Earlier this month, Disney responded to the media storm by casting Egyptian Canadian Mena Massoud to play Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine.Ĭasting Massoud seemed to appease those seeking racial concordance with the actor and character, while the decision to hire Scott, who is half Indian (and half white), still left many dissatisfied.Ĭertainly, casting an actress of Indian descent to play an Arab, or an Agrabian, continues the Orientalist tradition of conflating Arab and Indian, Middle Eastern and anybody and everyone Brown. The film’s casting became a globally trending topic, with allegations of racism and colourism and, more specifically, whitewashing – Disney seeking to cast white actors for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine – driving the apparent controversy. Rumours of the forthcoming Aladdin film struggling to find actors for its lead roles set social media ablaze.

The film disseminates dangerous representations of the Middle East, and its peoples, to the youngest and most impressionable minds, at a time of intensifying Islamophobia in the United States, Europe, and beyond. Therefore, while who plays Aladdin and which actress assumes the role of Jasmine deserves attention, the bulk of the concern and criticism should be concentrated on the story’s inherent Orientalism and racism. A made-up place based on a made-up place. Aladdin, the film and its aggregate franchise, is not only a material embodiment of Orientalism – the system that reduces the Middle East, and its elaborately diverse peoples, cultures and faiths, into a backwards monolith – but also an enterprise that generates extravagant profits from perpetuating these misrepresentations.īeyond problematic characters and themes, Aladdin’s Agrabah, the fictitious Middle Eastern setting of the film, is a cartoon remake of the Orient, a fictive and distorted recreation of the Middle East itself. UPFRONT: Is Hollywood too close to the military? (9:34)įor the diverse groups of people that hail from the Middle East, the region that inspires the story and setting for Aladdin, the film renews a range of concerns.

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