Aladdin Live Blog

Observations and commentary of aspects of Aladdin:
As Giroux pointed out in the first piece of his that we read, there is a huge distinction between the good and the bad characters in the movie. Aladdin and Jasmine have very white features and do not have Middle Eastern accents, whereas Jafar and the other people in the town out to get Aladdin are shown with very thick accents and features that tend to line up more with Middle Easterners. In regards to what this means about race, this movie suggests that being of a different race compared to much of the audience is bad and creates evil.
I also think that the movie portrays the people of the town of desperate in how they sell their goods. The way they show the merchants marketing their products and being so angry about thieves suggests that the town is poor and dependent on this small economy. This could be accurate, however I do not know enough about the Middle East to comment on whether or not it accurately depicts the culture there. However, I do think that there are some generalizations made in the movie, such as how people throughout the town are shown doing acupuncture, hot stone therapy, and fire swallowing. To suggest that so many people in the Middle East follow these type of healing strategies is a stretch and is probably not too accurate to the true culture. There is also Arabian music throughout the background of the movie and I feel that the creators could have been a little more creative here.
When Jafar is first introduced we see him with a beard and a shadow over his face--a common way of introducing a villain. The lion type figure also has glowing eyes, and unique eyes suggest evil as well. Later we see how Jafar's face is often darker than his body, giving the illusion of makeup, which suggests another transgendered villain like Governor Radcliffe.
Jasmine is being forced into a marriage like Pocahontas, however Jasmine's problem is she does not feel like she is a prize to be won. When Jasmine runs out into the town and gets caught stealing because she does not understand what money is, she follows Aladdin's lead by mimicking someone with a mental illness. I am not sure if anyone has noticed this before, but I think it would be interesting to see how or if other Disney movies integrate mental illness, because in Aladdin, they simply mock it.
I have watched this movie several times and every time I watch it I always lose interest right before they meet the genie. However, this time I tried to stay focused, and noticed that the genie is very similar to the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. Both are heavier and blue, and both make wishes come true to help the main characters. I liked making this connection and am curious to see if it applies in other movies as well.
Overall, I do not have strong feelings for or against this movie because I think it is sort of bleh. It does not suggest good things about race but it also is not the worst of them all (*cough cough* Cinderella).