To quote an ever wise merchant from the Disney classic, "Like so many things, it is not what's
outside, but what is inside that counts.".
Today, we look at how Disney's Aladdin teaches one of the most fundamental lessons anyone
can learn in life!
[Intro]
Disney are set to release the live action version of their classic 1992 movie, Aladdin.
The romantic tale of a boy from poverty falling for a princess and trying to win her love
using the power of a magical genie is a story that's beloved to many since it's first release
26 years ago.
However, behind the action, humour and the infamous theme "A whole new world", there
lies a story that at it's heart has great relevance as a life lesson to both young and
old alike.
Today we explore five key themes from the story of Aladdin that are hugely relevant
in today's world and for those seeking to live life on their terms.
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Right, to get straight into the list...
1) Self acceptance
The overall theme of Aladdin is that strength and wealth fundamentally comes from within
and not from what you have or own.
Regardless of being poor or rich your true value as an individual comes from who you
are and the unique perspective you bring to the world.
This is evident as Aladdin's greatest show of strength is when he loses the genie as
the villanous Jafar has the lamp and is master of the genie.
In this instance, Aladdin uses his wit and intelligence to overcome Jafar and play out
his role as the hero of the narrative.
Up to this point in the story Aladdin had portrayed himself falsely to Jasmine and while
this initially interested Jasmine, it also lead to internal conflicts for Aladdin who
struggled to maintain the facade and fell into a moral dilemma.
What's important is when he's forced to be true to his self and accept himself for who
he truly is, Aladdin's no longer trying to portray himself is no longer dependent on
what he has or the power of the genie to fulfil his position as a leader and protector of
the kingdom of Agrabah.
From this as individuals we learn the first lesson of the film, that we're at our best
when we accept ourselves for who we are, being self aware of what we have and what we're
capable of.
Your circumstance, wealth or opportunities are worthless if you don't first grow yourself
as an individual and trust yourself to take the right path suitable for you in life.
2) Pursuit of Power
Following on from self acceptance is what you do when you come into power.
Aladdin when initially granted the power sought to use the power granted to him through the
wishes to act for personal gain, falsely aiming to portray himself as a prince to win the
heart of Princess Jasmine.
The same goes for Jafar, as in the pursuit of power his goal was to seek power for personal
gain as opposed to the good of others.
In both cases, we see the ability that power has to corrupt that ultimately leads to disaster
for those who seek power for personal gain.
People in society usually accept hierarchical social structures to provide organisation,
but when the head of the structure fails to act in the interest of those he or she leads,
the majority will often seek to remove the head.
It's fundamental to understand that with power comes responsibility and the responsibility
of a leader is to serve the people they lead.
Thematically this is touched on time and again in Aladdin as every leader portrayed in the
film shows their failings with use of power throughtout the course of the film.
Jafar chooses to seek power for personal use and is ultimately defeated by a representative
of on the people he supposedly leads.
The Sultan, portrayed as naive and ignorant, has power as the ruler of Agrabah yet chooses
to restrict himself and his daughter in using that power to uphold traditions that are restrictive
to the freedom of people, in this case his own daughter.
Then of course there's Aladdin, whose motivation on receiving the wishes of the genie chose
to use that power for himself.
Now specifically in the case of Aladdin, he journeys through the course of the story as
the hero who is forced to deal with conflict and pain before growing to fulfil his role
in the narrative.
On losing the power of the genie and accepting himself for who he truly is, he takes on a
leadership role which is most obvious in how he uses his final wish, which is to use the
power for another and free the Genie from his captivity in the lamp.
It's at this point we see true leadership come to the fore in Aladdin, where power is
used to support and empower others and the source of such maturity comes from the self
assurance Aladdin has gained from his growth throughout the course of the film.
3) Freedom
Thematically Aladdin is very close linked to the idea of freedom.
The Genie would like to be free from the lamp and essentially a slave to his master, Jasmine
seeks freedom from traditions and rules no longer relevant in the world she is in and
Aladdin seeks freedom from poverty and the stigma attached to it.
Aladdin's case is incredibly relatable, as in the modern world many people seek this
concept of financial freedom, only to mistake it with desire for wealth.
In the case of Aladdin, he did this with his choice to be a prince to impress Jasmine and
principally placed chains on himself as he had to maintain a facade that was contrary
to his true self.
The reality is people today seek the same false representation as they want to portray
themselves as rich and financially free and maintain a similar facade to do so.
This is no more clear than on social media, where people go to great lengths to show how
they have fancy cars and constant holidays to try and sell the idea of financial freedom,
thus placing restrictions on themselves as to how to live and thus building insecurities
about themselves as they struggle with true self acceptance.
And if it's not portraying wealth, it's seeking wealth where often those who want to be rich
do so without a clear purpose as to why.
In this scenario people are often end up caught in the rat race as there is always more to
get and often end up miserable, living life to earn, but then having no freedom from the
work to actually live.
In Aladdin's case, we see in his journey he attains freedom at the end when he accepts
himself for who he is, no longer trying to win the affection of Jasmine through a false
portrayal of himself and choosing to use the power he has for the benefit of others.
The critical word there being he "chose" to use his power in this way.
True freedom comes from the ability to choose your path and own your decisions, to live
on your terms and try not to play up to the expectations or desires of others.
This goes back to the original point of self acceptance, you can never attain such freedom
if you aren't first willing to accept yourself for who you are.
4) Pursuit of Truth
Following on from the concept we can see how lies can restrict you on your journey in life.
As previously discussed, Aladdin's choice to try and mask his truth to Jasmine lead
to him having moral dilemmas throughtout the course of the story.
It's only through acknowledging himself as the person he is as opposed to what he has
do we really see Alladin shine as the hero.
And this very point is wholly and completely relevant to today's world, especially with
the Internet.
People who aren't true to themselves and try to hide the reality of who they are to the
world are often ousted for the falsehood online.
There's inumerable scandals that break on a daily basis and with the digital world,
there's a level of transparency that has traditionally been lacking.
The reality is it's become more important today than ever to not try to hide who you
are, but instead embrace the reality of who you are.
However, to do this needs courage and thus we go back to the original point once again,
self acceptance is critical.
While this transparency might appear frightening at first, it's actually more empowering than
people might realise.
Whereas traditionally people would live to try and hide their flaws to others, restricting
themselves in the process, today people are much more willing to show themselves for who
they are and for the most part this is often accepted.
In fact, it's actually quite endearing especially when you know you can actually relate to the
flaws of someone who is hugely successful.
This is also true in the case of Jasmine and Aladdin, where the princess appears more enamoured
with the hero on understanding his full character as opposed to when he falsely portrayed himself
as the prince and followed traditional conventions for marriage that she strongly opposed.
5) True happiness comes from within, not from what you have
From the previous points we can understand and come to realise that the reality is that
to live a life of meaning and one you can describe as happy, it's critical to focus
on the instrospective.
Happiness doesn't come from what you have, the power you hold or working to gratifying
your desires for items or objects.
Instead, happiness comes from progressing and becoming the person who you truly are,
being true to the values you hold and living life on the terms you set for yourself.
Aladdin's story ends with him returning to where he began, but his growth over the course
of the story sees his maturity and growth as an individual and from here we see that
Princess Jasmine is prepared to accept him for the reality of who he is, regardless of
where he's from.
The reality is that people who focus on power and what they have without giving greater
importance to self realisation often struggle in life, trying to maintain something that
isn't congruent to who they are.
The story of Aladdin has depth and value which gives emphasis to where we need to shift our
focus and perspective in life.
If you want true success in life, then you'll never have it if you only seek to gratify
your desires of physical wealth and power, because first and foremost you must seek to
find purpose and acceptance within.
Have you watched the original Aladdin and how do you think the upcoming live action
remake will compare?
Let me know in the comments section below.
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Thanks for watching.