The Disney movie Aladdin is a classic. There is no doubt that this is a film that the vast majority of the population has seen. Regardless of your age, you have encountered something related to this movie at some point in your life. For those who haven't yet, the film tells the story of a poor Arab beggar, named Aladdin, who resorted to stealing from merchants to survive. After being captured, he is forced to enter a dangerous tomb filled with gold and riches to obtain a lamp for an evil man. Aladdin gets his hands on a genie lamp and has the opportunity to make 3 wishes. He uses the 3 wishes to win the princess's hand in marriage. At the beginning of the film, Aladdin could not afford to eat as he is seen stealing an apple from a merchant. He is dressed in rags and does not wear shoes, which shows the audience that he is lower class. When dressed this way, his complexion appears tanned and darker. Given that he is of Arab descent and lives in the desert conditions of Agrabah, this makes sense. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay After wishing for the genie to turn him into a prince, many things about Aladdin change. For example, his name changes to Ali and he is now known as Prince Ali. He now wears extravagant clothes and shoes that clearly identify his social class as upper class. He brings with him bags of gold and throws them at people from the top of the elephant he is riding on. With him, he brings servants, exotic animals, and golden camels, things that only members of the upper class would be exposed to. However, Disney is also changing something else about itself. In the scene where he makes his grand entrance to the palace, his complexion is undeniably paler. It is no coincidence that once his social class changed, his complexion also changed. Although this is a subtle change, it is still shocking and an example of subtle racism. This change and encouragement of a lighter complexion makes it seem like dark, tanned skin tones are a characteristic of a lower class, whereas having a lighter complexion associates you with the upper class. Aladdin himself isn't the only character in this film to be presented as a lighter-toned, upper-class man. The Sultan is also noticeably paler than the rest of the Aladdin characters. This leads me to believe that Disney is secretly introducing the idea that a feature like your skin tone has a role in your social class. To think that this subtle racism is in a classic Disney movie aimed at children makes me sick. Of course, few children watching the film would notice the change in skin tone, but it's striking that it's not a coincidence. The only explanation for Aladdin's complexion changing would be that the writers think light skin is what's happening. differentiates a person's social class from lowest to highest. White supremacists would say that white and light skin has always been associated with the upper class, since the majority of the 1% have white skin and work harder for their money. The rest of the population would not agree and even protest against this idea. It is important to realize that wealth and wealth come in very different shapes, sizes and colors. It's not necessary that Disney had to change Aladdin's complexion to make him associated with a prince. In conclusion, Disney displayed subtle racism in their film Aladdin. They did it by lightening the complexion.