Said describes it as "a European invention, a place of romance, exotic beings haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences."" (Said, 1) This is exactly what Disney illustrates in its movies, a magical, fairy tale world free of racial and gender issues, stereotypes, political factors and ideology. It possesses a global dominance over children's culture as it appeals to their intellect and imagination. .
As children we accept what television puts forth without questioning the accuracy behind it. As adults though, we question more and come to realize that many things are masked behind colourful imagery, sound and flamboyant characters. Our knowledge of the East comes to us from what we learn in academia, politics, social institutions and of course the media. When we look at movies such as Aladdin, we get a clearer sense of exactly how Disney attempts to undermine the culture and the people of these nations. These films take place in the Middle East and Asia and it is interesting to see how interpretations of the Arab and Asian world are falsely represented.
At the time of Aladdin's release in 1992, The Gulf War had just ended with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. This was a period where the United States' involvement in the Middle East was slowly building up and Aladdin can be seen as a romantic type fantasy film covering up the imperialistic actions of the nation's super forces. The film adheres to orientalist stereotypes and ideas about the Arab world. The main character Aladdin is a poor street urchin who aims to win the heart of the sultan's daughter with the help of his friend, the genie. Certainly there exists a class system and there is a clear distinction between upper class and commoner. As the movie goes on we see a very stereotypical image of Arab women. They are made to seem exotic in colourful garb adorned with veils and glitzy jewelry and inadvertently they appear to be objects of male affection.