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The lack of presentation in the media is incredibly alarming. Despite representation being necessary for the common good of society, this issue has yet to be addressed adequately. The issue of lack of representation spans the bound of race and culture. This analysis will specifically examine two of these phenomena. The first will be a discussion on the race-class structures present in The Great Gatsby. Specifically, the idea that Blacks cannot obtain higher social classes. Secondly, there will be a discussion on the film, “Aladdin” and Disney’s deliberate choice of not including actors of Arab descent in the film.
This is problematic because the book assumes that people of color can’t have higher social classes. First, in the reality of 1920, people of color had enough freedom to at least have higher social classes but then there is the fact that the white dominant race wouldn’t let people of color have their freedom. For example, this quote from the book by the character Tom Buchanan clearly shows that the white dominant race wouldn’t let people of color have their freedom of having higher social classes, “ It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.” Secondly, the book lacks the representation of the black people because there are barely any people of color and they are always represented as evil. This creates a society of both racially and socially segregated. The lack of representation of people of color is still happening. You don’t have to be a person of color to experience this, you’re almost done with a book and you realize that there is only one person of color or just none. A great example of that would be The Princess Diaries– is a volume book that started in 2000 and continues. The book is about a socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl named Mia, who is being raised by a single mom, later she discovers that she is the princess of a small European country called Genovia because of the recent death of her absent father. She must either continue living in New York or step up to the throne. The Princess Diary is a great example for two reasons, one, in all 12 volumes there is only one person of color in the book. Two, in the entire kingdom there isn’t one person of color that has a high social class and in reality in Genovia, 3 percent of the population are people of color. This is a problem that needs to be addressed because when you are a young child of color, you are surrounded by these books, you internalize the idea that hey–maybe my race isn’t as important as theirs.
The white dominant culture homogenizes brown people, by considering them all as “Indians”. This can be seen in the recent Disney cast of Aladdin–is one of the tales from the One Thousand and One Nights. One Thousand and One Night is a collection of Arabic folk tales and they are also known as the Arabian Nights. Aladdin is a tale based on a poor street urchin named Aladdin who spends his time stealing food from the marketplace, which is located in the city of Agrabah, his adventures begin when he meets a young girl who happens to be Princess Jasmine, who is being forced to get married by her father, and Aladdin falls madly in love with her. This all started when the 1992 animated version of Aladdin was out because Disney gave the film several architectural and cultural embellishments that came from India, like basing the sultan’s palace on the Taj Mahal. In the film, characters were shown as brown people but they lacked the culture of Arabs. For example, the character Aladdin, his arrogant behavior, and sheer cunning are what set him apart from the Arabian culture. The Citizens of Agrabah are portrayed as barbarous sword-wielders and sexualized belly dancers. Worst, the opening song “Arabian Nights” originally contained the lyrics “They cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home,” this is extremely racist and stereotyping against the Arabs. The Arab-American group complained and lucky the whole stanza was rewritten: “Where it’s flat and immense, And the heat is intense, It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home,” it’s less racist but it’s still stereotyping the Arab world as “Barbaric.” Because of Disney giving the film several architectural, cultural embellishments that came from India, and the lack of representation of Arabian culture people tend to read the character as “Indians.” The white dominant culture homogenizing brown people by considering them all as “Indians” can be seen in the recent live-action movie of Aladdin, Disney cast Indian actress rather than Arabian actress. For example, Disney cast an Indian British actress Naomi Scott as Jasmine. A tweet by @hafsahfaizal expresses such concern:
“Guys, guys. Arabs are not Indians, and Indians are not Arabs. Brown people aren’t interchangeable.”
Many expressed solidarity with the statement, like user @ThatHapaChick
“MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!! Aladdin isn’t from India, so why are people suggesting Indian actors? Not all brown people are the same.”
What gets this out of hand truly is the fact that Disney had been “Browning up” their white actors on set. The Council on American-Islamic Relations had warned Disney twice and Disney didn’t even respond to any of the warnings. The first warning was to open the eyes of Disney that there is still racism in the new Aladdin, “as seen through the trailer, the racist themes of the original animated cartoon seemingly reemerge in the live-action remake, despite efforts by Disney to address the concerns from 25 years ago.” Secondly, The Council on American-Islamic Relations warned Disney that releasing the movie “during the Trump era of rapidly rising anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and racist animus only serves to normalize stereotyping and to marginalize minority communities.” This is a grave issue that needs addressing.
The solution is simple, we must allow black and brown creators, Arthurs, and actors to exist in mainstream media. There are many ways to execute this solution but these two are the most common ones, either make a law to ban all the companies or Arthurs work that has a lack of representation of black people or create a PR campaign to shame homogenous companies and Arthurs. Shaming companies and Arthurs that lack representation of black and brown people is a good choice but not the best because some people just don’t have shame, for example, Donald Trump, didn’t apologize for mocking a disabled news reporter. But making a law to ban homogenous companies is the best way to execute this solution because no one is above the law. If we the society don’t stand up and make a law to ban all the companies or Arthurs’s work that has representation of black and brown people then racism will rise there could be another segregation. If society stands up and makes a law to ban these companies then there will be a great amount of decreases of racism against people of color and brown.
The lack of representation in the mainstream media of black and brown people is incredibly alarming, for example, the white dominant race considers all brown people as Indians, and in modern books, there is a lack of representation of people of color. Even though equal representation is necessary, this issue has not been solved. The solution is simple, the society must allow black and brown Arthurs, Actors, and creators to exist in the mainstream media. To execute the solution, society must stand up and make a law to ban these companies.
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