MovieChat Forums > Aladdin (1992) Discussion > Is Jasmine a weak character?

Is Jasmine a weak character?

posted 2 years ago by Heisenberg (6730)
17 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie.
It's my favorite Disney movie.

I can see how nowadays, 30 years later, Jasmine could look a bit outdated, and a weak female.
She does very little to help the good guys and she is quite spoiled.

In a more "modern" version, she would probably save everybody and kick ass and be more of a protagonist than Aladdin and be a "strong female" character.
I am happy that she is not.

I actually like her to be the hot, rich, spoiled but feisty and good hearted princess. She is one of the few real princesses in the Disney pantheon, and she behaves like a realistic one.
And I'm glad she is not the one to save the day, nor she tries to be the heroine or show Aladdin or Jafar or the Genie "this is how it's done": she is there to be conquered and to be saved.
Fine by me.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

Totally agreed. It's just a shame that the rich spoiled princess is a minority here, since I hate to see those negative traits associated with minorities. In fact, it's really weird that the 'poor' non-princesses in the Disney canon were, until recently, white Northern European women (i.e. one of the most privileged groups in society), like Cinderella and Belle.

Still, my favourite Disney woman is Charlotte La Bouff from The Princess and the Frog. Although she wasn't born a princess, she perfectly fits the role of the spoiled, rich, hot girl, and even better, they deviated a little from the typical Disney girl physical template, and gave her bigger curves, a rounder face and larger blue eyes.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Harvey, I tend to disagree with your vision of the world (or is it a double bluff?)

I understand that you mean "minority" as "she is a minority in the western world, which this movie is its main target for".
But she is, like every body else in this movie, Arab.
So she is not really a minority in any way, she is of the majority of the place this movie is set in.
Aladdin is not a minority, nor is Jafar. They are just the people that live that place of the world, I don't think anybody is making any racist statement, or trying to.

She would be a minority if she was the only Arab in a African country, or Asian, or Australian, etc.
This is set in Arabia, so she is majority there and for the viewer.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

I don't know if our visions of the world are that much at complete odds, at least when it comes to women/female characters (but, to be fair, I am not that familiar with all your views, so I could be wrong).

I also accept your point about the context that Jasmine is in, where everyone is of Arab descent, and thus, the only divider, besides sex, is socioeconomic status, of which Jasmine is at the top of the hierarchy.

Still, when she's placed alongside *other* Disney Princesses (including a large number who are, as you say, not *real* princesses), she is a minority. It would just be nice to have a female Disney character who ticks all the privilege boxes (besides, I guess, sex). Charlotte La Bouff, despite not being a real princess, probably comes closest (although even she is implied to have a deceased mother).

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Charlotte is an interesting choice for "favorite Disney female".
I like how she is not your stereotypical spoiled brat.
I don't like how she was portrayed somewhat in a negative light in the movie.

I would love to see a properly made spinoff with her story.
Possibly with some ADULT themes (but that's clearly asking for too much from Disney), exactly because she is a realistic character.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

Out of interest, what do you mean that she is 'not your stereotypical spoiled brat'? Do you mean because she was friendly and kind to Tiana?

Also, what do you mean about her being portrayed in a negative light? Surely she is akin to Jasmine, who you do like.

My worry with a Charlotte spin-off is that they'd try to give her character more depth, and the fun part of her character is how shallow and ditzy she is. Adding depth to her would lose the whole point. It would be like how a 'modern Princess Jasmine' would, as you say, probably be required to 'kick ass'. Those characters already exist. Why can't we have a few traditionally feminine characters who don't feel compelled to be 'action girls'?

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Yes, she was kind and a good friend to somebody who had quite a different set of values and social status, unlike most stereotypical brats.
The negative part is, she was sort of silly, superficial, extreme and clownish, compared to a well grounded, serious, hard working, honest, earnest character like Tiana.
Come on, she was the "bad" friend vs the "good" one, the sidekick vs the heroine.

Yeah, that is also what I meant by adult themes, she should grow deeper values and problems connected to her ways (like, how well it served her being "superficial" or silly later in life). I certainly don't want to see her turned "good", I wanna see how her weaknesses (and interesting traits) are developed.
But again, that is asking for something that Disney will never cater. Or rather, not yet ;-)

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7247) 2 years ago

I can't agree with your description of her in any regard. Jasmine is witty, outspoken and independent while also standing up against injustice and tries to do the right thing by her people. She's by no means a damsel, sitting in a tower waiting for help or running away from danger, but faces it head on, and is clever enough that on more than one occasion she tricks both the protagonist and antagonist. Her whole issue in the film is that she doesn't want to be anyone's prize, which is why she won't marry any of the suitors sent to her by her father.

Of course she's imperfect, she still possesses princess-like traits, but one of them is knowing her own value and power. Also, there is a modern version and she's much the same in it.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Yes, I agree with your description of her personality.
She has that attitude and tries to act on it.

But practically, no matter how well she means, she ends up sitting in her tower waiting to be rescued by the heroes.
Or worse, she is fucking it up by "escaping" (which only means, more trouble for her handlers).

I am just reporting the facts: she is a girl, facing stronger opponents and problems, and needed Aladdin and the Genie to save the day.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7247) 2 years ago

This is a very simplistic framing of the story, and I still can't agree with it.

Is Aladdin also a damsel for needing genie to save him and Abu to aid him? Is the Sultan a damsel for being tricked and then needing to be saved from his own stupid choices? Is Jafar a damsel for needing Iago and snake wizardry to help him?

And out of Jasmine and Aladdin, Jasmine almost lost a hand and needed help from a regular person, whereas Aladdin almost died and needed to be loop-holed back to life by a supernatural entity, so who's the bigger damsel?

[–] Furienna (3353) 25 days ago

Indeed, it is really weird to expect Jasmine to never need any help when the male characters also need help.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7247) 24 days ago

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[–] Furienna (3353) 24 days ago

I'm sorry, but I don't get what you're talking about now.
It is clear that Aladdin wanted to be a prince only because he wanted to see Jasmine again.

[–] Furienna (3353) 2 years ago

She was originally planned to save herself from the hourglass before it was decided that Aladdin had to save her.
Then again, he saved the whole town and not just Jasmine.

[–] PaladinNJ (21587) 2 years ago

She stood up to Jafar and tried to keep him busy while Aladdin tried for the lamp. He could easily killed her. That shows strength of character

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Yes, she clearly has lots of inner strenght and courage. That's why I like her.

[–] Stratego (30761) 2 years ago

She's not a weak character at all. But Aladdin is the hero of the movie, so of course she seems less developed.

[–] strntz (12661) 25 days ago

Good gravy - she's a woman in the Arab world - where a woman will be stoned to death for "adultery" if she suffers the indignity of being gang raped.

Considering all that, she's a freaking rebel in her world.