The lyrics of Disney’s cartoon musicals aren’t generally known for their edginess, but the opening song of 1992’s Aladdin left some viewers steaming. As the movie begins, a character describes his Arabian home as a place “where they cut off your ear/ If they don’t like your face,” and concludes, “It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” Arab-Americans said the line played on stereotypes and asked that it be removed. “Can an Arab-American child feel good after seeing Aladdin? The answer is no,” an official with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told Variety. (Critics also objected to a scene in which an Arab merchant attempts to slice off Princess Jasmine’s hand.) Disney defended the movie, calling it the first film in years to feature an Arab hero and heroine, but the company agreed to change the lyric in the home-video and CD versions (the new version: “Where it’s flat and immense/ And the heat is intense”). To the dismay of critics, however, the “barbaric” line remained. In a 1993 editorial titled “It’s Racist, But Hey, It’s Disney,” the New York Times countered, “To characterize an entire region with this sort of tongue-in-cheek bigotry, especially in a movie aimed at children, borders on barbaric.”
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