Examples Of Racism In Aladdin

Disney’s portrayal of culture and race in their fairy-tale love stories had often led to backlash and criticism due to racist elements. It’s not a new concept the Disney films have poorly represented the experiences of people of color. As far as Disney Princesses are concerned, the women of color tend to be far less prominent than their Caucasian counterparts. The movie Aladdin (1992) showcases an Arabian princess Jasmine, the first women of color among the Disney princesses. They marketed the movie to people “of all races” devising “Brown” as a monolith to represent all Middle Eastern, South Asian, Black and Latin experiences, which obviously came with some heavy backlash as it shows negative stereotypical imagery and lyrics. Its cast featured

Main characters that the audience is meant to admire, like Aladdin and Jasmine, have Western features, lighter skin, and American accents, while nefarious or impoverished characters like Jafar and shopkeepers have beards, hooked noses, and thick, Middle Eastern accents. Jafar’s evil is further manifested in his curly beard and traditional clothing—while Aladdin is clean-shaven, mostly shirtless, and very hetero. These kinds of audiovisual cues are not accidents in the

The Sultan is fair-skinned and Jasmine is slightly darker than him. They are the pure, good, “white characters. They are also the riches characters. Being that they are the whitest, symbolizing the epitome of goodness, one can automatically assume that they would be in charge of leading the people, guiding them. The color hierarchy between them is also part of the problem. The Sultan is the whitest, which is why he is at the top in society. Jasmine comes second by association and because she is slightly darker than her father. Aladdin makes the perfect husband for her because his complexion is identical to Jasmine’s, which mean that he fits into the color