MovieChat Forums > Aladdin (2019) Discussion > The male and female lead do not look tra...

The male and female lead do not look traditionally Arab..


You know what I mean, don't pretend to play dumb. They got fine featured, fairer skinned actors especially the woman playing Jasmine. What is wrong with casting a girl with an Arab looking nose? this is the nose most women in Arabia and Persia (Iran) have naturally. Instead they got a ski-jump bunny nosed actress who isn't even middle eastern but half white and Indian. Very sad.

reply

At least they're brown

reply

Nasim Pedrad (who happens to be in this movie) is Iranian-born. Does she fit the cartoonish profile in your head?

reply

Disney is racist

reply

Well and Jesus Christ probably wasn’t white with blue eyes and long straight brown hair. It’s all marketing.

reply

My biggest issue with them is that they don't look *young*.

The Aladdin looks 35, and the Jasmine looks... CGI.

reply

So what?

reply

Does any plastic-faced Hollywood actor look like a traditional human???

reply

The original Aladdin was arguably Chinese:

https://ajammc.com/2017/08/10/who-was-the-real-aladdin/

Most of the characters were from various places along the Silk Road. Those cultures were never entirely self-contained & the story reflected that. You wouldn't cast a Shakespeare production exclusively with English actors just because the author was English.

reply

That's interesting, and it makes sense. I was going to post that, IIRC 1,001 Arabian Nights was written in Baghdad, and the people may or may not be "Arabs" there. I think Persians are fairly easy to distinguish from Arabs.

reply