With Aladdin in line for a live-action remake, we must discuss the role it plays in representing the Middle East. In fact, it may be Disney’s most important movie yet.

Disney is currently in the process of casting actors of Middle-Eastern descent for the Aladdin live-action adaptation. It’s a good step in the right direction, when only a few months ago there were rumors that Mulan wouldn’t be an all-Chinese cast. But it’s important to remember that there’s much more to making Aladdin an accurate and respectful representation of Middle-Eastern culture (though a somewhat unspecific one, since the story is set in a fictional country) than just the casting.

Beauty and the Beast was an excellent example of how Disney can take an old movie with problematic elements and turn it into something more modern and fleshed-out, without compromising the charm of the original. It’s also a great example of how historical facts can be weaved into fairytales, as the addition of the Plague backstory made Belle’s motivations more interesting and gave the story more depth. So how can this same sensitivity be brought to Aladdin?

Showing Agrabah in a different light

Looking back on Aladdin from a more modern standpoint, the very beginning of the film is already plagued with offensive stereotypes. The opening song plainly describes Agrabah as “barbaric, but hey, it’s home,” and proceeds to show a string of caricatures of the “exotic” Middle East.

Fictional depictions of the Middle East often choose either this brand of exotification of everything, or that of an aggressive war-zone, neither of which provides a complete or accurate picture. The closest we’ve gotten to a historically-accurate Middle East, with a local hero and a somewhat positive context, is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time — a movie filled with inaccuracies, starting from the fact that none of the actors were Middle-Eastern.

While Agrabah is a fictional place, it borrows many elements from many different cultures, and although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Aladdin is set, it’s clear that there should be more culture to showcase besides sword-swallowers, belly-dancers and misogyny. A remake has the opportunity to showcase the majestic architecture, fashion and incredible scientific and literary advancements that come from that region of the world.

So far, Disney films have hardly ever mentioned religion (unless you count the quite obviously Christian weddings). But in the original Aladdin, God is mentioned as Allah, although outside a religious context and in a decidedly disrespectful way — indicating that filmmakers meant the characters to be Muslim (though, historically, this isn’t necessarily the case). While Aladdin is far from a religious movie, it would be interesting to see small elements of everyday life in most Middle-Eastern countries included in the story, such as mosques and the call to prayer, bereft of the usually negative context that surrounds them elsewhere.

Aladdin has the only glimpse many people have had at the rich history of Middle Eastern cultures… and it’s been quite a poor glimpse. Yes, it’s a fairytale and not a documentary, but when we see so much effort put into accurately making movies set in old Europe, it’s only fair that the same is done for Aladdin.

Elevating Jasmine’s role

Jasmine is probably one of the most outspokenly feminist characters of Disney, and yet her story is still somewhat problematic, although it was likely progressive for the studio at the time.

While she’s outspoken in her fight against an arranged marriage, and rebels against the oppressive laws of the kingdom, her story still solely revolves around the importance of finding a husband. For a remake, it would be interesting to see her rebellion before Aladdin arrives — and to never have her relegated to a disturbing “slave” role, as she is in the original.

And beyond that, Aladdin’s motivations shouldn’t be corrupted by the prospect of fooling a woman into liking him. Jasmine being a part of his plan to fool the Sultan makes for a much more interesting story. She and Aladdin should be equals, rather than him a hero and she a prize to be won.

Last year, Disney changed Jasmine’s costume in their parks to make it more modest, sparking questions of slut-shaming and inaccuracy. But it’s important to remember that Jasmine’s original clothes are, historically, a belly-dancer’s costume; probably one of the most revealing outfits you could find at that point in history, and something no princess would actually be likely to wear in public. A historically-accurate costume would be beautiful to see on screen, and would also showcase the wide variety in Middle-Eastern women’s fashion, whether it’s a combination of styles or following a specific culture.

There need to be other women in the story, too. There are no other women in the original Aladdin with real speaking roles besides Jasmine, and the women we do see are almost always grotesquely sexualized — in such an obvious manner that it’s frankly shocking, when comparing it to other Disney movies.

Why is Agrabah the only place in Disney princess stories where women are depicted like this? It certainly says something about the way Middle-Eastern women are constantly being sexualized.

Digging deeper

There’s an interesting pattern to be found in the original Aladdin: while many background characters have fake Arab accents, none of the main characters do. In fact, most of the characters with accents fall into some iteration of a stereotype. What does this say of the perception of Middle-Eastern accents, conscious or unconscious? Did Disney not believe that audiences could identify with characters who had accents?

Either everyone has an accent, or no one does (at least, no forced ones) — although no accents does seem like a more sensible choice; otherwise, why doesn’t everyone in Beauty and the Beast, not only Lumiere, have an accent? Why does no one in Mulan have an accent? And why are all these foreign characters speaking English? It may be better to just let the actors speak with the accents they actually have.

And it’s important to make mention of another danger in casting Middle-Eastern actors. If you look at big movie stars, in Bollywood or elsewhere, most of them are pale-skinned. Whitewashing has gone a long way, unfortunately, and isn’t an exclusively Western practice, thanks to imperialism. The Middle-East has a variety of races, and that diversity should be accurately displayed.

For the Aladdin re-make to be a success, audiences shouldn’t get to pick and choose what aspects of Middle Eastern culture to value and respect. They should be exposed to Agrabah with all its complexities; language, dress, religion, race and science. And they should be made to identify with Middle Eastern characters who, until now, have almost always been villains.

Not only does Aladdin have a chance to lift a generation of actors from being type-cast as terrorists to the ranks of famous actors, but it also awakens a curiosity among audiences toward the Middle East, in all its beauty and uniqueness, neither exotifying it, nor displaying it as “barbaric.”

All Disney films are celebrations of their particular era and culture, from Mulan’s China to The Princess and the Frog’s New Orleans, and they invite the audience to fall in love with them. Today’s audiences in particular have a great need to fall in love with the Middle East, and see it as more than a distant warzone or enemy.