hmm id always heard Mulan was well received in China. it was even used as a clip to explain aspects of a Han dynasty text (all the ink written on her arm) at a seminar i attended.
I never particularly thought of Aladdin as racist, (although I admitedly never heard the cut-off-your-ears version of the lyrics) not because I thought it was at all an accurate presentation of Middle Eastern culture, but because it stuck fairly well to the spirit of the story.
I guess that comes to us filtered through several Westerners too, but I mean...Arabian nights is a crazy, crazy place where stereotypes stalk the streets with moral lessons tacked along behind them. Also very, very abruptly violent in a way that their orginal lyrics actually make more sense with, but yeah. Hmm.
I may just be rationalizing 'cause I like the movie...it's hard to tell on first impressions. Maaaaannn Jasmine so is a valley girl in veils though. That's insanely entertaining.
I enjoyed that, I did. Hooray for papers.
I'd comment more coherently, but that would require thought.
As far as the origional story goes, you are right in saying that it is filtered through generations of westerners. There is actually some debate as to whether it should even be in the compilation or not, and it has undoubtedly been changed from its origional text. Regardless, the Arabian nights volume was one of the first "fictional islamic" texts translated to english, and as a result, many of the western preconceptions about the "Orient" were actually formed by the book. Maybe thats why it seems like a place where "seterotypes stalk the streets
( ... )
"Many of her desires seem to revolve around the American ideals of being true to herself and expressing her personality, and when she chimes in during a song: “How about a girl who’s got a brain/ and always speaks her mind?” she finds herself in stark contrast to the expectations of her society
( ... )
The reason the above lyric contrasts so much with her surroundings is more clear if you watch the film. She is consistantly chided for "speaking without permission" etc. until she makes the transformation into a man. When, even after her herosim, she is turned back into a woman, she is once again silenced. Noone will hear her urgent news about the danger the emporer is in. Its true, no women were really in great standing during the time, but they tie this specifically to chinese culture, especially in the scenes with the matchmaker.
The reason I didn't bring up arabian nights is that the paper is primarily supposed to be about Mulan, using aladdin only as a framework.
I wouldn't really say Disney is politically correct now, and I understand that they are motivated by money (as i think i stated in the paper), but compare Mulan, or even Pocahontas, to Aladdin and I think that at least the most racist images have been removed (if not the sentiments that leak through)
Comments 6
Reply
Reply
I guess that comes to us filtered through several Westerners too, but I mean...Arabian nights is a crazy, crazy place where stereotypes stalk the streets with moral lessons tacked along behind them. Also very, very abruptly violent in a way that their orginal lyrics actually make more sense with, but yeah. Hmm.
I may just be rationalizing 'cause I like the movie...it's hard to tell on first impressions. Maaaaannn Jasmine so is a valley girl in veils though. That's insanely entertaining.
I enjoyed that, I did. Hooray for papers.
I'd comment more coherently, but that would require thought.
Reply
Reply
Reply
The reason I didn't bring up arabian nights is that the paper is primarily supposed to be about Mulan, using aladdin only as a framework.
I wouldn't really say Disney is politically correct now, and I understand that they are motivated by money (as i think i stated in the paper), but compare Mulan, or even Pocahontas, to Aladdin and I think that at least the most racist images have been removed (if not the sentiments that leak through)
Reply
Leave a comment