The controversy around the new Disney remake, Aladdin, explained

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Disney's live action Aladdinremake of his animated film of 1992, has finally arrived in theaters and, on the one hand, it is a feat. The production, directed by Guy Ritchie, had a heavy cultural baggage to conquer, and has sparked controversy and skepticism about its premises and its execution since the beginning of the shoot.

The reaction is not entirely the fault of the film of 2019. Although the original film is a critically acclaimed masterpiece, it was also immersed in Orientalism and harmful racist representations of Arab culture. The new film has largely escaped the exoticism and cultural inaccuracies of its inspiration, but despite Ritchie's obvious efforts to produce a more respectful version of reality. AladdinThis may not be enough to satisfy many of its detractors.

The Council on US-Islamic Relations issued a press release earlier this week asking critics and critics to acknowledge that "the myth of Aladdin is rooted in racism, Orientalism and the" Islamophobia "and" to address concerns about racial and religious stereotypes perpetuated by society ". [new] Disney movie. "

Most people think that the story of Aladdin comes from the original 1001 nights Tales, which is a collection of traditional folklore from the Middle East and Asia. But in fact, Aladdin is not a traditional tale; its history is different and it still provokes controversy today.

The tale of Aladdin was born from a mix of cultural influences – each with an orientalist point of view

Aladdin had no known sources before the French writer Antoine Galland inserts it into his 18th century translation of 1001 nights. Galland claimed to have heard from a Syrian storyteller, but asserting that your original story was coming from an exotic and distant source is a common literary means, and it is likely that this Syrian storyteller did not find it. never existed. In other words, a Frenchman with a European colonial vision of Asia gave us the original Aladdin.

The exoticism of history – a xenophobic vision of other cultures, or of people from these cultures, as somehow strange, unfathomable or alien – is rooted in this framework. Orientalism is a specific idea of exoticism, a well-known idea of Edward Said. Said was a figurehead of early postcolonial research and, in his 1978 book Orientalismhe described the literary and narrative tropes that American and European writers used (and still use) to describe Asia and the Middle East as bizarre, regressive, naturally opaque and impossible to understand. The alteration of these cultures often takes the form of fictionalized representations of these regions as mysterious or fantastic fantastic countries, framed in a colonial perspective.

What is fascinating in the origins of this tale is that even though 1001 nights has been traditionally translated into English Arab nights, the original story did not unfold in the Arab world, but in China. The early nineteenth and twentieth century versions clearly show that Aladdin is culturally Asian.

In this illustration of Aladdin, around 1930, Aladdin and his frame are clearly Chinese. (Unknown artist.)

One could still find many theatrical performances of culturally Chinese Aladdin until the twentieth century, as in this production of Yellowface from a 1935 British pantomime:

Aladdin Chained — Aladdin confronts his kidnapper, described as an imperial Chinese official.

But the Aladdin myth was also a cultural mishmash, with many descriptions of history freely mixing Asian elements and European elements. In a musical burlesque version of 1880, Aladdin seems to have been played by an actor in yellowface, in a contemporary setting that seems culturally European:

This trend to modernize Aladdin continued until the 20th century. As can be seen in this archive photo from a 1925 theatrical production, the story has often been portrayed as an exotic hybrid tale of the East meeting modern styles and fashions English language.

Around 1925: Two actresses watching a fish in a bowl during a show of Aladdin. — Really, a whole new world of cultural appropriation.

However, after the rise of Hollywood, European and American storytellers gradually turned Aladdin into a tale of the Middle East. The film studios played the exotic scenery and put forward cultural stereotypes.

This poster from Aladdin's 1952 film version gives the idea that filmmakers have little interest in authenticity!

And no Hollywood production has done more to consolidate this change than the animated version of Aladdin by Disney.

In 1992, Aladdin codified our way of thinking history – and the new film had to tackle that legacy.

The 1992 *Aladdin* He has clearly described Aladdin as being from the Middle East, but he and the Genie always read themselves as Americans.

Perhaps in response to its so-called Syrian roots, the 1992 animated film transplanted the fictional city of Agrabah, China, somewhere along the Jordan River. But Disney has also given the film several architectural and cultural flourishes that seem to come from India – such as the installation of the Sultan's Palace on the Taj Mahal.

The 1992 film contains many orientalist stereotypes: its myth is imbued with mystical exoticism, and Agrabah is explicitly described as a "city of mystery". Jasmine is a princess who wants to escape an oppressive and dominant culture; its ultimate goal is to get enough independence to marry for love rather than political expediency, which made it evolve strikingly for the moment but seemed hopelessly compelling now. Meanwhile, his father, the sultan, is a talkative, easy-to-handle man-child. The citizens of Agrabah are often described as barbarian bearers of swords and sexualized belly dancers. Worse still, the opening song, "Arabian Nights," originally contained the ridiculously racist phrase: "They cut your ear if they do not like your face / it's barbaric, but hey, is here. "

Perhaps most crucially, the film makes its heroes, Aladdin and Genie, culturally American. Their street geniuses, their cunning and their boasting are all coded as elements that distinguish them from the residents of Agrabah. Genie's famous Robin Williams improvised jokes are anachronistic from contemporary American pop culture. In essence, it is very easy to read Aladdin and the Genie as two Yankees in a country full of other exotics without thinking.

This version of history has become definitive. Therefore, publishing a new version of Aladdin in 2019, is attacking all this baggage at a time when the public is less likely to turn a blind eye to him. Things started badly: Ritchie's choice as a director – excellent when it comes to acting on the street, but less when it comes to nuanced representations of race – does not inspire much confidence.

Then come the controversies one after the other. Early reports that Ritchie and Disney Studios were struggling to play the lead role, partly because of alleged difficulties in finding Arab and Asian actors capable of singing, provoked the indignation of fans. Next, the production was criticized for choosing British actress Naomi Scott, of Indian descent, in the role of Jasmine, instead of a Middle Eastern or Arab actress. And then the news that the film had added a new white male character to the cast, played by In the woodsBilly Magnussen raised more eyebrows. (His role eventually turns out to be a bit added to a comic contrast with Aladdin.)

To top it all off, reports that Disney had "tweaked" some of the actors on the set sparked overwhelming reactions and prompted a quick reaction from Disney, noting that "special care has been taken in the realization of one of the biggest screens "and that" the diversity of our founding interpreters and backgrounds was a necessity and that in only a few cases was it specialized skills, safety and control (special effects installations, stunt and animal handling) blend in. "

Given all this, skepticism about the film has been generalized. Disney and Ritchie seem to have gone to great lengths to produce a respectful film: they wrote more three-dimensionality in most of the main characters, including Jasmine and the Genie, and they removed much of the exotic stereotypes of the movie's predecessor . Nevertheless, there remains a lack of confidence in their final product. The Council on American-Islamic Relations noted before the film's debut in the United States that "as seen through the trailer, the racist themes of the original cartoon seem to reappear in the remake of the actual film, despite the Disney's efforts to address the concerns of 25 years ago. . "

Then there is the tense sociocultural context in which this new real action movie appears. At any other time, Aladdin It may have been nothing more than a dose of multiculturalism, but it emerged at a time when global politics is deeply afflicted, where progressives fought for authentic and ethnically diverse cinema and extremists. – Everyone, from radicals to media fans embarking on an online bombardment of opinion – has demonized and attacked the very idea of multicultural representation. The Council on US-Islamic Relations was also cautious, warning that the release of the film "during the Trump period of anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and racist animus growing rapidly only served to normalize the stereotypes and marginalize minority communities ".

All of these factors have created a path full of pitfalls for the film and seem to have prevented it from finding the essential success. currently, reviews are decidedly mixed. But Disney is a global powerhouse whose films can shape cultural perceptions for generations to come. Aladdin will probably have a lot of traction at the box office. So for the better or for the worse, AladdinCross cultural signals and its troubling heritage are likely to remain in the years to come.

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