In the story Aladdin meets a young woman, whom turns out to be the Princess Jasmine. As soon as Princess Jasmine and Aladdin meets in the story they hit it off immediately because of their shared desire to be free from the limitations life presents them, Aladdin poverty and Jasmine’s royal obligations, such as getting married to a prince.
Later in the story he is thrown in prison because Jafar, the evil sorcerer, needs him to obtain a magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders and also to keep him away from Princess Jasmine. Because of the obvious reason as he wants her for himself so he can claim the throne. If Aladdin succeeds then he will have the magic lamp which a genie is trapped inside, and if he can’t then he thinks Aladdin will be out of his way to marry the princess.
An other stereotype is about women even after Jasmine chooses someone to marry that person will eventually take the Sultan’s place, she will always remain second because she is a woman.
There are quite a few stereotypes presented in the movie about Arabs. The first stereotype the viewer is introduced to is the deceiving salesman, the bootlegger. He sells worthless objects, finding dozens of uses for the object just to convince the view to buy it so that he can make money. Everything he sells is fake or useless; he is out to rip people off.
Arabic people solve everything by violence. In a scene where Jasmine takes an apple for a poor little boy in the marketplace, the street vendor grabs her violently and threatens to cut off her hand for stealing. This is a real Arabic tradition which comes from the old times, the cut your hand which you used to steal. Princess Jasmine’s stealing is acceptable, like Aladdin’s because they were doing it for a better cause. Also in the scene where Aladdin is being chased by the royal guards, they chase him with swords, as if he was an armed criminal. This leads to the conclusion that Arabs have violent natures.
The song “Arabian Nights’ that plays at the opening credits of the movie, was changed because it used to describe the barbaric ways of the Arabs. The original song used to describe Arabian lands as a place “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey it’s home.” After much controversy and protest by Arabs, the song changed to “where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense. It’s barbaric but hey it’s home.”[1]
Unfortunately, the stereotypes do not stop there as far as there incorporation of it in the film. Poverty is very much overtly exaggerated in relation to Arabs. One major sign of poverty is not wearing shoes. Before the Genie turned Aladdin into a “prince” he walked around barefoot, as did all the children in the movie. They are too poor to afford shoes.
The women in the movie are overly sexualized. They are all portrayed as beautiful, exotic, sexual creatures that are “to be won”. In the scene where Aladdin is trying to escape the guards, he somehow ends up in a room full of half dressed women. The place looks like a brothel. The women are dressed in revealing clothing. They don’t show any interest to Aladdin because he doesn’t look like he can pay their services. The veils are see-through turning something that is supposed to be religiously linked to sexual reference. The veil is used as a form of seduction, further arousing curiosity. In the scene where Jafar holds, the Princess and the Sultan hostage, Jasmine is chained and dressed in a red, waist revealing outfit. Jafar has her wearing a sheer red veil and feeding him grapes. Her outfit resembles lingerie, with its silky texture and added sheer veil. Basically she is a sex object in that scene.
In conclusion stereotypes are all around in the film, from Arabic stereotypes as a race to gender stereotypes.
[1] http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1994_1203068/arab-americans-protest-characterizations-in-aladdi.html