every time a character of color appears on a semi-popular franchise, there’s a rush to gatekeep that character and police who can create what kind of fanworks about them and how. people claim we need this policing to ward off fandom racism – and fandom racism is absolutely a persistent force – but this impulse has devolved into a warped victorianism where characters of color – especially if they’re women of color and/or queer – get treated like precious dolls who must be kept locked away in a glass cabinet to protect them from the racists. but a culture of fear and reactive paranoia doesn’t foster creativity or encourage people to have fun and take risks. can’t afford to get those dolls dirty or accidentally break them or take their clothes off, because if we do then…then white people will do the same BUT MUCH WORSE!!! is the logic that gets circulated. and i want to say: what if we stopped giving a single fuck about these fandom racists? what if we accepted that white people and even some people of color will always respond negatively or fetishistically to black and brown characters, and that it’s not our responsibility to modify our behavior and police our creative works because of what they might do or think? what if we decided that fans of color having the freedom and space and support to do all the things white fans get to do – write a range of edgy AUs, draw and write porn, explore kink and dubcon and BDSM in our fiction – and to be all the things white fans/ fandoms get to be – creative, kinky, edgy, expressive, messy, self-indulgent – is not only our goal but our right as fans of color? what would fandom look like for us?
Can all the misinformed Americans and Brits pipe down for a second? I’m rolling out the historical carpet from the perspective of someone who’s actually grown up in the Middle East and why none of this matters.
I heard Aladdin or as I knew it, as ‘The Magic Lamp of Alaa el-Din’. It is one of the most popular tales from the region, next to Sindbad, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and but guess what?
It’s a trainwreck of a tale, so is Disney’s adaptation. Why? Because it makes no sense, culturally or historically. Why? It’s not authentic. It’s not actually a real part of the stories Schehrezade/Shahrazad told to King Shahrayar in One Thousand and One Nights.
It was added in by a European translator, Antoine Galland, then later accepted as part of canon.
BRIEF HISTORY LESSON:
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of folktales presented in a story-within-a-story context. King Shahrayar of Persia’s wife cheated on him, he then had her and her lover put to death, but her infidelity drove him mad with paranoia. He decided to marry every virgin in the kingdom them put her to death come morning so she wouldn’t have the chance to cheat on him.
Alas, he ran out of virgins, all except for his grand-vizier’s daughter Shahrazad. She agreed to marry the king, assuring her father she had a plan. After their wedding night, Shahrazad began the distraction plot to end all plots. She asked the king if he wanted to hear a story and spent the whole night entertaining him with it, making sure to end with the start of another tale. Once he’s ask “What happened?” she’d tell him, “Wait for tomorrow,” and restart the same process.
She kept him on the episodic hook for a thousand and one nights, spinning so many tales and retelling many until she finally ran out. But, by the time she did, they had developed a good relationship, had children, and he no longer cared about his kill-come-sunrise rule, and they lived happily ever after.
So, why is Aladdin a trainwreck? For starters, it’s set in CHINA. And China is for some reason ruled by a sultan. Sultans are the titles of Ottoman kings, as in Turks. Aladdin is recruited by a sorcerer/Jafar from the Maghreb, which is typically used to refer to Morocco (literally called El Maghreb in Arabic) or all of NA sans Egypt. The Princess is called Badroulbadour not Jasmine, and while she has an Old Arabic name ‘badr al badour / full moon of full moons’, she is described as being from the FAR EAST. She was never an Arab, neither was Aladdin!
Can you tell this was made up by a confused foreigner?
So, we have a Turkish king in China, Aladdin is Chinese, Jafar is Moroccan and Jasmine is Japanese. It’s the same in the Disney movie. The style of the characters and background in Disney’s Aladdin is unmistakably an Persian-Indian fusion with some Ottoman sprinkled in. The concept of a genie/djinni is literally the only Arab part of the tale.
1. Jasmine’s headpiece/tiara, appearance, and pet tiger point to Indian. But she wears harem pants/şalvar, which are Turkish (Indian version shalwar).
Actually, she’s a toned-down version of a belly-dancer. Belly dancing is practiced from Egypt to Lebanon to Persia and India, it was spread by the Ottomans.
2. The Sultan is styled like a merge between a Sikh maharajah (Indian) and a sultan (Turkish).
3. The magic carpet is also an Indian concept (Prince Husain, son of the Sultan of the Indies in OTaON retrieves a magic carpet from India.)
4. The sultan’s palace is based on the Taj Mahal
5. The Genie/djinni is the lone Arabic concept.
Here’s what lots of Westerners don’t get. All of these cultures have bled on one another. From the Maghreb to Egypt, to the Levant, to Turkey, to the Arabian Peninsula, to Iraq, to Persia and India we all share so many traits because of trade, history or, you guessed it, invasion. Cultural exchange is pretty common, I grew up with a lot of Persian stories, Indian products and Bollywood movies in theatres, leftover Turkish culture and food from Ottomans, Arab culture from prior invasions, interaction and language, and so, so many Lebanese pop stars.
It’s actually pretty smart to amass a cast from different parts of the Near, Middle and South East, so to include everyone who likely grew up with Shahrazad and her many, many tales.
If there’s anyone you should have a problem with, it’s Will Smith as the genie. It’s pretty transparent how you all ignored how this is the second time a black man plays the genie (first on Once Upon A Time) but sling hate at Naomi Scott for being Indian.
Oh, and Disney fucked up by blaring Arabian Nights at the start and end of the movie, because One Thousand and One Nights is NOT called Arabian Nights. It’s called Alf Leyla w Leyla – literally ‘A Thousand Nights and One’.
It’s a collection of Persian, Indian, Egyptian, Arabic, Mesopotamian and Jewish folklore that was compiled in Arabic.
Aladdin is being played by the Egyptian Mena Massoud, Jasmine is by the Indian Naomi Scott and the rest of the cultures involved should be cast.
Oh, and to all people saying Naomi is ‘too light’ and ‘half-whitewashing’. Take your racial purity and stick it up your nose. Middle Eastern, Indian and North African girls come in all shades, even if both sets of grandparents are native to the region.
PS. Avan Jogia is seriously out there saying him playing Aladdin would have ‘been wrong’ because ‘he should be Middle Eastern’ but he had no problem playing King Tut, who is EGYPTIAN? As in Middle Eastern??
Quit your virtue-signaling, Rami Malek is still the only Egyptian to ever play one in Western media.
Anyway, POINT MADE.
Since the Aladdin trailer dropped, you all need to read this.
yesterday, i had to explain to three different people who work in the animation industry what voltron is. they had never heard of it, or if they have, it was only in passing and they knew little more about it than it’s based on an 80s property. the world exists outside tumblr and fandom communities, and while i’m not surprised to observe this show slipping into that cringe phase where The Internet has decided it’s suddenly embarrassing to like or watch it anymore, that mindset is so localized that it doesn’t matter outside that little vocal bubble. it’s not stupid to enjoy a cartoon and consider it a big part of your life. there are plenty of worse things you can assign the same significance to. does it bring you joy? does it remind you of a particularly happy time in your life? then it’s not stupid, no matter what the show is or how ‘good’ it is.
the internet is full of a bunch of bullies. just this morning, a headcanon post of mine from a few months ago started circulating again, and every reblog was accompanied by novel-length call-outs and straight up attacks. over a headcanon. fucking yikes. ….so i blocked them all and moved on, because that headcanon is my opinion and it makes me happy and i don’t want to see hate every time i look at my post on my blog. boom. done. you do what you gotta do. i’ve said it time and time again that fandom is, paradoxically, an individual experience. you make of it what you choose to, and if that means disengaging from the fandom until a month after s8 premiers and the immature people vomiting pure, vitriolic hate finally leave so all we’re left with is nice art and gifs, then that might be the best path for you. i’ll see you there.
I wish I didn’t have to squint at all She-Ra blogs to know if this is a decent person or a harasser like. For a second I think okay they say they don’t discourse then they can’t be an ant then they say stuff that makes you go
Anyways Shadow Weaver looks amazing and apparently she wants Adora back at her side so I’m hoping they’re taking that “am I not like a mother to you” line from the original and expanding on it.
Stop trying to tell Japanese people, especially queer ones, that they aren’t allowed to call themselves fujoshi/fudanshi and that they don’t know anything about their own language. Especially if you’re white.
Japanese fans, artists, and creators use fujoshi and fudanshi. Get the fuck over it. Cry a river. If a Japanese person is on your post trying to educate you on the history and how it’s used over in Japanese fandoms, and you decide to plug your ears, tell them to shut the fuck up, and continue spreading misinformation: you’re fucking garbage and you really do fit the description of an ignorant ass american.
Saying stuff like “you are causing me to self harm” or “you’re giving me a massive panic attack/triggering my trauma now i’m cutting myself because of you” is emotional manipulation 101 and I’m getting real sick of how common this tactic is on tumblr and twitter especially in regards to fandom and controlling the shipping preferences of someone. It’s messed up, cut it out. Harsh as it is to say if you’re not stable enough to handle what could be on the internet you shouldn’t be on it unsupervised especially super young preteens. Randos on the internet are not personally responsible for your mental well-being, all they have to do is tag and mark their explicit content. Seeking out such content is not their fault. They feel for you and don’t want anyone getting hurt, but they are not personally responsible for you.
Oh it will be don’t worry. And there’s gonna be a much more diverse fandom that goes beyond she|th vs. kl@nce or lotur@ vs. allur@nce or what ever shipcourse there is. Like expect fans and stans for the characters that are sidelined in current fandom like Hunk, the generals, Krolia, Allura, and most especially Haggar (who I foresee getting the biggest fandom given a few years. She’s a iconic villain ya’ll. She’s gonna be the gateway villain for a lot of villain fuckers for years to come I assure you.)
And perks of being a large fandom, there’s gonna be a fic for everything in the future. AU where Lotor dies in s5ep4? Expect a ton of “For want of a Nail” AUs on that with various plots and focus on different characters. A “what happened to the mouse” fic for the generals, I anticipate the 70k+ fic starring Ezor and Zethrid as they develop their army but also their romance. Acxa Alone fic? You bet. A fic focusing on the romance on Keith’s parents in depth? You got it. The sibling theory fic canon never delivered to us? Yep that too. Expect a ton of switch fics too. like what if Lotor was the one sleeping in the pod and the paladins woke him up or a fic on Empress Allura.
The only downside is of course, that having legit criticism for the show is gonna be a lot harder to make i the future. People are gonna take your critique as personal attacks and are not gonna like it. But ehh, it’s better than people shitting on it cause it’s the “totally rad” thing to do now.
When people keep using your gifs/meta/anything to shit on Haggar
Not to be me and when you’re not excited it’s okay but the atla fandom is full of stuck up, over nostalgic pessimists and it’s getting on my nerves.
Like? You all are acting as if this live action will destroy the show. But it won’t change anything! It won’t change the story or characters or anything! If you don’t like it you don’t even have to watch it. But let people be excited and let people enjoy stuff. Nothing has to be perfect. Not even atla is perfect even tho y’all act as if it is. You guys are treating atla like some kind of god. Has this fandom always been this annoying?
It’s been a decade and they’re no less intense about the salt of ships as they were when it ended so yes. Heck I’m seeing all the hell resurface again with revisionist history going on. You’re like, the first person on tumblr I saw that has pointed out that the show is not perfect cuz no show ever is. I just recall how much back in the day people literally nitpicked and hated everything about the show and went on about how bad it is and how annoying Zuko is and what a dumb cunt Katara is and how Mai is the worst character ever etc etc. Now it’s all nostalgic kids which I suspect will be the case of current hell cartoon fandoms a decade from now. The worst thing is, ATLA fandom has been infamous as the worst fandom in its day. With the state of fandoms today It’s gonna be even worse so RIP all those interested. Stay strong. Hang around the chill people and look away from the burning building in the background.
@ anon in regards to how right wing methods are used on tumblr, you’re on the mark. In fact months ago those types flat out agreed with right wing organizations and someone made a very interesting post discussing the line between purity culture on here and irl methods by religious organizations. Worth the read and checking the notes to see how some reacted to it.
superheroladies 