When we think of the ‘Orient’, immediate images of exotic beings and places, fundamentalism, Islam, hookahs and pagodas come to mind. Western media and pop culture has influenced our idealistic misconceptions and the way in which we interpret and understand the Orient. In an age where television and music dominate children’s culture it is easy to fall victim to these false representations of the Oriental world, namely Asia and the Middle East. Perhaps one of the biggest culprits of this misrepresentation of the cultural ‘other’ is Walt Disney, one of America’s most well known and profit making co-operations. Walt Disney is an American icon that exerts a certain level of global control over our culture and because of its influence it is able to lure us into this magical and mythical world of make believe. No doubt, Disney embodies the Oriental world with stereotypical images of Arabs and Asians and as we can see supports the notion that through Disney, the Orient is misrepresented.

Disney, as a Western enterprise attempts to interpret cultures and lifestyles of the East in what Edward Said calls Orientalism. As a discourse it is concerned with the East and West

Even as you delve further into the magical world of Disney, yet again you are faced with more steroetypical images of Eastern countries. On the famous It’s A Small World ride, visitors are enchanted by the representations of different countries, even those aside form the Orient. Strangely enough Eastern European countries do not make up any of Disney’s showcases nor are they represented in It’s A Small World. Is this an indication that these countries are not as important and do not make a difference to people. That’s the power that Disney has over our young minds, they determine what we can see and how we see it. “In other words, what Disney presents for us, even in its most recent efforts is a sanitized version of difference that is really no different at all. And at the same time, Disney versions of the real often operate as a kind of metonym for America itself.”(Power point) On the surface it may very well look like Disney is promoting a certain outlook of the world hidden by heart warming stories and heroic characters. It is a combination of inventiveness of technology with continuously repeated ideological conservatism that tends to bring low and high cultures together.

From personal experience, on a visit to Disneyland a few years ago, I had the pleasure of dining at the Marrakesh Restaurant. If I didn’t know any better I’d be willing to assume (and accepts the consequences that comes with assuming) that this was an exceptionally typical taste of Moroccan lifestyle. The waiters dressed in long robes called djellaba and pointed slippers called babouche serve a fine Moroccan meal which is nothing more than American food with a twisted Arabian name. Diners can enjoy live traditional Moroccan music as they eat and have exotic belly dancers running around seductively dressed. Not much has changed over the years in people’s attitude to the Arab world and countries such as Morocco.

For all that Disney invokes into our minds, it is still a realm of enchantment for both young and old. But what exactly is Disney’s underlying intent for us. We are in a seemingly magical world where we can forget the real world outside and engage in a day of pure pleasure. The problem is that it is difficult to determine what is real and what isn’t, somewhat like the Occident and the Orient. How do we decide what constitutes normality......... Jean Baudrillard argues that “Disney functions as a kind of simulacra for the American society and past. Disneyland is more ‘real’ than fantasy because now it provides the image on which America constructs itself. Disneyland exists because it conceals the fact that it is the ‘real’ America.”......

Not far from the China Showcase sits the Japan showcase, yet another Orientalist overview of Japanese culture. “The Japan showcase is characterized by Disney versions of grace, refinement, serenit

Some topics in this essay:
Princess Jasmine, Orient Western, Middle East, It’s World, Walt Disney, Marrakesh Restaurant, Henry Giroux, China Showcase, Minnie Mouse, Morocco Disney’s, middle east, walt disney, arab world, children’s culture, japanese culture, disney versions, japan showcase, magical world, edward calls, oriental world,