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Who is the main character of "Aladdin"?

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[quote="AladdinsGenie"]Oh boy, where to begin.....

[quote]"I'm not sure that little black girls haven't fared better because they haven't had a princess," notes Dr. Deborah Cunningham, a New York-based psychologist. "Because if you look at the white [Disney] princesses, they've all been victimized in some way. They've all been saved by a prince, right? And they're all looking for true love."

She continues, "In other words, if [black girls] are not identifying with these delicate little white girls who are being saved by the prince and taken off to the kingdom, then that may not be so bad. Whether they feel beautiful is something else."[/quote]

UGH. So because there hasn't been a black Disney princess, we're better off because of it because we're not being victimized? Oh, please. As much as I'll get shot for saying this, I kinda prefer if there wasn't one. Not because I want her to be "victimized" and make my own race look bad and pathetic like this article is saying (which is another rant in itself), but because people have a fit over the ethnic characters that ARE around. Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, Kida...they've all been put under the same race issues. If we can't accept those, how are we going to bring ANOTHER ethnicity into the mess? I mean really, can you IMAGINE the CONTROVERSY that would cause if they made an African American film that WASN'T based off animals? I think people are still trying to recover from Song of the South :lol:. Aladdin has been under fire from 1992 to the current day over the "omg stereotypes of Arabs"...I don't even wanna THINK what would happen if they did an all-black film. I would love to see it, personally, but I know they are going to pick it apart with all the stereotypes they can find. I think Sweet from Atlantis: The Lost Empire is one of, if not, the first African American character in a Disney movie. It made sense because it's very well possible to have one there, where I don't think it's all that possible to have them in the other movies for historical purposes. (Feel free to correct that) 
And don't we have African characters in our series? It makes sense to have them, right? Yeessss. And now that I think about it, so did the Little Mermaid series. Gabrielle the deaf mermaid, no? Ok, so they've all been in a television series and they're not as well-known, but it's not like they've been completely absent.

And I have a problem when you DO like someone because of what race they are. I freakin' LOVED Ariel when I was a kid and I didn't care if she was white. Not ONCE did I ask "omg, why are there no black princesses for me to idolize, mommy?" Why? I was taught better than that...and I wasn't a princess person to begin with :lol:. I don't care if you're black, white, Asian, green, male or female--if I like you, I like you. My mom is a Cinderella fanatic, my dad *loves* Hercules, my sister is a Pocahontas fan like whoa, one of my brothers pretty much idolizes the sarcasm of Kuzco and randomness of that movie, the other one adores Tarzan, and me...well yeah :lol:. No, it's not because we're forced to love these characters and movies since we have no other choice--it's because WE DON'T CARE. If we really cared that much, we wouldn't be supporting Disney right now. We would be pissed off there are no all-African American movies and vow never to watch another Disney movie until there is one. I can't stand that fact that this article basically said "Well, African Americans have supported Disney, but they haven't given us anything black in return." If that's why you're supporting Disney, because you think you deserve something ethnic in return, then please stop. Never in my life have I heard such a ridiculous idea to support something and it's damn right disgusting that exists.

I'll be completely 100% honest with you..."The Lion King" is THE "black" movie for a lot of African Americans because of its African roots. Now this isn't saying this applies to all African Americans (*raises hand for Aladdin*), but a lot of people I have ran in to consider this "their" movie and it's their favorite. "Aladdin" is usually next in line for favorites by African Americans because of the ethnic factor again, and the music believe it or not. It has drums in it and black people respond to drums--don't forget that :lol:. But again, I've seen all the movies loved by African Americans, so that is by no means the official number and code to go by (there shouldn't be a code to go by to begin with, but hey that's how I feel on the situation).
As far as the princesses go, it's usually Jasmine for African Americans  because she has "attitude", but I've seen ALL the princesses loved reguardless of race. There is an African American girl that gets on the city bus I see that has a new Cinderella purse every day :lol:. People DO tend to gravitate towards things they can identify with, I have several Island Pacific friends who were doing flips when Lilo and Stitch came out :lol:, but that wasn't the ONLY reason why they loved it and it shouldn't be.

Just looking at myself...Aladdin is my favorite movie and Jasmine is my favorite princess and it's not because she's the princess that looks the closest to me (which really isn't that close at all :lol:). I just like the damn movie. I can relate to it, even being black and there isn't any African Americans in the movie itself. Isn't that funny? The movie is about Arabs, yet me being an African American can relate to these characters. LE GASP.

Is it not possible these days to just like something because and not have to find a reason that is political?

And just to give you a funny story, I shall leave you with an IM conversation I had with my cousin a year ago that always makes me laugh:

Cousin: i almost had a fight this wk [i](white kid)[/i]
Cousin: guess why i almost had a fight
Cousin: we were arguing over Aladdin
Me: ....you're lying
Cousin: nope
Me: Liar
Me: You would not get in a fight at that expensive school over Aladdin [i](he went to an all boy's catholic school in New Orleans at the time)[/i]
Cousin: im serious
Cousin: o yes i would
Me: No you wouldn't and no you didn't
Cousin: im tellim you the truth
Me: You are not
Cousin: want to hear the story
Me: Sure, let's see what you can make up
Me: You might need those skills to make a story one day
Cousin: i was singing a whole new world in class
Me: ...wow, you can stop right there. That's a lie
Cousin: you know your favorite song for me to sing [i](When he was here visiting during the summer one year, he'd walk around singing in it out of key and I'd threaten his life :lol:)[/i]
Cousin: i swear 
Cousin: i was singin it in Spanish 1
Cousin: and a dude name newton said o no you not singin Aladdin
Cousin: i said im honorin him for black history month [i](this was in February :lol:)[/i]
Cousin: and they all laughed
Cousin: until some guy named kevin said. y aladdins not black
Cousin: and i said o yes he is
Cousin: so i began to tell him how he's black
Cousin: i said he has a pet monkey
Cousin: he lives in a tore down apartment in the projects
Cousin: he met a chick who he tried to holla at, who he lies to all the time
Cousin: his homie turned him into a pimp 
Cousin: he broke
Cousin: he went to jail
Cousin: and so on
Me: LOL!! Darren, you are so lying
Cousin: then he got angry and threw a pencil at me
Cousin: then i got up out my seat and told him to chill out
Cousin: so he pushed me
Cousin: and i shoved him down
Cousin: but he didnt defend his self
Cousin: so i left him alone
Cousin: and so.....
Cousin: Aladdin may look arabian, but he isnt. he's just light skinned
Me: You are SO lying
Cousin: i swear

So there you have it folks. Aladdin is a HUGE stereotype of an African American and no one has said anything yet. They're too busy trying to call him on being too Western and too offensive to Arabs to notice :lol:[/quote]

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