I chose the movie Aladdin, which was produced in 1992. The story is about a poor street urchin named Aladdin. Aladdin spends his time stealing food from the market place in the city of Agrabah. That’s also where he meets princess Jasmine. Jasmine is getting forced to marry a prince by her father Hamed. Hamed has an advisor named Jafar. Jafar is known for being the bad guy. He is trying to receive a magic lamp; but he needs Aladdin to do it. Aladdin goes and retrieves the lamp but doesn’t give it to Jafar. Aladdin’s luck changes after meeting Genie. Genie lives in the magical lamp and grants Aladdin three wishes. Genies only wish to have freedom. Aladdin uses his first two wishes. Aladdin and Jasmine end up liking each other but Aladdin has a secret. He is not a prince. Jafar comes back and steals the lamp and wishes to be a genie. Jafar ends up being stuck in a lamp just like the Genie. Aladdin’s final wish is to free the Genie. While all of this is happening Hamed decides that Aladdin is a good suited for Jasmine. At the end Aladdin and Jasmine get married and live happily ever after.
In the movie there are many different aspects of reader response, gender theory, and social class. For me, the movie shows how Jasmine chose to be her own person and not just listen to what her father said. She chose who she was going to marry. Also, Jafar was trying to get Hamed to choose him to marry Jasmine because he wanted to be rich. When I saw him use his cane to manipulate Hamed, it made me think of how you can’t trust everyone. Even the ones close to you.
To me the movie showed how people use you for their own good. In the movie Jafar was trying to get into the Sultan’s family, for Ahmed’s money and power. Aladdin stood out to me and proved that even though he lived outside and was poor all of his life; he never changed and always was himself. Though he tried to change so he could be with Jasmine. But she loved him for himself, not the act he tried to put on. Aladdin proved that his social classification didn’t matter; that it’s not where he came from. It’s who he is. The Genie is rich and has a higher power, but he feels stuck and he doesn’t feel free, Even though he has a lot of money and power.
In Aladdin gender theory and social class lined up pretty well with our society in India and other Eastern countries. For instance, the Sultan is rich and rules the city of Agrabah. The Sultan is a male that is in charge and is “strong” enough to control a whole city. While he does that he also gets to choose who his daughter, Jasmine marries. Which shows how men have more power than women. But at the end of the story Jasmine gets to pick who she marries. After she proves her worth and equality. At the beginning of the movie Jasmine is trapped in the palace because the outside world; which are all lower class, are bad influences in her father’s eyes.
The movie Aladdin shows many things that have to do with our society. The producers showed how social class is everywhere and how it doesn’t matter where you came from or where you are in life. You can still be anything you put your heart to. Also they show how gender theories have changed over the years. At the beginning of the movie they had all the men in control and towards the end it changed; having Jasmine proving her worth and being able to make decisions for herself. The producers made it enjoyable for children and when they grow up they can realize that there are hidden messages that will make them think. They will realize that the movie bends rules about social class and gender roles. Then they will develop their own reader responses to what's going on in the movie.
