My favorite thing about seeing the live action Aladdin
A family sat behind us with kids - two girls and a boy, all between 5-7.
I usually don’t like kids in a theatre, but I knew it was a Disney film, so I expected it.
However, they were very quiet and respectful, with one of the girls (about 5) making quiet quips every now and then - some which only her family and I could hear that made me lose my shit a few times (like when Aladdin hid the lamp behind him while giving his first “wish”, she said, “Stupid Genie”).
But one thing just made me smile.
When Princess Jasmine first came on screen in her regal gown (the pink one), both girls went, “She’s beautiful!” and “I wanna be like Jasmine!” Their mom said, “You already are.”
These were two black girls looking up to an Indian Princess. They didn’t notice or care she wasn’t black. They saw her on screen and just wanted to be like a woman they thought was cool.
I’m a Hispanic chick whose favorite Disney Princess growing up was Mulan and Pocahontas. When it comes to kids’ idols, skin color doesn’t matter. How you respond to their idols matter.
Not once did the mom say, “But she’s not black” or “What about Princess Tiana?” No. She told her two girls that they were already like Princess Jasmine. So they can feel like a princess, too.
When my favorites were Mulan and Pocahontas, my mom never told me anything negative. Instead, she bought me Mulan and Pocahontas dolls. She let me play out fantasies of being Mulan and saving China.
Race really doesn’t matter. It’s how you respond and treat the kids who find their idols in people who don’t look like them.
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