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Posted by Aqua the Revolutionary on November 7, 2009, 2:08 am
24.2.39.19
Dear Disney Doll Fans,
Do you have any love/ hate and/ or difficult relationships with certain animated Disney characters?
I certainly have some tortured mental associations, with regards to both Jasmine and Tarzan's Jane. Why, you ask?
Well, I'll give you the PG-rated version of my mental frustrations. The entire Disney version of "Aladdin" always bugged me, because, in my personal opinion, what could have been a romantic, exotic, faraway type of movie was spoiled by modern jokes, etc. I love Robin Williams, but "Aladdin" 's general mood has always seemed to be a combination of oranges and peppermints, which obviously don't go together; in other words, the old-fashioned exoticism of the setting is spoiled by the tanginess of modernity.
I've always sort of disliked Jasmine, too. I saw "Aladdin" when I was 13, and I always viewed Jasmine as the impossibly sex symbol whom every single woman in the world should have to be like. I hated her for being that, because I'd never be able to be that perfect; I was also upset because Jasmine was able to perfectly control Aladdin with sex appeal alone! That red slave scene always stuck with me. I felt as though society expected me to live up to all of that, and that I could never be that sexy. I also began to believe that darker-complected women were sexier than fair-complected women.
I was probably being immature and overly sensitive at the time, but my feelings about that movie, and about Jasmine's image, have always been with me.
Of course, I now realize that Aladdin is that perpetual frat boy, who is maddeningly persuasive, and yet totally fratolicious, if you know what I mean! LOL!
The other Disney character whom I've always had a tough time reckoning with is Jane Porter. I like her, 'cause she's actually an intelligent, sweet gal, who speaks with a cool accent, but I've always felt that her character represents bedroom-minded, primal young women, and that's always upset me. My interpretation of a certain "Tarzan" song didn't help, either.
I can never seem to disassociate some of those perfect, animated Disney heroines from the stereotypes that society seems to emit.
Thanks in advance for your replies. 
