Sample Critical Thinking On The Perception Of Arabs In American Consciousness, As Seen Through Aladdin And Reel Bad Arabs

Abstract

The American media has developed a view of what the stereotypical “Arab” individual looks like in the years following World War II. During this time, the media has force-fed the American public an image of a typical Arab, including what this person thinks, how they look, and what they want. This stereotypical image, like the one in Aladdin, has served many purposes, but has been largely effective in the development of Islamophobia as well as to ensure that the American people have been complacent with American foreign policy decisions in the Middle East. Using the films Aladdin and Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, this paper will discuss the issues associated with the portrayal of the Arab in everyday media and culture.
The relationship between the United States and the Arab world has deteriorated significantly in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Although it is difficult to generalize about all Middle Eastern cultures, the American media has still developed a view of what the stereotypical “Arab” individual looks like; the media has force-fed the American public an image of a typical Arab, including what this person thinks, how they look, and what they want. This stereotypical image, like the one in Aladdin, has served many purposes, but has been largely effective in the development of Islamophobia as well as to ensure that the American people have been complacent with American foreign policy decisions in the Middle East.
One thing that the American media has always been extremely good at is the development of a fear response in the American people. The news media and Hollywood may appear to be two separate entities, but in reality, they are two sides of the same coin; they interact with each other, and each feeds off the fear that the other instills in the people (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). The United States has long relied on the media machine to produce public opinion, and the issue with Islamophobia is no exception to this rule.
One of the concepts that Reel Bad Arabs underscores as particularly important is the issue that the Arab in media is always presented as the “other.” It is impossible to feel any kind of compassion or fraternity with Arabs as they are presented in media; they are single-minded, and full of a wide variety of qualities that are seen as negative by the American public (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
For instance, Hollywood often presents Arabs as being so wealthy they are capable of buying anything, and will often try to buy things that are not for sale, like women or power (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). In Aladdin, the same idea can be seen with the introduction of Jafar’s character. He is so power-hungry that he is willing to betray the Sultan, who has been nothing but trusting and loyal to his Grand Vizier for many years (Aladdin).
The other side of this Islamophobia, according to Reel Bad Arabs, is the idea that the Arab is bumbling or incompetent (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). Where Jafar is scheming and power-hungry, the Sultan is incompetent and clueless; however, even Jafar is presented as relatively incapable over the course of the film. Between Jafar and the Sultan, a wide array of mistakes are made throughout the course of the film (Aladdin). The Sultan fails to understand Jafar’s true intentions, whereas Jafar is outwitted first by a monkey, then an uneducated boy (Aladdin).
The presentation of the villainy is such that the viewer can make no mistake about who is the evil character in the film, and why he should be hated; however, there is also a lighter side, in which the viewer is reassured that even if “they”—the Arabs—want to hurt good people, they will be incapable of doing so, because they are incapable of doing anything properly (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). This encourages the simultaneous feelings of fear and relief that while there is a threat from the Arab world, it is not a threat that is so significant that it must take precedence over all else (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
There are small details thrown into Aladdin that are designed to catch the interest of children, and to act as trigger points for kids: they indicate that this world that the movie is portraying is very different from the world that these kids have experienced (Wingfield and Karaman). When Jasmine is talking about being forced to marry, young children who have grown up with Disney movies will recognize this as a deviation from the accepted storyline; by the end of the movie, Jasmine’s father will come around to the western way of recognizing relationships (Aladdin). Until he does, however, he is the enemy.
Similarly, children will see the threat of death or dismemberment for stealing as barbaric and scary; although they may not know why, they will come to associate this kind of feeling with the Arab world from a very young age (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). Even the art distinguishes “good” Arabs from “bad” Arabs in Aladdin. Jasmine and Aladdin both have light skin and relatively Caucasian features. Jafar, on the other hand, has a slimy manner, a heavy brow, and a weak chin. All of these features are associated with goodness and villainy, respectively (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
It is easy to see, then, how Aladdin could encourage children to think of Arabs in two ways: the first is the westernized Arab, the Arab that fits into a predetermined category, and is safe because he or she is far from his or her original culture. The second is the scary Arab, the one who is seeking out power or money because he or she is greedy or determined to do so (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). One thing that Reel Bad Arabs notes is that Hollywood rarely gives Arabs a voice; they are almost universally villainous, without any recourse, or any ability to describe why they have taken the actions that they have taken. Jafar gives no reason why he wants to be Sultan; he merely expresses a desire to be. It seems as though he is living a relatively comfortable life in the palace, but it is not enough for him, and he wants to accumulate more power (Aladdin).
Forming children’s opinions about Arabs and the Arab world young is one of the most powerful things that Hollywood, the American media, and the American government have done (Slade). By encouraging an entire generation of children to see the Arab world as a backwards place in need of help, they have formulated the structure for almost any policy decision that could possibly be made regarding the Arab world in the future (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
The moral of Aladdin is, essentially, that the western way of thinking regarding marriage is right, and that the culture should change to accommodate this way of thinking; many children who have grown up seeing these messages have undoubtedly felt that Muslim countries just need help “seeing the light,” so to speak (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People). It is a very pervasive form of paternalism that is almost invisible, and is hidden under years of conflicting messages about the Arab world (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
There are some that may argue that Aladdin is merely a children’s story, a story told with a backdrop of a far away place to encourage imagination and excitement in children. There is some truth to this interpretation: children enjoy the idea of fantasy worlds where anything is possible, and the love story in Aladdin is not any more problematic, truly, than the abusive relationship portrayed in Beauty and the Beast or the fact that Ariel gives up her voice to get married in The Little Mermaid. However, Aladdin utilizes tropes that exist specifically for the purpose of demonizing the Middle East and the Middle Eastern people (Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People).
Children are particularly sensitive to the development of stereotypical thinking, because they are still in the process of learning how to think properly. Without guidance from adults, they can easily be led into patterns of thought that are destructive or harmful to others. This is one reason why the Nazi Party tried so hard to recruit the youth; young people are malleable, and easy to encourage into a particular school of thought. The images of Arabs and the Arab world in Aladdin are not just glimpses caught of a far away, magical place; they are stereotypes that are presented to children in accessible, bite-sized portions—the perfect size for children to consume and internalize.

References

Aladdin. Hollywood: Ron Clements, 1992. DVD.
Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People. Washington: Sut Jhally, 2006. DVD.
Slade, Shelley. 'The Image Of The Arab In America: Analysis Of A Poll On American Attitudes'.Middle East Journal 35.2 (1981): 143-162. Print.
Wingfield, Marvin, and Bushra Karaman. 'Arab Stereotypes And American Educators'. Adc.org. N.p., 1995. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.