When I was little, I believed the Middle East was an inherently evil and cruel place with a government lacking in morals or order. This assumption was based off of the only exposure I had ever had to this part of the world, which came in the form of Disney’s 1992 film, Aladdin. This film is a perfect example of an American film company vilifying and othering a government type outside of  American democracy. Aladdin, which is marketed as a children’s film, stands as a political piece which greatly damages the western perspective of the Middle Eastern government making it appear oppressive, ineffective, and cruel. 

Throughout the movie all points of conflict and antagonism come directly from the government and its laws. One major conflict throughout the movie is Jasmine’s desire to marry for love and the law which keeps her from doing so. This law states that, since she is a princess, she must marry a prince in order to inherit her father’s throne. She on the other hand wishes to either marry for love or not marry at all. She is characterized throughout the movie as a strong and independent woman and this law is taking away her ability to love and live freely in her given circumstances. This is portrayed as something which is inherent to the land in which the story is set, making it seem as though no forms of government outside of American democracy are able to offer freedom to their citizens, especially women. From a young age, Americans are raised to value freedom above all else when it comes to their government. This film paints an extremely negative image of what a lack of freedom in government can lead to, while also using a fictional setting in a different part of the world to blur our view of what other governments are actually like. We are made to believe that people in these countries are oppressed by laws which are given little to no explanation. When anyone asks why Jasmine must marry a prince, the only response is “it’s the law”. This leads young American audiences to believe that Middle Eastern laws are inherently oppressive and unfair to their citizens. 

This unfairness becomes even more apparent, when Jafar, the primary antagonist, is able to change the law to suit his own needs. As the sulton’s vizier, Jafar has the power to rewrite ancient scrolls. He uses this ability to force his own hand unto Jasmine to grow his own power. This paints a picture of corruption, forcing audience’s to find extreme flaws in any government system that could allow such corruption to occur. We are forced to suspend our disbelief in the fact that the government system is so unorganized that anyone in a position of power can just rewrite ancient laws at any time and everyone will believe and follow them. This creates an image of a government with no true morals. The laws can’t matter if they are so easily changed and manipulated. They must just be there to be oppressive with no explanation. 

It also leads audiences to question how such an evil man came to power in the first place. From the beginning of the film it is clear that Jafar is a selfish, cruel, and conniving villain who is only concerned with his own political gain. It is odd that a man like this would have such a high position of power in government, but he is second in command to the sultan and clearly has a lot of influence on his decisions. This further vilifies the government of this “other” place. It is clear that they do not have an effective selection process for their government officials or if they do, it failed when it comes to Jafar. This is yet another area of government where they are shown to be inferior to “western” government styles. Jafar’s rise to power is a symbol of the inferiority and barbism which is still associated with the Middle Eastern government today. 

Aladdin is set outside of any true time period. This makes it hard for people, especially children, to decipher it as anything other than an accurate and realistic depiction of modern Middle Eastern politics. This is obviously not true, but due to the movie’s lack of clear setting it makes it seem as though it is the only way in which the Middle East can ever and will ever exist. As Americans, we are taught very little about the actual current state of the Middle East and we are forced to rely on retellings such as Aladdin which offer a warped view of this part of the world. By setting this story in an unknown time period, it can sit as a stand-in in the minds of all Americans for any given time in the Middle East up until this day, giving us the image of the Middle East as a place with a government which actively works against the freedom and safety of its people.The first time you watch Aladdin, it is easy to get caught up in the magic and fun of it all, but upon further consideration of the image it creates it is hard to see it as anything other than a political statement working directly against the American perspective of the Middle East. Viewers, especially easily-manipulated children, are left with a false sense of the government and laws in this far off place and it isn’t a favorable one. We are led to believe that this other government is oppressive and cruel in ways which would never happen in our own government systems. This exponentially damages the western perspective of the Middle East and feeds into the concept of western superiority over these places. This film is a lot more than the harmless children’s film I originally perceived it as.