The Orient in Film: Hollywood and Disney's Depiction of the East

This paper explores Hollywood and Disney's depiction of the Orient in film, focusing on themes of mysticism, wonder, and savagery. It discusses the impact of these depictions on the larger community and the benefits and disadvantages of Hollywood's Orientalism.

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The Orient in Film 2
Depiction of the Orient in Film
Hollywood
Hollywood’s depiction of the Orient is premise on the presence of mysticism and a sense of
wonder. Hollywood films have depicted the Orient mainly in Iran, Egypt and Israel. Such films
as “Aladdin” The Thief of Bagdad” are steeped in adventure and fantasy. The Hollywood films
are often a corruption of popular stories where the directors add and remove certain details to
advance the theme of mystery. Edward Said proposed that the dominant image of the Orient is a
creation of the west for their predetermined ends. In this regard, he opines that the way the
Orient is revealed in film is a picture of how the Western World views the countries of the East
(Said 1978. Pp 55). However, there are challenges in defining where the boundaries of the Orient
lie. This difficulty is testament of the fantasy premise where the West generalizes the ideas of the
Orient in an amorphous manner. Many of the creators of film have little knowledge of the
historical past of the Orient and in this respect; they rely on their self-created images.
Hollywood and the Orient In “The Thief Of Bagdad”
The Thief of Baghdad is a Hollywood movie that represents the mysticism and wonder of the
orient. Like all other oriental movies, this movie explores the themes of love, magic and fantasy
among others. The theme of the supernormal world is seen in the use of magic and other tricks
by the characters in order to control their destinies or that of others.
Prince Taj is convinced that he has to win the hand of Yasmine after the death of his father but
encounters challenges along the way. However on arrival at Baghdad, he befriends Hassan who
is both a magician and a thief. However, Taj’s Wazir, Jaudur, had stolen his royal seal and makes

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his way to the palace; he comes in on a flying carpet. Although Taj had already made an
impression of Jasmine, Jaudur accuses him of being an imposter and presents himself as the
king. The king is inclined to believe Jaudur but before he can give his daughter away, he is
reminded of a dream in which it was predicted that the marriage of her daughter would bring in a
lot of wealth. He therefore sends all the suitors away for three moons with an assignment to bring
an object of the most value in the world.
Mysticism is revealed in the first instance where Jaudur comes in a flying carpet and in the
instance where Taj is protected from harm because his soul is hidden in a secret place. The
Orient is often depicted as a place where mystic exists despite the advances in modernity. In
addition the theme of the savage has been explored where Jaudur plots to murder Taj in order to
gain an advantage in over Yasmine.
The theme of mysticism is explored in several instances. First there is the all-seeing eye that
gives guidance to Taj and enables Yasmine to identify Taj’s location in the desert after attack by
Jaudur’s men. The use of flying carpet and the flying horse also invokes mystery as the camps
representing Jaudur and Taj fight in the air. Taj also has an encounter in the sand where he
identifies a bottle. He opens the bottle only to realize that it contained a genie which tries to kill
him. He however convinces it to get back to the bottle through trickery. In the story, magic plays
a great role in the development of the plot. However, the author succeeds in convincing the
public that the orient is guided by mystery and savagery, themes that dominate Hollywood’s
portrayal of the East.

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The primary consumers of Hollywood films are ignorant Westerners who have no interest in
precise representation of facts but entertainment (Ramji, R., 2016. Pp 102). The creation of
fantasy in the films drives curious movie enthusiasts to explore the country and fulfill their
hunger for information.
The challenge with this depiction is that it is set to represent the opinions of the film maker who
has little regard for how local citizens live. Iraqi films are replete with flying horses and mystical
carpets and create an unreal reality for entertainment purposes. However, consumers of the films
may take the discourse more seriously and develop a wrong perception of the orient.
It is obvious that the Christian heritage that the U.S. shares with Israel informs the more rational
depiction of the Israeli orient. The films regarding Israel are distinctively devoid of the mystic
theme that dominates other Hollywood films of the East.
The reality of the Orient is that it bears a troubled political past that is hardly captured in film.
Egypt, for instance, bears a political past where the country was colonized by the British. Britain
transformed the country from a primitive history to a modern hub of civilization (Kee, 2016. Pp
14). As one of the early centers of civilization, Egypt enjoyed meaningful trade that saw the
country gain wealth over time. However, Hollywood fails to recognize this history and instead
creates a mystical reality in film that portrays the country as steeped in ancient traditions.
The failure to capture the modern realities of the East in film may be attributed to a marketing
decision in categorization of cinema in Hollywood. It is the tradition of Hollywood to categorize
movies in order to make it easy for the target market to make a purchase. Consequently, there
may be fears that changing the dominant storyline for oriental movies may not augur well for

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customers who are enthralled by the mystery of oriental narrations. Another reason may be that
the creators want to achieve a political goal so as to typify the West as the center of civilization.
Although history bears witness that humanity has origin in the East, Hollywood often displays
the orient as ancient while the USA is the center of innovation and civilization. The company
therefore seeks to entrench the American superpower mentality in the minds of their customers.
The effect of these depictions on the larger community is immense as it entrenches bias and
hatred towards the inhabitants of the orient.
Depiction of the Orient In Disney
Disneyland often customizes the common stories into child content mainly through animation.
Aladdin for instance is a major favorite of children across all cultures and depicts the oriental
through the appearance of the main characters in the film. The men, for instance, have thick
beards and wear turbans on their heads and speak with a heavy accent (Hunt 2016. Pp 46).The
women, on the other hand, are either portrayed wearing their hijabs or as sensual beings adorned
with revealing clothes (Schroeder 2016. Pp 54). The animations particularly show the Oriental
culture as primitive and barbaric.
Some oriental animations by Disney animation show attempts by European men to conquer a
native community controlled by magic to bring civilization. This brings out the theme of magic
or traditional healing prowess among the indigenous Orientals through the use of spooky
paraphernalia like the willow tree; characters in the movies are projected as deeply superstitious.
The use of the word “savages” by the European men keen on obtaining gold is informative
(Rahayu, Abdullah and Udasmoro 2015. Pp 28). The outsiders consider the Orientals as
individuals who are devoid of civilization and violent.

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Aladdin
Aladdin is an oriental film that narrates the story of Aladdin, a street urchin who falls in love
with princess Jasmine. At the beginning of the story, Jafar the Sultan’s Grand vizier is ion a
search to obtain a lamb that is concealed in the cave of wonders. However, he is hindered from
entry because only a “diamond in the rough” is allowed entry. In the meantime, Jasmine who has
refused advances of suitors meets Aladdin and the two individuals fall in love. However, he is
captured by the palace guards under the instructions of Jafar.
The theme of wonder and mystery is first explored by the existence of the cave of wonder. After
failing entry to obtain the mysterious items, Jafar asks Aladdin to get the items in exchange for
his freedom. Aladdin uses a magic carpet and succeeds to get the lamb. However, when he hands
over the lamb to Jafar, he throws him and Abu, his pet monkey back to the cave. At the cave he
encounters a genie which had been concealed in the lamb, which he manages to steal back from
Jafar. The genie asks Aladdin to make three wishes and he grasps the first opportunity to present
the wish to be married to Jasmine. In the meantime Jafar plans a becoming the next sultan by
marrying Jasmine. The story is taken over by the genie and the power of magic. When Jafar
regains the lamb, he uses the power of the wish and becomes the world’s most powerful sorcerer
and consigns Aladdin and Abu to a frozen island. However he is rescued and comes back to the
palace.
The narration about the genie and other diabolical powers show the power of the supernatural.
However, we realize that the genie has limitations when it fails to grant Jafar’s wish to be
married to Jasmine. Furthermore, despite the fact that Jafar is the most powerful sorcerer, he fails
to get rid of Aladdin and become the next Sultan by marrying Jasmine. In an interesting turn of

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events, Aladdin uses trickery to trap Jafar and Lago into the lamb. He thus seals his fate as Jafar
is helpless as a genie in the bottle. Then Genie advises Aladdin to use his last wish to gain entry
into royalty and marry Jasmine. The story ends on a happy note with Jasmine preparing to marry
Aladdin. The story reveals the futility of supernatural powers in the hands of the ingenuity of
man. Aladdin captures the wonder of young movie lovers but leaves them with the stereotype of
the orient as a land of magic, mystery and cruelty.
Aladdin is one of the most celebrated movies both in Hollywood and Disneyland. When such
themes are displayed in cartoon, they have a humor effect but leave lasting impressions in the
minds of the children about the place of religion in violence (Baltimore 2017. Pp205). There
have been claims that Disney movies show Arabs as inferior and backward. The West, through
negative betrayal of the oriental as ancient is a sustained campaign to demonize any good
innovations that have taken place in the East.
Children who watch the movies develop a picture that is not in line with reality and only help
propagate bias of perception (Bulman 2017. Pp 26). The majority consumers of Disney movies
are children from the West and as they grow older, they develop a distorted image of the world
(Ford 2014. Pp125). Film is both a tool for entertainment and education. In this regard, creators
of children’s film can consider the depiction of scenes that promote universal brotherhood by
presenting modern achievements and positive mannerisms of the orient.
Another reality of the orient is that it has been the origin of the major religions of the world..
However, the film industry deliberately chooses themes that strengthen the notion that the orient
is barbaric and cruel (Belkhyr 2013. Pp1370). An exception to this stereo typifying in film is the
depiction of Israel and Christianity. The U.S and Israel have a long history of cooperation and in

The Orient in Film 8
this regard, Disney and Hollywood which are both American institutions have been keen to give
a favorable picture of this country. The image of Israel in Disney movies is thus favorable.
Benefits of Hollywood’s Orientalism
By depicting the mystery and wonder of the orient Hollywood has developed a brand identity for
such films and informed the development of this genre of films to specific audiences. It has
created a market for films magical and superstitious content in film for both the young and
mature audience. In addition, the depiction of the Orient in film creates a curiosity in the minds
of the customers who may seek to visit the orient as tourists. In this regard, Hollywood has
created a tourism revenue flow for Arab countries as people seek to demystify the magic of
flying carpets, the genies in the bottle, savagery and other themes portrayed in Hollywood.
Disadvantages
The themes explored in the Orient films are stereotypical and display the effort by the West to
portray the East as primitive and backward. When shown to both the younger and mature
audiences, these films propagate hatred and stereotyping of the residents of such countries as
Iran and Egypt by a predominantly Western clientele of Hollywood. It is obvious that the themes
on these films are not sufficient to create a realistic picture of the concerned countries. In this
regard, the Arab countries are labeled as being barbaric and mysterious (Jones and Tajima 2015.
Pp 210). The orient films in Hollywood therefore achieve negative publicity of the Arab world.
A brief Overview

The Orient in Film 9
Both Disney and Hollywood depict the orient in negative light. Although movies like Aladdin
have enjoyed wide acceptance among movie-goers for several years, they fail to capture critical
historical facts and aspects of modernity in the Orient. This reality confirms the thinking that the
orient, in public discourse, is a creation of the West and they use film to entrench the notion that
the orient is savage, unreasonable and primitive (Kolić 2017. Pp 66) Film is a powerful tool of
communication as images linger in the minds for a longer time and influence the thought
process. Disney particularly plays a critical role in forming opinions and worldviews among her
predominantly young customers. The two major entertainment companies must realize the
important role they play in influencing public opinion and present accurate facts about the orient
through film.

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Reference List
Baltimore, S., 2017. Ashman’s Aladdin Archive: Queer Orientalism in the Disney
Renaissance. The Disney Musical on Stage and Screen: Critical Approaches from'Snow
White'to'Frozen', p.205.
Belkhyr, S., 2013. Defining the ‘self’and the ‘other’in Disney song lyrics. Journal of Human
Sciences, 10(1), pp.1366-1378.
Bulman, J.H., 2017. Introduction. In Children's Reading of Film and Visual Literacy in the
Primary Curriculum (pp. 1-28). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Ford, S., 2014. Maybe It’s Time for a Little History Lesson Here. Drawing New Color Lines:
Transnational Asian American Graphic Narratives, p.125.
Hunt, M., 2016. “Southern by the grace of God:” religion and race in Hollywood’s South since
the 1960s (Doctoral dissertation, Northumbria University).
Jones, C. and Tajima, A., 2015. The Caucasianization of Jesus: Hollywood Transforming
Christianity into a Racially Hierarchical Discourse. The Journal of Religion and Popular
Culture, 27(3), pp.202-219.
Kee, K., 2016. Dance, The Divine, and The Devious Other: Orientalism and the Presentation of
Race and Gender in the Work of Ruth St. Denis. The Boller Review, 1(1).
Kolić, A., 2017. Vilification and Dehumanization of Arabs in Hollywood: The Concept of the
Other (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zadar. Department of English.).

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Rahayu, M., Abdullah, I. and Udasmoro, W., 2015. “ALADDIN” FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS
TO DISNEY: THE CHANGE OF DISCOURSE AND IDEOLOGY. LiNGUA: Jurnal
Ilmu Bahasa dan Sastra, 10(1), pp.24-34.
Ramji, R., 2016. From Navy Seals to The Siege: Getting to Know the Muslim Terrorist,
Hollywood Style. Journal of Religion & Film, 9(2), p.6.
Said, E (1978). Introduction. In Orientalism. New York: Vintage.
https://is.cuni.cz/studium/predmety/index.php?do=download&did=37402&kod=JMB113
Schroeder, C.T., 2016. Ancient Egyptian Religion on the Silver Screen: Modern Anxieties about
Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. Journal of Religion & Film, 7(2), p.1.