Is Hollywood Finally Getting it Right?

I need to tell you about my absolute obsession with Disney's Aladdin. I've seen it over a hundred times. Seriously. I know all the songs and dialogue by heart and can even do the Prince Ali dance on cue. Don't ask, I might actually do it.

I watched it on repeat as a child and you can understand why. First of all, being an Arab boy who grew up in the Middle East, my childhood was filled with stories of Aladdin and his daring adventures from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Other than Peter Pan (which I'm also a huge fan of) Aladdin was the only male lead in a princess obsessed Disney world. So seeing a version of those ancient Aladdin stories come to life on the big screen by the one and only Disney was more than enthralling. This was one of the first universally loved heroes that I could relate to. Even if the place and story was fictional, it wasn't foreign to me. Aladdin looked like me and my friends and Aladdin, unlike other male princes and heroes, started from nothing and got everything he wanted through sheer intelligence and bravery. He did some pretty stupid and selfish things along the way but he learned from his mistakes and that makes him a real character with his flaws and everything.

Disney's Aladdin was an absolute hit world wide and it's no wonder why. The film has one of the best musical scores in Disney history and Robin Williams' iconic performance as the Genie makes the film what it is. I was pretty obsessed - still am. If you don't believe me, go to my Facebook page and you'll find that my cover photo is of Aladdin with Abu on his shoulder looking over the great city of Agraba.

However, as I entered my later teens and twenties the world evolved into a more Islamophobic place. The view of Arabs turned from incredibly ignorant (which in hindsight is preferable) to one that is extremely false and stereotyped. In reaction, I started to research how Arabs were being and have been portrayed through the Western lens. From Edward Said's Orientalism to the documentary Reel Arabs starring Jack Shaheen and his book of the same name and a bunch of other documentaries, all of them pointed to the fact that one of my favorite childhood films had some very negative and damaging stereotypes. It is, some may argue, racist.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place I couldn't figure out whether I still loved that film or whether or not I should hate every part of it. Had it skewed the perception of people, and particularly children, about who Arabs are and how they act?

"Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey, it's home."

That's a lyric from opening song of the film. Think about that for a minute. This is a children's movie. Let me take a moment to make it clear that in the home I grew up no one had their ear cut off.

When I really heard that line as a young adult I realized the only thing barbaric was the song itself and everything it was insinuating. It still remains a depressing thought to realize that such a happy memory from my childhood was in fact only one of many narratives describing my whole race as something that was violent, aggressive and void of humanity. Aladdin isn't alone in this. Disney has a history of falsely depicting people in either an overly idealistic light or an incredibly offending one.

Then late last year news broke out that Aladdin was on the list of animated films being transformed into a live action flick with real actors. My first thought was this has to be good - right? A film, a great story about Arabs, heroic Arabs, fun, funny Arabs had to help with the generalized negative view many people have on the Middle East, right? Or will we end up with a completely whitewashed cast? Will these offensive stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims be projected in a way to heighten fear? Is the divisive narrative set to continue?

Whitewashing has been a heated topic of late with studios still opting to cast white actors in roles that don't belong to them. There has been great debate about this, most recently around the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the live remake of the famous Japanese Manga comic series Ghost in the Shell. The film will be released on March 31 and I have a feeling that it might not do well even if the story, plot, special effects and performances are good. There has been so much online backlash regarding the casting choice that it is for many people a film that they are sick of hearing about and a role that they already know doesn't belong to Johansson.

"Do you trust me?"

That is one of most memorable lines in Disney's Aladdin. He says it twice to princess Jasmine at important points of the story.

The first time is when princess Jasmine is disguised as a normal civilian like him and they are running away from the palace guards before they jump off a balcony. The second time is when Aladdin is disguised as a prince trying to win Jasmine's heart as he invites her to join him on a magical carpet ride from her balcony. The theme of trust is extremely prevalent through the film especially between the characters. Aladdin trusts Jaffar, but Jaffar tricks Aladdin. Aladdin and the Genie make a deal and Aladdin breaks that deal and Genie looses faith in Aladdin as his friend and must obey him as his master instead.

The question of trust, funnily enough, speaks volumes in this context. Can we trust Hollywood? Will they remain the master of these stories of the world that have been seeped in history and connected to the lives of millions, choosing to alter and skew them into vehicles filled with derogatory images and stereotypes and yet disguised with brilliant music and acting? And like the Genie, will we look around a realize that despite our best efforts to speak out, create memes, write articles in the end of the day will we have to adhere to the way we are represented?

I've reiterated this point so many times in many articles that I've written. Stories matter. Books matter. Movies matter. It's hard for people to fathom how much they matter but they do. A lot.

When Guy Ritchie was hired as the director of the film I was surprised and a little excited. The director of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the Sherlock Holmes franchise, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Snatch wasn't the obvious choice. His films have always had a type of grittiness, of believability and a genuine dedication to story and realistic plots. Also, in my mind I see him as a no nonsense type of guy who sticks to his guns and can't stand stupidity. This has nothing to do with the fact that he was once married to Madonna. It's just what I think of based on his films and the interviews I've seen and read of his.

My point was proven a tad, when a casting call for the film was released specifically looking for Middle Eastern actors.

"These characters are Middle Eastern," read the first line of the casting call.

Initial thought? Thank God! A sense of relief washed over me and then I was also amazed that that we've learned to be grateful for a lot of things that should be a given.

In any case, I believe that this is the right step forward. Here is a real opportunity to do more than try and "fix" the negative and false representations of Arabs in the western media. It's also a chance to showcase a film that can be a critical and commercial success without having a white lead in a non white role. This casting call gives the impression that Guy Ritchie and the people behind the film are taking the right step towards making a movie, that instead of offending us will be genuine and hopefully timeless.

• City Times