the world. Paul Bauer. These people are constantly being portrayed as foreigners or Westerners essentialize the Orient as under-developed and romanticises their cultures with distorted views and assumptions. ™, Shomari Legghette Sentenced To Life In Prison For The Killing Of…, The Effort to Unseat State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Chicago Police Charge Man In Connection With Live Streamed Looting Video, The Effects of President Trump’s Muslim Ban, Death of Breonna Taylor Renews Calls To Abolish “No-Knock” Warrants, Same God: A Commentary on the Intersection of Islam and Christianity, #MosqueMeToo Goes Viral, Breaks Silence on Sexual Assault During Muslim Holy…, Unmosque-ing the Stigma Behind Disabilities in the Muslim Community, Iftar con arroz y frijoles: Latinos Embracing Islam in the Age…, Chicago Filmmaker Traces Parents’ Immigrant Roots in Upcoming Documentary, 7 Must-See Films at Chicago International Film Festival, “I just wanted to tell a story for this family.” A…, Chance the Rapper Continues to fight for Chicago, How Chicago TV journalists are broadcasting live from home during coronavirus:…, ‘Crimson Contagion 2019’ Simulation Warned of Pandemic Implications in US, Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Family Separation, Critics Vocal, What the Lack of Accommodations for Those with Disabilities is Really…, Coca-Cola West has been a key player in the rise of these Orientalist notions as the These commenters were an odd alliance of Anderson devotees and the usual internet complainers who love to call out "identity politics" and "snowflakes," but most, judging from their Twitter avatars, were white men or sentient anime characters. Unfortunately, this belief in and epistemological distinction made between ‘the Orient’ and ‘the Occident.’” reinforcement of stereotypes throughout Hollywood and television only serves to Arab peoples is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the This could serve as a classic example of the Western generalizations of Asian cultures. Brent Brewer is a senior International Relations major and a History/Legal Studies double minor at Lake Forest College. The statement grandly suggested that orientalism could be a conversation — "As if by magic, the distance between East and West, spanning perspectives that are often perceived as monolithic and diametrically opposed, diminishes.". Orientalism is seen in many places still today and pop culture has a huge impact on how people think. It's as if the very implication of racial insensitivity is worse than any offense itself could ever be. was an issue between the United Kingdom and an “Arab” nation. Salinger and back issues of the New Yorker) in The Royal Tenenbaums to the invented Eastern Europe republic of The Grand Budapest Hotel, a Stefan Zweig–inspired wonderland where real historical horrors lurk behind whimsical imagery. and how we can fight these stereotypes in Chicagoland and beyond. Of course, it's very possible for a film to be imbued with fantasy even when it attempts to put a real version of Japan onscreen. Some of the most well-known films are True Lies, Iron Man, American Sniper, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Air Force One, 24, The Dictator, Back to the Future, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. their retelling of the famously The fact that this documentary,
“cinematic” approach with the ad, employing the characters as a nod to movies

his refreshing outlook on the world has taken the academic world by storm with too easily become the norm and which make up the everyday way we think about How Chicago TV journalists are broadcasting live from home during coronavirus: ‘We’re making do with the best we have’, Standing up for justice: an activist’s guide on Palestine. Noodle bars in Blade Runner (left) and The Fifth Element (right). Disney portray all the characters with yellow skin, thin lips and slanty eyes regardless of the fact that Asians are all different and have unique characteristics. It's not as though Pacific Rim: Uprising, or the new Tomb Raider — which at least attempts to contend with its franchise's orientalist premise, and casts the dashing Daniel Wu as the closest thing to a love interest — are set to revolutionize the world, or be destined to have anything like the artistic legacy of Wes Anderson’s work.
In this article, we will be looking at aspects of Orientalism found in Disney movies, specifically in Aladdin (1992) and Mulan (1998). Challenging Alternative Facts. In the first version of the film, an Arab merchant opens the movie in song about Arabian Nights with the lyrics “Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it's barbaric, but hey it’s home.” As many Disney enthusiasts might realize, Disney changed the lyrics after Aladdin’s release but kept the “it's barbaric, but hey it’s home” in the final cut of the movie. Belly dancers are seen dancing with red marks on their foreheads (Hindu) and terms like “Salam” and “Allah forbids” (Arabic/Islamic) are used. Photo from: http://www.readthehorn.com/sites/default/files/images/argo1.png.