between the East and West (Said, 1978). One example of a cinema saturated with orientalist ideas is the new film adaptation of Aladdin, released in 2019 and filled with ideas of caricatures of the East, racism, and Islamophobia.
Special attention should be paid to the lyrics of the songs performed in the film. The lyrics to the opening song, “Arabian Nights,” were changed in the 2019 version from the 1992 cartoon. Rindner (2019) notes that this change responds to complaints from the Arab minority in the United States who felt offended. The original version of the song contained the lines: “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it’s barbaric, bet hey, it’s home” (Rindner, 5). Nevertheless, in their defense, the creators of the cartoon argue that they are not talking about people but the area as a whole.
The new lyrics attempt to change the culturally insensitive line by portraying Agrabah as “chaotic” rather than “barbaric.” Moreover, the songs contain a more vivid representation of Agrabah, including descriptions of bazaars with traders selling silk and satin and stalls smelling of cardamom, a typical Middle Eastern spice. Also, the change in the song “Prince Ali,” such as the transition from the original “Sunday Salaam” to the new “Friday Salaam,” is more culturally accurate since Friday is a holy day for Muslims. It demonstrates the efforts of Disney to become a cultural sensibility. However, against the backdrop of many retained Orientalist traits, this desire to create an actual Arab setting is more like an Oriental fantasy (Benshoff & Griffin, 2021). Thus, the lyrics in Aladdin are insensitive to Arab society and culture.
The film is filled with great dance scenes, which, however, are primarily not related to Middle Eastern culture but more like dancing from Bollywood. Indicative is the episode when Aladdin arrives at the palace as Prince Ali Ababa. Benshoff and Griffin (2021) find it inappropriate for Guy Ritchie’s attempts to incorporate massive Bollywood dance scenes into the Aladdin adaptation. Due to the typical Bollywood dance moves accompanied by the singing of animals native to the Indian region, including elephants, tigers, and monkeys, Aladdin looks more like an Indian fairy tale than an Arabian one.
Furthermore, during a late-night event where couples have to dance together, Aladdin begins another awkward dance that is neither Bollywood nor any form of Arabic dance. Thus, trying to pay tribute to Eastern dance traditions, the creators of Aladdin reduced this art form to a Western interpretation. Moreover, in almost all of the dance scenes in Aladdin, the footage was deliberately filmed so that the dancers move faster than they are physically capable (Alhamshary, 2021, p. 1681). Thus, the dance performances in Aladdin‘s film, which are similar to traditional Indian dances, look dismissive of Middle Eastern culture.
Orientalism and stereotyping can be traced to the appearance of the heroes, including in clothes. So, Jasmine uses a veil, not for religious or cultural reasons, as is customary in the Middle East, but to hide her belonging to a princess and not draw attention to herself. Since the cartoon did not have a clear explanation of why she was forbidden to leave the palace, it was assumed that the Arab society was dominant, which imposed restrictions on Jasmine’s freedom of action (Bullock & Zhou, 2017, p. 451). However, the new film explains that she is not allowed to go out because her mother was killed after leaving the palace, which contributes to the spread of prejudice about Arab culture among viewers.
Moreover, as in the dance episodes, the costume designers in the heroes’ outfits mixed Arabic and Indian features. Thus, both women and men are dressed in typical Indian costumes such as harem pants, gagras, kurta, and sherwani (Berker, 2021, p.958). For example, the Jasmine outfit featured in the episode on the market, which is made up of vibrant colors and contemporary designs, is more reminiscent of modern Indian salwar kameez and dupatta than Arabic fashion. Jasmine’s outfit differs from other women in the bazaar, who wear clothes typical of the Middle East. It demonstrates Disney’s attempt to differentiate between the two cultures rather than bringing them together as it did in the original film.
Remarkably, in some aspects, Disney has made progress and avoided orientalism, but not in the case of outfits. Jasmine’s new garb on the market is very different from the original; her original attire consisted of what looked like a simple brown shyla and abaya, clothing more in keeping with the Arabian Peninsula (Theyssen, 2020, p.32). Thus, it is not entirely clear what ideas were guided by the customers in the film Aladdin. Perhaps they failed to distinguish between two completely different styles since the whole conditional East is one for them, or they preferred a more colorful and bright one.
Continuing the reflection on the appearance of the characters, it is noteworthy that the actors in the film are representatives of different nationalities. The role of Aladdin is played by the Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud. In turn, the role of Jasmine is performed by the British actress of Indian birth Naomi Scott, and her maid is the Iranian actress Nasim Pedrad. Will Smith as Genie is Afro-American, the Iranian Navid Negahban is the Sultan, and Tunisian Marwan Kenari is Jafar. On the one hand, by choosing actors from different cultures, creators take an interest in other ethnic groups and cultures than their own (Islam and Akter, 2020, 74). On the other hand, by this fact, they show disrespect for the Arab ethnicity.
The falsification of Arab culture in the Aladdin film was not limited to appearance and musical scenes but was also reflected in spatial representation and architecture. It is noticeable that between 1992 and 2019, the creators changed their preferences for cultural expression, but the Indian architectural formation was preserved (Altinoz, 2021, p.287). They filled the space with Persian and Indian miniatures and ornate ceramics and made it very glamorous with curtains and lamps, which is not in keeping with traditional Arab culture. It is noteworthy that the authors explain this fact by the fact that Agrabah is located on the Great Silk Road, where cultural influences from other regions can be found. They are inspired by Moroccan, Persian, and Byzantine architecture and history, as well as elements of Arab, Indian, and South Asian cultures. However, this is more like orientalism and oversight of the authors, who did not seem to seek to show Arab culture in its purest form and pursued only commercial goals.
Therefore, the cultural environment of the East in the 2019 version of Aladdin is characterized by a hybrid form, including Indian and Egyptian. The use of traditional Indian motives instead of Arab ones is a blatant distortion of Arab culture, which takes the viewer away from the authentic representation of cultural characteristics. By analyzing songs, dances, clothing, physical appearance, and architectural features, it is possible to identify probable marketing prerogatives of the film and the audience for which it was created.
References
Alhamshary, Y. A. (2021). “Aladdin” in the eyes of Disney 2019: Reflections on cultural representation of Middle East identity.
Altinoz, M. O. (2021). Spatial and architectural representations of the East in selected western films and games. In I. Tombul & G. Sarı (Eds.), Handbook of research on contemporary approaches to Orientalism in media and beyond (pp. 283-303). IGI Global.
Benshoff, H. M. & Griffin, S. (2021). America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. Wiley.
Berker, D. Y. (2021). Reproducing orientalism with cinema: Aladdin (2019). In I. Tombul & G. Sarı (Eds.), Handbook of research on contemporary approaches to orientalism in media and beyond (pp. 953–973). Information Science Reference.
Bullock, K. & Zhou, S. (2017). Entertainment or blackface? Decoding Orientalism in a post-9/11 era: Audience views on Aladdin. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 39(5), 446-469.
Islam, M. M. & Akter, N. (2020). Disney’s Aladdin (2019), the old rum in the new Bottle. Ultimacomm: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, 12(1), 72-87.
Rindner, G. (2019). The new Aladdin movie changed problematic lyrics from the original’s “Arabian Nights.” Genius. Web.
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books.
Theyssen, J. (2020). “A whole new world”? – A comparative analysis of Middle Eastern representation in Aladdin 1992 and Aladdin 2019. Leiden University.