Walt Disney’s Aladdin was the most successful film, grossing $504 million dollars worldwide in the year of 1992. It was originally a tale told from the many tales in the classic book, “One Thousand and One Nights.” The setting of the book version is in China whereas the setting in the film, is in the city of Agrabah in an Arabian land. The reason behind the setting change and many other changes in the movie were influenced by the current political events that have occurred before the release of the film. In August of 1990, Iraq, ruled by Saddam Hussein at the time, invaded Kuwait. By January 1991, the U.S., along with 34 other countries deployed their own troops to Kuwait, trying to restore order to it. The Gulf War lasted six months (History.com). A year later, Aladdin, Disney’s first and only film with an Arab setting was released. Through the historical lens, this film deliberately mirrors the Gulf war conflict, shows Hollywood’s connection to politics, derides the Middle Eastern and Arab culture with Arab stereotypes, and also displays the dualism between the western and Arab cultures through the drawings of the characters.
The Gulf war was mirrored through Aladdin, the film. One similarity that can be obvious and easy to analyze is the evil character in both reality and in the film. Jafar is portrayed as the dark, evil character. He only wears dark clothes and his voice is very evil and conniving when he speaks. Through the historical lens, Jafar is a portrayal of Saddam Hussein. This is proven because throughout the beginning of the movie, Jafar is constantly and secretly plotting to take control of Agrabah. The narrator begins the story of Aladdin by stating, “It begins on a dark night, where a dark man waits with a dark ...
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Aladdin, a Disney Classic Movie, in my opinion, teaches kids and adults alike some of life’s most important lessons. First, Aladdin teaches that sometimes what we seem to want the most is not as we expect it to be. Next, the story of Aladdin also teaches that there are always people who think just to gain for themselves even if they seem to be our most trusted friends. Most importantly, Aladdin teaches us that one must not lie about or pretend being someone that they’re not just to impress. I have found that every Disney movie has something to teach and Aladdin, in between humor, action, and love, teaches these lessons in such a memorable way.
Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...
The Iraq war, also known as the second Gulf War, is a five-year, ongoing military campaign which started on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. One of the most controversial events in the history of the western world, the war has caused an unimaginable number of deaths, and spending of ridiculous amounts of money. The reason for invasion war Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, which eventually was disproved by weapons inspectors. Many people question George W. Bush’s decision to engage a war in Iraq, but there might be greater reason why the decision was made. The ideas of George W. Bush might have been sculpted by one of the greatest works of all time, "The Prince."
Faulker, William. American Studies at The University of Virginia . 1 April 1997. Online. 15 March 2014.
The war between Iraq and Iran initiated in 1980 and it lasted eight years (3). The invasion of Kuwait started on the second of August 1990. There are reasons and consequences for this invasion that I am going to talk about in this essay
The popular Disney film Aladdin follows the story of “street-urchin” and orphan Aladdin and his pet monkey Abu. In the story, Aladdin falls in love with princess Jasmine. However, she is not allowed to marry anyone other than a prince. Meanwhile, Aladdin is swept away to become a part of a ploy by villain Jafar to search for and claim a mysterious lamp that is said to grant wishes. The movie is full of false representations of Arabia and Arabians. Seen by children, Aladdin perfectly exemplifies the idea that many racial stereotypes in the media easily go unnoticed. While these young boys and girls are excited by the story, they are blind to treacherous social constructions that are indoctrinating them.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
Pre-invasion Iraq reflected the views and policies of its leader, Saddam Hussein, who made his first political appearance as a supporter of the Ba’ath Party. He was jailed in 1967 for this, and after his escape quickly rose to power within the faction. (Saddam Hussein Biography, 2008) Saddam became known for his political talent and progressiveness, and soon became a popular politician. After working on extensive unification and expansion efforts for the Ba’athists, the man rose to vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Faced with a tremendous amount of religious, racial, social and economic divisions, Saddam launched a campaign of total control to bring about stability.
Breen, T.H., H.W. Brands, et al. America: Past and Present. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson, Print.
In 1980, the militant state of Iraq, led by President Saddam Hussein invaded the Republic of Iran. Predicted to be an overwhelming victory for Iraq, the war took a different turn. It was an even battle, one that lasted eight years. After these eight years, the Iraqi economy was in a dire situation. Iraq's oil business was losing to other Arab countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who were producing more oil for less money. Iraq needed more oil money to support the massive military it had amassed. On August 2, 1990, Iraq decided to invade Kuwait so that they could obtain Kuwait's oil and possibly gain access to the Saudi oil fields. This led to political conflict that eventually started the Gulf War between the US-led UN Coalition forces and Iraq. Although the US was successful in forcing Iraq to retreat from Kuwait, they made a poor exit which allowed Iraq to keep much of their military and left Hussein in power, which in turn caused many problems in the years to come.