By Emily Gonzalez
10 things I noticed
- The princess is asleep and is to be woken up with a kiss. It reminded me of sleeping beauty.
- Hypersexulzation of the princess in the film. Costumes are inaccurate and a mal representation of Arabic culture.
- Jafa is the villain.
- The names of the characters are similar to those in Disney’s Aladdin. For example, Abu stays the same in the film. Jaffa is Jaffar.
- The majority of the main characters are white, portraying people of Middle Eastern descent. The only main character who isn’t white is Abu. Abu was played by Sabu, who is of Indian descent.
- Moments in the film give me the same feeling as the Wizard of Oz. Could it be the technicolor and fantasy elements of the film?
- The Genie in the Thief of Baghdad is portrayed as malicious and scary. He is full of anger.
- Abu stealing in the market place and being chased around by all the men remind me of the song.
“One Jump Ahead” from Disney’s Aladdin
- The movie is very comical, with moments when the bad guy misses the hero. An example of this is when Abu hides in a pot from the men of the marketplace.
- Violence: Execution and Swords
- The hypersexualization of women, specifically the princess in this film,
- Costumes are inaccurate in relation to Middle Eastern clothing.
- Her costumes are made to be revealing. Especially in the chest area.
- The costumes are a direct representation of Hollywood’s fantasization of the Middle East.
- Made for the male gaze.
- The costumes are too modern for the setting.
- At the end of the film, her costume is more conservative and covered.
- The tops of her costume are always tight, either using a corset or a small-fitting top.
- In comparison to the other females in the film, she is the one whose costume is the most hypersexualized.
- All her veils are transparent. Is this one-purpose? It reminds me of the three women from the brothel in Aladdin.
- She only uses a head covering at the beginning of the film, when she is introduced, and then we don’t see her wear a turban till the end of the movie.
These details made me reflect on the hyper sexualization of the princess shown in her costumes. The first time we get an up-close shot of her, she is in a gold mesh top with a corset underneath that is barely covering her chest area. When I saw the costume, I immediately thought these costumes were inaccurate for Middle Eastern clothing in 570. The princess clothing was designed by Marcel Vertes, who also worked on Moulin Rouge (1950). As we know, The Moulin Rouge is considered risqué in its costumes; this is a reflection of the artist’s choices. Let’s keep something in mind while we dissect the hyper sexualization of princess clothing: this film was made for men, and by men. Throughout the film, the princess’s clothing is especially revealing in the chest area. Could this be due to the fact that the film was made for the male gaze and the influence of Hollywood’s desire to fantasize about Middle Eastern culture, which made these costumes oversexualized? Well, I think yes. The costumes of the princess are made revealing to evoke an erotic and sex appeal to the character. In 99 percent of her costumes, the neckline on her top is revealing and meant to draw attention to her breast. What I found interesting was that all her costumes were revealing until the end of the film, in which she is in a more conservative dress in which her breasts aren’t put on display. Was this intentional? While watching the film, I came to the realization that, just like Disney’s Princess Jasmine, the princess in The Thief of Baghdad wears oversexualized clothing that isn’t true to the social, economical, and political climate of their world and Arabic culture. Could the French’s translation of Arabian Nights have influenced the costume designer’s choices in relation to the princess’s outfits? Why is the princess, out of all the other female characters, the most sexualized? Is it to create a sense of appeal for her so that the male audience pays attention to the film? Why does the Princess wear a head covering (veil) that is see-through in comparison to the woman who is helping Jafa?
