Race in Aladdin

Although I didn't attend the lecture on Aladdin, I have my own ideas in how race is represented in the animated film. I believe the film incorporates dominant (white) hegemomic ideas and values through Aladdin and the 'baddies'. Without getting to caught up in the storyline, I will try to concentrate solely on race portrayals in a nutshell. It is argued that Aladdin is to some degree 'white' when compared to the baddies. He is handsome and dresses in traditional wear however compared to the bad guys, who wear 'covered' clothing, Aladdin wears an open shirt, showing his abs as well as long jet black hair. More significantly are the facial features of both. Aladdin ultimately has 'white' features. This is most obvious in his nose, whereby his and also the nose of Jasmine are small and petite and the baddies are given big pointy noises, stereotypical of middle eastern/indian countries. It is also interesting to note other animated films where nose size is crucial in depicting a person as either good or bad. Usually the bad are given exaggerated nose characteristics, perhaps to liken them to witches, however an underlying idea likens them more to foreigners. This incorporates hegemonic ideas because even in stroylines which include characters of other races, the good are almost always given white characteristics whereas the bad are given those typical to that race.