Summary (254 words):
“Disney’s Magic Carpet Ride: Aladdin and Women in Islam,” by Christiane Staninger, sheds light on the stereotypes that Aladdin casts on Middle Eastern people, culture, and customs. Not only has Disney missed the mark in portraying Middle Eastern life, but the entire movie and concept are Westernized. None of the characters are truly Arabic, for all the “good” characters contain European features. Meanwhile, the evil characters have big noses and dramatic features. This teaches the audience to perceive such characteristics as ugly, thus uplifting Western culture. Princess Jasmine’s attire is directly related to the Californian American teen, and her attitude follows that same idea as well. Physical appearances aside, Disney also missed the opportunity to break the violent stereotypical portrayal of the Middle East. Instead of creating a peaceful representation of the Middle Eastern setting in Aladdin, the creators included depictions of violence in both scenes and some songs. Middle Eastern values are absent, and the whole idea is way off from what real Arab life is like. On a positive note, Disney used Jasmine’s character to create a feisty, independent female persona. It is commonly thought that women in the Middle East are oppressed, easily controllable, and submissive. Princess Jasmine breaks that mold as she refuses to follow traditional rules and obey her father, the Sultan. Though the character of Princess Jasmine is well-liked because of her courage and untraditional tendencies, it is clear that the movie could have used a more accurate representation of Arabic features and values of the Middle East.
Summary (150 characters):
Staninger exposes the stereotypical elements of Aladdin and explains Jasmine’s portrayal of the traditional Arab woman as independent plus headstrong.
Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing
After completing the past few assignments, it is clear that paraphrasing is taking someone else’s words and putting them into your own without changing the meaning, while summarizing is condensing information to its main points in a shorter body of text.
