Aladdin Film Response

I have a very fuzzy memory of Aladdin as a child. I remember seeing the opening sequence, where Jafar goes into the mouth of the cave. However, I remember being particularly terrified by this scene so I don't think I ever watched the rest of it. If I did, I barely remember it, so this felt like a first-time viewing. 

Overall, I like the movie, but I don't quite love it. Aladdin was an excellent hero, but I felt Jasmine to be a pretty lackluster princess. She is, almost exclusively, what keeps me from loving the film. 

The thing with Jasmine was that she just came across as so unlikeable. You know those girls on reality shows who say in confessionals, "People only see me as the pretty girl. It is so hard being beautiful," and you want to kill yourself? That's what Jasmine felt like for me. She was a girl who was complaining about  growing up rich and wanting to be independent and it was hard to be incredibly sympathetic to her situation. 

However, Aladdin is so charming that he almost makes up for my dislike of Jasmine. I loved his scrappiness, and he always approaches things with a smile and a sense of humor, which created a super root-able, underdog scenario. 

Another (kind of random) thing that I really liked with the movie was the opening sequence of a street guy narrating the story to the audience. This reminded me of the opening sequence of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and for some reason, I really like this as a viewer. Creates a very mystical aspect to the entire movie.

Probably the biggest shock for me came from the seduction scene between Jasmine and Jafar. I know a lot of critics have pointed out Jafar when arguing in favor of a homosexual, androgynous pattern between the Disney villains, but I think that this scene clearly flies in the face of that. In fact, Jafar is so overcome with lust for Jasmine that I am quite shocked Disney would include it in one of their films. I would think there would be backlash for not being "appropriate."

The main message of this movie seemed to mostly be against wealth. Aladdin's lowly status was emphasized throughout, and the audience assumes that he "only steals what he can't afford" because the guys with swords (and Jafar) are too greedy to help those in need. In addition to this, like discussed earlier, Jasmine resents her wealthy status and even joins Aladdin on the street in order to escape the crushing psychological weight of her privelege. This movie, like a lot of other Disney films, seemed to mostly be a criticism of the wealthy class. 

Ultimately, I don't have too strong of an opinion on Aladdin overall. Of course watching it I had a few questions/thoughts, such as:

1) What are the implications of Aladdin and Jasmine being two of the only characters with American accents (even though I don't think little kids would pick up on that or that some of the only others with American accents were living on the street)?

2) Is Aladdin the ultimate tool because he REFUSES to wear a shirt?

3) What is up with the timing of the Aladdin and Jasmine relationship? They kissed super early in the movie. This has to be one of the soonest for the couples in all of the Disney movies, no?

4) The architect of Jasmine's palace should be sued by the builder of the Taj Mahal because clearly copy right infringement!

But even with all of these ground-breaking thoughts, with this particular film, I still only feel slightly to the "good" side of "ambivalent" on the movie critic scale.