Like millions of children, I watched the Academy Award-winning Disney animated movie “Aladdin” and immediately fell in love with the Middle Eastern folk tale. The magic carpet’s sassiness, blue genie and unforgettable songs such as “A Whole New World” glued me to the TV for the entire time it played.

However, my unquestionable love for this movie began to waver when I rewatched the film recently, realizing  how Disney weaved some rather controversial topics into the classic tale. As a 4-year-old, I skipped past them, but these implications have been increasingly apparent as I’ve gotten older.  

Within the first 5 minutes of the movie, I am transported into the land of Agrabah through the song “Arabian Nights,” which at first seems like a simple, catchy number, yet its lyrics are ripe with stereotypes about Arabs.  

The original lyrics of the song contained the lines: “Where they cut off your ear, if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” Although this was not included in the version I watched, the idea that Disney had originally included these degrading, violent phrases to describe Arabs is appalling. This song perpetuates Western ideas about the Middle East as nothing more than a war-torn region and strips the nuances of the region’s history and culture.

Besides the cultural misrepresentation of Arabs, Disney also manages to include gender stereotypes through the female protagonist, Princess Jasmine. In the climactic fight scene, Jasmine is trapped in the hourglass by the evil Royal Vizier of Agrabah, Jafar. Even though she uses a great amount of force to break the glass, she cannot escape this trap until Aladdin breaks it for her.

Disney gives the impression that women are damsels in distress who tend to be helpless and unable to fend for themselves. Rather than convincing young girls that they are inferior to men, Disney should instead be imparting a sense of confidence and independence. After all, this movie was made in 1992, not the 1950s.

The misconceptions in “Aladdin” are not just bound to the stereotypes of Arabs and the insinuation that women are the weaker sex, but even include a massive confusion between Arab and Indian culture.

For example, Jasmine’s pet, Rajah, is a Bengal tiger, native to India; yet he somehow happens to be owned by an Arab family. The setting itself is also an issue because they based the Sultan’s palace off of the Taj Mahal, which is a historical and cultural monument of India.

There are a bit too many confusing choices that the directors of the movie have done to include that do not benefit the movie rather they add confusion for watchers and mix cultures.

Although “Aladdin” serves as a timeless tale for children to watch and enjoy, watching the movie through teenage eyes now makes me notice the wrongdoings and understand its effect on the movie.