I made a post about the whole live action Aladdin movie and my girl Naomi as Jasmine but I’m gonna make another one now that it’s official because Twitter is a mess rn and I’m really conflicted about it all.
1) I really love Naomi and if you follow me you know this, and I’ve been waiting of her to get some recognition like this for so long because she’s a really talented actress and she deserves success. I’m proud that she landed the role, she can definitely pull it off and I understand that she took the role because she’s not a big actress and this will definitely change her life but-
2) The cast for Aladdin should’ve been Middle Eastern. The animated film was based off of a Middle Eastern story and the movie itself starts with a song called ‘Arabian Nights.’ But apparently this wasn’t clear enough for Disney when they were casting for this movie. Disney sent out casting descriptions looking for actors and actresses of Middle Eastern and Indian descent. Apparently Disney doesn’t understand that poc aren’t interchangeable.
3) Honestly I blame Disney for all this. They should’ve known better.
4) Don’t come at my girl Naomi with bullshit like saying she isn’t pretty enough to be Jasmine or saying she isn’t a good actress because she is. I’ve been seeing a lot of backlash on all this and while I agree that Disney should’ve cast a Middle Eastern actress for Jasmine, I will not tolerate any slander for Naomi on any irrelevant shit like her looks or her acting. Naomi deserves better than that.
5) While there is definitely a colourism problem when it comes to casting in Hollywood, don’t erase the fact that Naomi is a woc and don’t call her white just because she’s biracial.
6) This isn’t like the whole ScarJo thing with GITS and it isn’t whitewashing. It’s a whole different thing. Disney was the one looking for actors of Indian descent instead of just actors of Middle Eastern descent like they should have, and it’s really their fault that a Middle Eastern actress wasn’t cast. Naomi auditioned for a role that was asking for people of Indian descent like her, but Disney should’ve just held auditions for Middle Eastern actresses to be faithful to the source material instead of making it seem that poc are interchangeable.
7) Disney and the director (who is white) are mainly at fault here. Disney has done a lot of stuff like this I’m not surprised. Also, the director should’ve been Middle Eastern too.
8) I’m disappointed that my girl Naomi is gonna get a lot of hate for this role because I love her and she doesn’t deserve this mess. Again, Disney should’ve looked for a Middle Eastern actress. (WB and DC can y'all cast Naomi and save her from all this pls?)
9) On the other hand (no I’m not defending Disney, just adding some more facts on why Disney made this casting decision) the animated film took place in a fictional place called Agrabah and there were some Indian culture influences in the film (Jasmine’s palace being based off of the Taj Mahal) and although it took place in a Middle Eastern area, the film kinda blended stuff from other cultures and that lead to Disney being unclear about it all and looking Indian actors for these roles instead of just Middle Eastern actors.
10) We’ll have to see if they change the location of where the story takes place to explain why Jasmine is Indian while Aladdin is Middle Eastern. They could do that to justify the whole thing, but for the millionth time, Disney should’ve had the entire cast be Middle Eastern (I don’t know if Genie counts because that’ll just be voice work and he’s not human).
So yeah, I’m happy Naomi is finally getting big roles but I don’t want it to happen like this and it makes me sad. She deserves better, and there’s a Middle Eastern actress out there who could’ve had the opportunity for this role who also deserves better.
Please don’t send Naomi any hate tho. This is mainly Disney’s mistake.