One Jump Ahead in Live-Action Aladdin
In 2019, Disney was ready to give us a whole new world with their remake of one of its most classic films: Aladdin. A film that was previously animated and debuted in 1992, the remake was highly-anticipated. Though critics remained skeptical about how a real-life version might portray the elaborate animations of the original—innocently creative enough to even qualify as Camp—the real life version just might have met approval in unexpected ways. With a nearly two decade age gap, the remake held many differences from the original animated film not only in plot and music, but in cast and thematic message. Thus, given the time and place in which either film was produced, there were definitely differences in feminist culture and racial representation.
The original Aladdin follows the story of a thief—Aladdin—who happens to encounter Princess Jasmine in the streets of Agrabah while she explores the city incognito. On a palace visit, Aladdin stumbles upon a magical lamp with a genie inside. As the duo becomes friends, they must figure out how to combat the evil Jafar from overtaking Jasmine’s kingdom. Given the time of release, emphasis on Jasmine as a damsel in distress is a given. With women still struggling to represent themselves in media in a manner not catering to the “male gaze” (Zeisler, 2008), the character they chose to portray Jasmine as is evidently still the very definition of how society expects princesses to behave. Yes, she may be rebelliously escaping from the palace despite her father’s wishes, but her ambitions stop at her yearning for true love. She still caters to the expectation that women exist for the purpose of marriage; she still follows how men see women: an object to be observed.
Now, the Aladdin remake seems to change the plot not just in the songs’ lyrical compositions by Alan Menken, but in how the characters are depicted. First, although Aladdin is still a thief who encounters a disguised Princess Jasmine in Agrabah’s streets, Jasmine holds a vastly different personality. She’s curious and driven to know everything she can regarding her own kingdom despite her sheltered life. Later, it becomes apparent that she aims to lead her kingdom despite a lack of female sultans in the kingdom’s history. Compared to the original, Jasmine is definitely more ambitious than her animated counterpart; while the original princess wanted to only marry for love over political ties, our real-life princess aims to not just marry for love, but to lead her kingdom. Talk about a strong, independent woman. In 2019, Gen Z’s term of boss a** b*tch perfectly describes her.
Feminism goes way back in history from the first feminist movement in Seneca Falls to today, where Gen Zers are still advocating to be represented equally. In the 1990s particularly, feminists were already making progress in the film industry and beginning to step into the light within the music industry (Zeisler, 2008); “performers from Hole’s Courtney Love to Meshell Ndegeocello to Fiona Apple were rattling the walls music’s girl ghettos and calling out the forces, both personal and institutional, that wanted to hold them back” (Zeisler, 2008, p. 14). One could almost say that Love, Ndegeocello, and Apple are synonymous figures to Jasmine, who sings a new song in the remake: “Speechless.” In the song, Jasmine argues that her “voice is drowned out in the thunder” within her society; similarly, the female voice is drowned out by the male thunder in not only popular culture, but the workforce. Not to mention that when Jasmine sings she “won’t be silenced”, she is speaking toward the patriarchal societal traditions that had previously gone unacknowledged in the original cartoon. One might say that the remake is a direct response to the feminist ideals that had gone unaddressed in the original; rather than Aladdin, the film should be called Jasmine. Zeisler talks about how the male gaze observes women as “an object of vision: a sight” (Zeisler, 2008, p. 7). Jasmine herself argues against being “seen and not heard”; in fact, Naomi Scott plays her role perfectly in which she demands to be heard in her single.
The idea of being heard plays into the topic of racial diversity behind the scenes as well. Compared to the predominantly white cast in the 1992 animation—with only one Asian singer—the remake demonstrates vast improvements. The 1990s held little emphasis on racial diversity: something that has since then been overtly emphasized upon in today’s entertainment industry. With cast members of Egyptian and Indian descent, it is evident that Disney is acknowledging the importance of enforcing a culturally diverse cast in a movie catered toward depicting Middle Eastern and Asian culture. One of Sontag’s many definitions of Camp describes the term as a love for the extravagant and theatrics (Sontag, 1964); Aladdin’s entrance disguised as Prince Ali to woo Princess Jasmine as a potential suitor can be described as Camp. In the new live-action version, Prince Ali’s entrance is culturally extravagant; with elaborately bedazzled costumes, dozens of dancers lining the streets, an abundance of colorful feathers, and animals performing, his bold entrance is comparable to a circus and beyond. It represents a parade of South Asian culture in its attire and musical tunes. Although the theatrics are evidently intentional—taking away from the innocence true Camp is supposed to possess—the idea that Disney was deliberately Camp in this scene holds true. It’s the mix of a racially diverse cast and movie scenes that puts this live-action movie above its animated predecessor; it is the manner in which they depicted multiple scenes with elaborate Middle Eastern and Asian tones that allowed for its descriptive term of Camp to shine through. At a point in time where racial diversity is key given the expansion of streaming services overseas and chart-topping music of different languages, it makes sense that Disney would choose to emphasize on culture in Aladdin. Compared to two decades ago, one might say that today’s movement toward gender and racial equality has taken one jump ahead.
References
Sontag, S. (1964). Sontag-Notes on camp.
Zeisler, A. (2008). Feminism and pop culture. New York, NY: Seal Press. Pp. 1-21.
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post on Aladdin (1992) and Aladdin (2019)! I think your points connecting the two versions of Aladdin to Zeisler’s concept of the “male gaze” and to Sontag’s multiple definitions of camp were very well thought out. When reading your post, I was reminded of another concept we talked about in class: pop-culture being “hopelessly commercial” (Storey, 2009). This definition, outlined by John Storey, explains that, at its core, the purpose of the culture industry is to maximize profit. The reboot Aladdin (2019) can be seen as “hopelessly commercial” because Disney wants to profit off of a new audience as well as entice fans of the original to purchase movie tickets and movie related merchandise. Essentially, instead of creating new content, Disney is choosing to reinvigorate an old property because it is a safer bet to maximize profit. In the reboot, Disney made slight changes to changes to the plot to increase profitability. Specifically, as discussed in the blog post, Disney did attempt to improve their sexist portrayal of women in the original Aladdin (1992) in the live-action reboot of Aladdin. This change was in order to have a greater appeal to a post #MeToo audience. To give context, in 2017 the #MeToo movement, which called out sexual harrasment, resulted in a feminist shift in society. This shift is reflected in the culture industry in order to appeal to a more working society. In terms of Aladdin (2019), aligning the reboot with feminst themes is a way to increase their profitability for the progressive audience.
-Lauren Shulman
Hey Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your thoughts and interpretations of the two versions of Aladdin (1992 and 2019). I thought it was interesting how you managed to highlight the independence that princess Jasmine has in this movie. I remember the first time I saw the remake, I did notice the same, especially with the new song. Regarding the “male gaze”, I thought it was interesting how you managed to focus on Aladdin, and when it came to power you referenced the Sultan as she has been controlled all her life. I personally believe Jafar has more of an impact when it comes to the male gaze and even when it comes to representing the treatment of women in the middle east. One of the notable things from the film I remember was the marriage scene was Jafar addresses Jasmine in a strong tone. While the remake manages to stick to the storyline of the original film, I do think it is interesting how Disney has managed to alter the films in a campy form that shows relevance to how women are able to hold governing titles. Regarding the live-action Disney reboots, Adorno and Horkheimer would argue that these reboots are happening for the sole purpose of business and generating a profit and that rebooting these films will lead to profit in the long run as they captivate a global audience. However, what captured my attention is how you manage to tie in feminism in the analysis of these films and how the independence of future Disney princesses could be portrayed in relevance to the society around us today.
-Michael Palacios
I think your post on the two versions of Aladdin is really organized and creatively ties in Zeisler's interpretation of feminism and Sontag's definition of camp — your discussion on how the newest version of Aladdin portrays Jasmine as a strong female character as opposed to the damsel in distress she is in the older version in particular is really interesting and brought up some points, like how the new songs that were added to the remake reinforce Jasmine's more powerful new personality, that I had never considered before in relation to either of these films.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for me it also brings to mind one of our other readings on feminism and unfortunately a more pessimistic outlook on Disney's attempts to make the film feminist. Banet-Weiser's Popular Misogyny talks about commodity feminism, when feminism becomes a product that is easy to embrace or reject rather than the historically impactful and complex concept it is. She argues that this commodification and other branding movements of feminism are what bring about popular misogyny, which seems like a prime example of what's happening with Aladdin and Jasmine's character development. Disney has been on a spree of remaking classic films into live-action versions, and changing the characters to appeal to modern audience, and this seems like a prime example of commodity feminism.
Although commodity feminism can bring about popular misogyny, it can also normalize feminism from how it has been demonized as the anti-male agenda recently and I really liked your optimistic approach to Jasmine's character development from the old film to the new.
- Sarika Rau
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting blog post! Although I haven’t seen the reboot of Aladin, I did watch the original. Through the feminist lens, especially when contemplating the readings from this class, I remember a moment from the original movie where Jasmine, in an outburst of anger, says “I am not a prize to be won.” Although this does reflect some feminist thought, it was clear that this movie was lacking in feminist empowerment, especially compared to your description of the remake. This moment from the original movie also reminds me of feminist rage, as described by Kay and Banet-Weiser. Looking back on this moment now, it really highlights a moment of affective injustice, as her anger here is seen as an irrational outburst rather than a justified response to the discussion at hand where she is being objectified.
From your description of Jasmine of the reboot, it sounds like the producers were very aware of how the political climate has changed since the original movie was released, and attempts to fill the silence of issues that were previously avoided. This shows Nussbaum’s idea that tv shows hold a mirror to public conversations and controversies–and although this isn’t a tv show, movies also have a prominent role in necessary conversations in society. Disney princesses are depicted as one of the biggest role models/inspirations for young girls, and showing Jasmine as empowered–even the difference in her motivation to wander around the market shows a different level of agency–makes a big difference in how children who see themselves in Jasmine then see themselves.