The classic story of Aladdin best exemplifies the olden “rags to riches” saying. The tale features a young hero who catches the eyes of a beautiful princess after an inadvertent encounter at a local market. The tale is also made complete by a wicked villain and the magical genie. Initially, this story was found in the One Thousand- and One-Nights tale. In 1992, nonetheless, Disney released a film on the same. A remake of this film premiered in 2019. Like other Disney films, moral lessons were attached to the movie Aladdin. Even further, some of the themes in the film highlighted some challenges the present-time society is grappling with. By critically analyzing the Aladdin film, this essay will attempt to discuss the pertinent lessons one can grasp from the story. Also, it will talk about the relevance of the tale in our society today.
Part I; Synopsis, Overall Theme, and Moral Lesson
The protagonist is a street brat living in a busy town with Abu, his monkey friend. He is poor and steals to survive. Conversely, there is Princess Jasmine, who comes from a wealthy family. Nonetheless, she is not happy that her father forces her to stay in the palace. As a result, she furtively leaves the house and goes to the marketplace where she meets Aladdin. He helps Jasmine out, and in the process, they fall in love. Later, Aladdin is thrown in jail by Jafar, the royal Vizier to Sultan. Jafar then includes Aladdin in the plot to take over leadership with the help of a mysterious lamp (Singh). It is Aladdin who can retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Even after getting the lamp, Aladdin could still not marry Jasmine since, by law, she was supposed to marry a prince. Consequently, Aladdin implores the genie to make him a prince. Undeniably, he chose this course of action since he wanted to marry Jasmine.
From the story, it is apparent that the overall theme and moral lesson is that individuals should accept their situation, whether rich or poor. In the original Aladdin tale, the protagonist never disclosed his identity to his wife. In Disney’s version, Aladdin feels guilty for lying to Princess Jasmine about his identity. He goes ahead to reveal his true identity to the princess. This prompts him to spend more time with Jasmine, taking her on a magic carpet across the world to show Jasmine how much he loves her. By disclosing his identity, Disney’s Aladdin has succinctly established the theme of self-acceptance. Parents should, therefore, use this story to explain to their children that it will be imperative that they remain true to themselves if they wish to make a good impression.
Part II; Relevance of the Tale Today
Whereas the original story was written more than 200 years ago, it is still relevant in contemporary society. Princess Jasmine’s quest to be rightfully recognized as a potential heir parallels the struggles of the modern-day woman who wishes to clinch coveted positions at workplaces (Lerner). The story also observes the need for women to speak up in the face of adversity. Jasmine spoke up whenever the male characters attempted to undervalue her unfairly. In the story, when Jasmine’s father, the Sultan of Agrabah, dismissed the ideas she had for the Kingdom’s future, she bravely pointed out how wrong her father’s assumptions were.
Throughout the story, instances of social stratification are discernible. On one side of the spectrum, there is Aladdin, a street urchin who steals to survive and who is truly at the bottom of the social ladder. Inversely, Jasmine hails from a royal family, and subsequently, must marry from within her social caliber. In today’s relationships, materialism is steadily replacing love. People marry from within their social classes, not because of love, but from the desire to maintain their social standing (Brigden). Aladdin’s story can, nevertheless, remind people that love is always victorious.
From the story, we can teach our children the need to acknowledge their self-worth. The protagonist is certain that pretending that he was a Prince was the only way he could marry Jasmine. Also, after years of being called a desert rat, he believes that he is undeserving of love. Essentially, he reckons that to get loved, one must put on the mask of a successful person. With the rise of social media, incidences of low self-esteem are likely to spike. This is because there will be increased rates of comparisons among people. We can, therefore, use Aladdin’s story to remind people that there is no need to pretend to be anyone other than one’s true self.
Conclusion
That this film is a valuable learning tool is irrefutable. Aladdin highlights the need to acknowledge one’s self-worth and encourages people to search, from within, the key to success. The tale also suffices in providing solutions to current issues such as classism. Parents and teachers should, therefore, distill essential lessons from this story to their children.