First let's talk about the use of color in Aladdin. Specifically the color red. As we all know, red is a very powerful color. First, it represents masculinity. That's why Jesus always wears red and why the macho republican party chose it as their color. In Feng Shui it stands for fire, the characteristics of which are passion and sexuality. The first scene of Aladdin opens on red flams with pink smoke. This may seem to be in order. Fire? Red. Duh. But wait. WHY is it red? It could just as easily been purple, blue or orange. Making the fire red at the very beginning of Aladdin sets the tone for the entire rest of the film (especially that pink smoke, but we'll address that later). Having red flames implies that the sexuality in the film, represented by the symbol of fire, is entirely masculine. If the fire were blue it would mean the sexuality in the film was feminine. Now, since the movie is about Aladdin, what is the problem with the sexuality in the film being masculine? Only that sexuality has been male dominated since the beginning of time! Only recently have women owned their sexuality. Basically, where is the blue, feminine fire? Where is Jasmine's sexuality? If the film were speaking the truth the fire would be purple, the combination of masculine and feminine. Purple is the color of divine union. Aladdin's vest is purple since he is so much the suitor, as is the first glimpse we see of the palace (technically it is pink and purple). But Aladdin's hat (his phallus), Jafar's outfit, and Jasmine's outfit when she is a slave to Jafar are all red and therefore masculine.
Now, let's talk about the color pink. Pink is the color of the prostitute- which is not necessarily a bad archetype. We all have the prostitute in us but the negative side of this identity is typified by all the things you would assume goes along with selling sex. So the red fire, in the first shot of the movie, has pink smoke. Now, smoke is a variation on air, the element of the mind and our intellect in general. So this is a setting of the mental attitude of the entire film for prostitution. Basically, the way everyone in the film thinks like a prostitute. And Disney wants you to too. This is what Disney is telling little girls to think like, given the symbolism. Horrifying, right? Yep. Not only that, the pink smoke accompanies fire, specifically conditioning little girls to have a prostitute mind when is comes to sexuality specifcally. Ugh.
Later, we get a glimpse of the palace being pink and purple. So basically Jasmine's home is all about sex and prostitution. Wow. This makes sense as Jasmine and her sexuality are sort of for sale. Later in the film, Genie is parading pleasures in front of Aladdin, one of which is several pink camels. Apparently, one of the pleasure the Genie can provide is prostitutes. Anything you can ride is generally considered feminine and we all know pink is the color of the prostitute so yeah, the Genie can do hookers. Just after the pink camels parade around, the Genie himself turns pink, throwing his lot in with the rest of the hookers. I'd also like to digress into purple for a moment because just after all this a purple dragon breathes fire that turns into women. Now, as we know purple is the color of sex, but what, exactly, does a dragon symbolize? Typically, negativity. All lizards and such are symbols of negativity because they're cold blooded (and because of the lizard-like aliens taking over earth...). So a purple dragon breathing fire and women is like saying BAD SEX. Fire, dragons, women, purple. It's all bad sexual symbolism. :( :( :(
Next, let's talk about numerology. For a refresher course on it see my blog post Numerology. There's not too much numerology in Aladdin, but what there is is pretty telling. The main batch of it comes when the Genie is introducing Aladdin as Prince Ali. He's listing all the stuff Prince Ali has. Apparently he has 75 golden camels, 53 purple peacocks, and 95 white Persian monkeys, among other things. So, to start, let's take the 75 golden camels. 75 is the number of the "thorn", or passive violence. The 7 is spirituality, magic and higher learning and the 5 is chaos, crisis and destruction. Put them together and you have an existential crisis. So even though you tried to expand your world view, you failed, and chaos reigned. It's a terrible number and saying that Prince Ali has 75 golden camels is like saying he has major money (gold) and women (camels) problems. This is incongruent with Prince Ali, but perhaps is congruent with Aladdin himself. But basically, it's not good news, these 75 golden camels. Notice that the men toting them are wearing purple pants, pink shirts and red hats. Yeah, let that sink in.
Then there's the 53 purple peacocks. First, we know purple has to do with sex and relationship between men and women. It's the color of divine union. Next we all know peacocks represent showy men, exuberant suitors, and flashy gentleman callers because the male species has all that beautiful plumage. 53 is a crisis of the community. 5 is chaos and crisis and the 3 is community. So what we have here is a crisis of community and sex because of a decadent male lover. Which is not congruent with Prince Ali, who is supposed to be like the perfect prince, with no challenge to his pedigree. It is, however, congruent with Aladdin, trying to win over Jasmin and her community by being the flashiest male and failing to do so because of his low social status. So 53 purple peacocks is both perfect and fucked up, given Aladdin's situation.
Next is the 95 white Persian monkeys. Now, since they're monkeys we immediately think of Abu and his role in Aladdin. 9 is the number of orgasm and completion in general and we all know 5 is crisis and chaos. So basically 95 is the inability to orgasm, or symbolically, the inability to bring about resolution. It's a rather frustrating number, but there is another side to it. The positive side of five is freedom and release. So in some ways 95 is a perfect number, describing the wild abandon and freedom of orgasm. This, I think, is somewhat like Abu. He's a total shit head but sometimes he saves you at the best possible time. It's all relative. The color white would suggest that these monkeys, and Abu, are part of the light, or that which is seen. This rings true because Abu is always around, being the superficial projection of Aladdin; he is like Aladdin's Id. 95 white Persian monkeys is perfect description of Abu being the projection of Aladdin's ability to get himself in and out of trouble.
Next we get a Muslim man; we know he's Muslim because he greets us with "Salaam". Keep in mind this is our first experience with any character, specifically any Muslim, even more specifically, a Muslim man, and so it is sort of a definitive view/role. This Muslim man is portrayed as an unctuous, desperate salesman who is probably lying about his wares. This is obviously a less than ideal portrait of Muslims and makes all men in the film liars, which is kind of true.
At one point this man pulls out a lamp which is decorated with intermingling symbolic phalluses and vaginas (^ phallus, V vagina). As this is an object of power, specifically a flame-maker, this is appropriate. As an object that gives you anything you want, these sexual symbols become problematic. Since one stipulation is the lamp can't make anyone fall in love, the inherent symbolic sex the lamp represents is reduced to food, money, service, and loveless sex. These the Genie parades in front of Aladdin in a smorgasbord of bad sexual scripts striking again.
When we first meet Aladdin he is running from the "cops" and fumbling a phallic loaf of bread. This implies Aladdin isn't good with his dick; this is incongruent with the rest of the film where Aladdin is supposed to be the only true suitor for Jasmine. Also, this particular phallus is stolen, and since he steals every meal, Aladdin is symbolically a bit of a rapist as well. Maybe that's why sexy women think he's trash and the only women interest in him is fairly sizeable. Either way, our first impression of Aladdin is that he's a rapey thief who doesn't know how to use is dick to attract the right kind of women. Super for little girls to desire, right? NOPE.
The biggest symbol in the movie is the apple. An apple traditionally symbolizes sex. It's masculine red on the outside and has a feminine star of Venus on the inside, and it is sweet. Therefore, sex. So we first see an apple when Jasmine "steals" one in the market place to give to a child. This could be Jasmine having to steal her sexuality away from the Sultan and the law and giving it to her inner child. Giving the apple to a child is many things. First, if, like me, you believe that sex is for everyone, even children, because they are alive and sexual beings too, celebrating their bodies and its innocent joys, then we're good. But if you believe sex isn't for children then you should take umbrage with this. Either way, Jasmine and her sexuality must be stolen from her father and the kingdom.
After Jasmine engages with her sexuality, she is "caught" and almost has her hand cut off. Since the hand represents our actions, it is a bit like saying if you engage in sex then your ability to do things is limited or even completely restricted. Being a princess, this seems to ring true for Jasmine. Both her sexuality and her ability to do things are not only linked, they're completely bound up in the law and the wellbeing of her kingdom.
Another apple incident is when Aladdin and Jasmin are eating apples and Aladdin gives Abu his bitten apple, but Abu doesn't want it. Abu tries to steal Jasmine's whole apple. If Abu is Aladdin's little projection, then his trying to steal Jasmine's apple is a bit like Aladdin trying to steal Jasmine's sexuality. Rapey. Not cool, Disney. There is a time when an apple is used well (I believe) and that is when the lovers go on a magic carpet ride. They eat an apple. Fucking hooray. Whatever. Because later, when Jasmine is a veritable sex slave, Jafar takes a big, aggressive bite out of her apple, leaving no room for interpretation: he's a rapist. Yikes. Kinda heavy for a kids film? You bet. But because it's in symbols, and because most people don't understand symbolism, this shit slides right by. That's why I'm writing this. People need to know: Disney is gross.
One big visual that sort of sums of the sad sexual scripts in Aladdin is when the Genie is talking about not being able to make people fall in love, he has a big heart with a crossed out NO sign on his chest. Innocent? Maybe, but given Disney's track record, I bet not. There are other ways to convey that information. This image is terrible and is only included to underline the main points of the symbolism in Aladdin: Love is bad. Sex is loveless and based only on attraction. Men rule. But we all know, and they'll never totally convince us otherwise, that love is good, sex is for love and men and women both rule equally. Hooray! FIN.
