The Orientalism of Aladdin

Ever wondered why Arabs have always been portrayed as camel riders, sexual harem girls, violent men with thick beards and big noses, and always in the desert? Well, it all goes back to Orientalism. “Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world. These depictions are usually made by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world.” These depictions are literally made up, they are based on fantasies. Art, music, films, and tv shows have always depicted Arabs inaccurately, Aladdin is one of them. Orientalism is ingrained in the Western mind and media.

Aladdin is a Disney movie released in 1992, it is supposed to take place in Baghdad. “However, due to the Gulf War, the directors decided to set the story in the fictional city of Agrabah, an adaptation of Baghdad”. The movie had many issues including xenophobia, featurism, colorism, and fetishization.

The movie starts off with the song “Arabian Nights”, in which the unedited version of the lyrics were:

“Oh, I come from a land

From a faraway place

Where the caravan camels roam.

Where they cut off your ear

If they don't like your face

It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.”

Jasmine is the most sexulized Disney princess. She is also the only Disney princess not wearing a dress, even though dresses are part of the cultural clothing in many Arab cultures. The movie depicted Jasmine in Harem girls clothing, which inherently sexulizes her. It is worth mentioning that Jasmine’s character is 16. Additionally, Jasmine was shown in a scene trying to seduce Jaffar by being sexual. Jasmine did not escape the Harem girl trope, which is very harmful for Arab women.

Jaffar and the men that were running after Aladdin at about 10 minutes into the movie, the evil men, have a heavy accent, thick beard and big noses. This villainizes Arab men and indirectly calls them savages. During the hunt, you can see Aladdin entering a room where Harem girls were staying at as well as an older looking woman. The Harem girls had small features, while the older looking women had big features, example big nose. This trope is very harmful as it, as it masculinizes Arab girls with big noses and consider them ugly or unattractive. It also enables bullying.

The unattractive arab girls trope is very harmful. An example on how so is when ppl bullied Kim K (even though she is not arab but half Armenian, both from west asia meanes having similar features) for her nose and called her Jaffar. People subconsciously masculinize arab and west asian girls for their features.

The clothing that all the main characters had in the movie was inaccurate, it does not represent Iraqi culture or any Arab culture. For example, Jasmines clothing consisted of Persian pants and a belly dancer top. Aladdin’s clothing which consisted of the fez, which originated in Morocco, the Persian pants, and a vest with his chest exposed. You can clearly see the inconsistencies and how inaccurate it is.

The movie Aladdin is a racist mess. The issue is never addressed because people say it is a fantasy movie or a kids movie, but if you’re specifying the group of people the movie is about than it is not really fictional. Arabs are not fictional and should be treated with respect when it comes to their diverse cultures. Aladdin is just one of the many movies that portrayed Arabs in this harmful way. In 2001, many Americans voted to bomb Agrabah, a fictional city. This only proves that what exists in media affects the mind.

If you search up “Arabian princess“, the results would be women in Jasmines clothing, not real life aArab princess. Arabs are being ignored and treated as fictional and people do not notice that.

Orientalism is a real issue that harms people of color and ignores their existence. It is one of the issues that should always be talked about and addressed.