This ambiguity, I think, has led to a meshing of cultures and practices in pop culture, especially in portrayals of the Middle East and South Asia. What jumps at me first is the classic Disney film Aladdin. Of course, Aladdin is based on the character from the Middle Eastern story One Thousand and One Nights which is also known as Arabian Nights. The film starts out with the song Arabian nights (which clearly hints that this is supposed to be an Arab country) and had some really interesting lyrics in the original version of the movie that went:
"Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, its barbaric, but hey, its home!" They changed it in later released versions of the film to "Where its flat and immense and the heat is intense. Its barbaric, but hey, its home." Interesting that they kept the barbaric line...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUAhSGZtvU - link to the original version of the song.
As the film goes on we see clear South Asian influences, specifically from India. The Sultan's palace bears a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal. The turbans worn by several men in the film look very much like the turbans worn of Sikh men, who practice a religion that originated in present day India and is still most widely practiced there (to be fair, lots of Arab men wear turbans, regardless of their religion). And Princess Jasmine has a Bengal Tiger for a pet - India and Bangladesh's national animal.
So what are the implications of melding several countries and cultures together to make one weird Middle Eastern/South Asian fantasy world? Where are we supposed to "draw the line" between Asian cultures and countries? Why would Disney do this in the first place? Why is Aladdin an important "encounter" or is it?
3 comments:
I definitely think that "Aladdin" is an important encounter - not only was it extremely popular when it was released in the early 90's, but it is has huge staying power thanks to the power of the Disney corporation. Think of some of the Halloween costumes you saw this weekend - did you see anybody dressed up as Princess Jasmine (I know Kim Kardashian did)? As far as Disney's creation of a Middle Eastern "fantasy land," why is Jasmine's outfit the most revealing of all Disney Princesses? I'm sure her outfit and the creation of Agrabah (the city that Aladdin lives in) in general was a roundabout result of the influence of Said's "Orientalism," which McAllister discussed in her book.
I thought the question, "why do we group all of the countries of the middle east into one bloc?" was interesting. I think we bloc them together because the west likes to put structure to things, to define them, and control them. By hemogenizing the east, we can pick certain issues and conflicts to attribute to the entire area. For example, saying that women are subordinate in all areas and then making it our responsibility to "free" them from this oppression under western ideals.
Also, it is interesting that India does not refer itself as the "middle east" so by putting Indian influences in the film, the west is further grouping together large land masses under one name and one culture. When in fact, each area of Asia has its own culture and subcultures and the people view each subculture very differently.
I agree that 'Aladdin' is an important encounter especially since for some children it could be their first interaction with the perception of the middle east. When thinking about what popular culture representations reflect the middle east, Aladdin was one of the first that came to mind. As a first encounter the Disney film can be very problematic, as others such as Pocahontas can (the songs depicting all indigenous persons as savages), especially, as Katie says, because the Middle East is shown to be a fantasy land created from different cultures. Disney films remain so predominant in youth culture and yet the unrealistic and often untruthful portrayals are allowed to pass.
I also agree that the question of why countries of the middle east are blocked together stems from the Western need to contain things and put borders around areas they cannot comprehend. This may be an odd analogy but during the Cold War, the U.S's fear of communism led to the policy of containment because the country felt threatened. In a similar way the U.S's inability to understand middle eastern culture has led to a meshing of different areas that have their own respective understandings of one another and themselves.
Post a Comment