So I know in my last post I said I only had one more, but looking back I realized I had counted wrong. If I had only done one more post I would have finished my blog with 49 posts and that just wouldn’t do. Besides, Just a Dad with 50 Disney Questions sounds like a better name for my complete blog anyway. So here is a quickie.
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We all know that Jasmine liked to break the mold. An age old tradition of marrying for the good of the country is thrown out the window so that she can marry her true love. But I have to question why she falls in love with Aladdin. Sure, they both feel trapped in their current life situations and he saves her from getting her hand cut off, but is that the foundation of a long lasting romance? Eh…maybe. You can play the ‘they are meant to be’ card but that is the easy way out. I think one of the reasons Jasmine loves Aladdin has more to do with his station in life that she realizes.
Let’s look at the way Jasmine responds to authority. First, she consistently goes against her father’s wishes. I know he doesn’t seem to make the best choices, but I don’t remember her doing what he says once in the movie. Whether we think they are wrong or not, she does everything in her power to screw up the various courtships arranged by her dad and even chooses to run away instead of trying to make it work. I know it’s difficult, but look at it from the implications to the kingdom, not from the lens of America today. Her choices affect way more than just herself. And then there is Aladdin. When he is a street rat, she falls for him immediately but the minute he shows up as a Prince she won’t give him the time of day. Sure he is being a bit arrogant, but is it that or is his title getting in the way? I mean, she won’t even have a conversation with him until he offers, ‘You’re right.’ ceding the floor to her. Could it be that Jasmine chooses Aladdin as a way to both assert her independence from her father, as well as, create a situation in which she would be the one who would forever be in position of authority in the relationship? Could it be that she didn’t finish her thought when she was talking to her dad in the opening palace scene of the film? Instead of just saying ‘Well, then maybe I don’t want to be a princess…’ maybe she wanted to also add…’maybe I want to be Sultan!’ That truly would have been a whole new world.
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image credit —> fanpop.com
just a dad with disney questions 
She certainly wouldn’t be the only girl to run off with a bad boy just to upset Daddy. But I really really like this idea of her not wanting to give-up her position of authority by marrying someone above her. (Although I assume she would have had to by marrying a man of lower social standing anyway, what with men having a greater value, which may explain why the king was so insistent on a prince.)
Another note: it’s thought that Hamlet’s perspective of acting in his own self-interest was groundbreaking, particularly for someone of royal standing. But Jasmine pre-dates him by some 500 years. Talk about ahead of her time!
Pppppplllllllllllleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeeeeeee continue with these!!!!!! I love reading them so much!
Wow. I never thought of it that way. I only thought that she was going through this typical teenage phase when all teenagers just blatantly disobey their parents and are embarrassed by them. She could be having an authority complex instead.
Reblogged this on Exploring Disney.
Love this blog. Never cared too much for Jasmine. She definitely does seem like the type to want to have her way, in romantic and family relationships at least.
Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it. Thanks for the comment!
> maybe she wanted to also add…’maybe I want to be Sultan!’ That truly would have been a whole new world.
2019 live action: DISNEY HEARD YOU!
Ha! Too funny. At least someone was listening.