#aladdin discourse

[pickypickypeak]

“Disney was so much better with the rep back then”

Girl. As much as we love Jasmine, she’s sexualized in the original movie (slave scene) and mind you she’s like a teenager, Pocahontas is disrespectful af, and even then there’s still so many racial stereotypes/caricatures so to me it’s more of a “does the creatives (NOT execs) care abt representation or not so are they being mindful abt depicting minorities” thing for the most part so don’t even dare to weaponize Tiana, Mulan, Moana, etc. And I don’t trust ppl who say “well make new original characters” bc they’ll then say it’s woke mess once they gave you that

I wanna make this point clear before people start saying “boohoo you’re bashing old movies just to praise newer ones”: media are COMPLEX. You can find a movie to be problematic, even if it’s a classic or a movie everybody loves, and still enjoy it. That’s the case with some of the older disney movies. I absolutely love peter pan 1953, it’s a great animation masterpiece imo, but I still have to recognize there are potentially dangerous racial stereotypes about Indians that need to be addressed. That’s just being real. I think pocahontas did a WAY better job at that, but I know it still has its issues (mostly derived from the fact it romanticizes the life of a real life person when the romance didn’t really happened lol).

“Disney was better with the rep back then” what they mean by that: I was a child when watching aladdin so I couldn’t care less about race discourse and just enjoyed the freaking movie like a child is supposed to, now I’m older and have a phone and the internet convinced me that anytime a movie character is other than a straight white man, it’s woke propaganda.

“They should make new characters” I swear to you the first comment I read when the first wish trailer came out was something along the lines of. “So now all the princesses must be black? What about white girls?” And like. Imagine saying that unironically

[dragonsruby]

Telling my friend that I think Pokémon AU Princess Jasmine could be represented by either a Mawile or a Lopunny and being told that I "am not beating the Lopunny allegations" is everything that I ever needed in friendship and more and I love her.

[blue-eyed-beastie]

A Closer Look at Belle's Book

This illustration is foreshadowing at its finest.

I've seen Beauty and the Beast countless times, but only very recently in 4K. It's actually been a lot of fun for me to pause a scene now and then to view details that I'd never noticed before, despite being so familiar with the film. One of the first things I noticed in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment is the existence of two marble statues resembling the main characters in the opening narration. My most recent discovery has to do with the illustration inside Belle's book when she's sitting on the fountain in the center of town.

Most people realize on their very first viewing that the maiden's blue dress and dark hair are meant to resemble Belle, but what about her companion? It's supposed to be the Beast, right? It's a creature on all fours, standing at the edge of a garden, right? Wrong!

To be fair, it is meant to foreshadow Belle's future romance with her own "prince in disguise", but the illustration is simply that of a man leaning over a low stone wall. What I had perceived as a space between the creature's 'hind legs' is actually the man's hand resting on the wall. So, the caption: "Le Prince Charmant" fits the illustration, after all. A prince in disguise, indeed.

And speaking of princes in disguise... As I was studying the illustration, I was suddenly and profoundly reminded of Disney's Snow White! And not just because of the art style. In each story, our heroine doesn't know the identity of the man who is actually a prince, and in each instance, she's wearing a blue hair ribbon!

Snow White screencaps - source

Even Snow White's castle bears a resemblance to the one in the illustration! (I know Prince Adam's castle is white and red as well, but it's more about the watercolor style of the illustration, in this case.)

Anyway, despite the remarkable resemblance, I doubt that the story Belle is reading is actually about Snow White. I've seen discourse that suggests that she is reading about Aladdin (which was in production at the time), or even Sleeping Beauty. Both female leads in those films wear blue, but Aladdin isn't a prince when he meets Jasmine, and Aurora isn't wearing blue when she meets Prince Phillip, nor does she have dark hair. That doesn't mean that the story is about Snow White, either, despite my previous point about their artistic resemblance. But I'll save that discussion for another post.

For now, I want to focus on the illustration as it pertains to this film. Hinting at Belle's future romance as she's reading one is one thing, but watching it play out is another. I am certain that this scene of Belle and Beast in the snow is intended to mirror the illustration.

It's so poetic, isn't it?

Spring vs. Winter. Man vs. Beast. A blue gown vs. a pink one.

Even the song in each scene is the same! Albeit with different lyrics:

Belle:

"Oh, isn't this amazing? It's my favorite part because—you’ll see Here's where she meets Prince Charming But she won't discover that it's him 'til Chapter Three!"

Something There:

"New, and a bit alarming Who'd have ever thought that this could be? True, that he's no Prince Charming But there's something in him That I simply didn't see."

Foreshadowing at its finest.

[arabian-batboy]

I'm over the Vivi and One Piece live-action show discourse simply because the show is made by Zionists and I have no intentions of supporting it from now on, but I find it so funny how people on twitter are swearing up and down that the palace in Arabasta is supposed to be the Taj Mahal in India when it literally looks nothing like it at all, they just say that because it has a dome and pillars.

This is basically the same Aladdin discourse 2.0.

An animated media is set in a fictional Arabic country where they show you a building with a dome and pillars because its an easily-recognizable design for a stereotypical Middle-Eastern-looking building that resembles a Mosque. Then idiots will say the country is also inspired by India because the building looks like the Taj Mahal, even though the Taj Mahal is literally just a Mosque? Like sure its a really fancy Mosque, but the dome + pillars architecture isn't unique to the Taj Mahal and thousands of buildings similar to it has been built in the Middle East for centuries before the Taj Mahal was even built, hell the Taj Mahal itself was literally built by Muslim Persians that used Middle Eastern architecture in its building.

That would be like having a fictional clearly-European country with a giant Eiffel-Tower-looking building in the center then have people saying "actually, this country is a mix of France and Japan because that building looks like the Tokyo Tower" to justify only hiring Japanese actors with zero European actors in a live-action adaptations, while not realizing that the Tokyo Tower is literally a copy on the Eiffel Tower, so no, its doesn't make that fictional country "a mix of France + Japan" its would be just France/European country.

And Arabasta isn't "a mix of Egypt/Arabia country and India," its literally just Egypt/Arabic country because a building with a dome + pillars =/= India/Taj Mahal.

[fantasygerard2000]

Speaking of fancasts since I saw your post with that HTTYD fancast that’s terribly generic: I saw this viral collage of Taylor Zakhar Perez and Sabrina Carpenter as Flynn and Rapunzel and as someone who witnessed the entire discourse of Avantika getting racially motivated harassment from a fancast, it’s really suspicious to me that TZP, a brown skinned Latino man is an okay fancast for Flynn but not a brown skinned Indian woman 🤨

We can't let a brown actress play a princess but are totally okay with casting a brown actor to play a thief.

This brings back when these designs of Flynn were considered before getting the one we got and were criticized because of the "romani bandit" stereotype.

The "Rapunzel is german" argument is mute because they wanted non german actors to play the character. Most of Disney's fairy tale films all take place in a vaguely medieval setting that in the Little Mermaid, Eric's kingdom takes place in a tropical setting as shown by palm trees in the background, indicating a tropical European location like somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea yet people think it takes place in Denmark because the original fairy tale was written by a Danish closeted author.

Rapunzel wasn't even blonde, she's a natural brunet who turned blonde because of the flower's magic. The casting of a brown actress to play Rapunzel would be fine since she would still be blonde either dying or wigs because that's the character's signature trait.

I genuinely care very little of the live action Tangled at the moment since it's just announced with the guy who made Greatest Showman to direct and that casting hasn't been done yet.

But if Disney were to commit to an Indian take on Rapunzel, make the cast and setting Indian. A minor gripe I had with the live action Aladdin is that they could've went full Bollywood but didn't, so might as well make Tangled into a fantastical film.

While we at it, why not cast Flynn as a woman just to spite the red pill chokers? Fem Flynn taking on a male thief persona to hide her identity would be a unique take for the character.

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

I don’t understand the discourse about Cinderella’s Castle not having a different plot. Like it’s an adaptation of Cinderella, how different did you expect the plot to be? I feel like they made enough changes to make it their own. To me it felt reminiscent of their old parody work. You’re complaining of it being the same story with darker themes and adult humour, but Is that not what the potter shows were? All they did was change the order of plot points and suit it to an adult audience. Twisted, while more differences were there with it being told from a different perspective, at its core it was Aladdin with adult humour. I mean VHS Christmas Carol is the exact plot of the source material. People are trying too hard to compare CC to Hatchetfield and that will never be a fair comparison with one being entirely original work and the other having pre-existing source material. Try comparing it to the parodies and you’ll see it’s not too far from what we can expect from a Starkid show.

~~~

[glaobobotalrynn]

A lot of live-action discourse is dumb. I hope this post reaches people who need to see it.

Let's be real. Live action adaptations of animated movies are not my favorite thing in the world. I hold the 2015 Disney Cinderella movie close to my heart, the Alice movies are fun, and I liked Aladdin for expanding the plot a little bit despite being so awkward with its marvel-style dialogue and strangely makeupless Jafar.

But I'm already losing my damn mind over seeing discourse over the casting of Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon. Like are you KIDDING ME GUYS????

"Vikings were the whitest of white people they could be and from the mountains of caucuses"- HAVE YOU SEEN AN ACTUAL CAUCASIAN PERSON??????

You wouldn't instantly call these ladies white, and yes I did use the first google result but this is accurate. Even though they are pale, they are NOT nearly as pale as vikings would have been. We white people have just been raised over time to call ourselves caucasian so that we don't have to say white directly and it's stupid that we use that term so loosely because these ladies aren't white.

And from that same comment I was just mock-quoting- "It'D bE LiKe CaStInG a WhItE gIrL aS LiVe aCtIoN tIaNa"

This is wrong because as far as I'm aware (reminder that I'm white so I don't have full cultural context and experience) Princess and The Frog is a movie that is very specifically about a black woman trying to make her way up in the world. Her (and everyone else in the movie's) skin tone is actually important to the plot.

ASTRID'S IS NOT.

So anyway, you guys need to get the fuck over yourselves whenever you see a fantasy movie where there happens to be black and brown people in the forefront of it. Mermaids would survive in the ocean longer if they had brown skin. Nico Parker isn't even that dark-skinned, unlike Halle Bailey and Kelly Marie Tran, who you guys TORE into for just trying to do their damn jobs. You don't actually care about accuracy, you're just racist.

To Nico Parker if you see this- Your fit looks cool and I'm excited to see the movie. Good luck out there, try to stay off the internet when it comes to the movie if you can because unfortunately I can already see the hateful wave starting. Break a leg!!!!

[azsazz]

Piggybacking off of that one anon I’ve always pictured the batboys to be indigenous but she says “tan” or “golden brown” bc she doesn’t want to put any effort into learning about different cultures

That whole Aladdin ripoff bs at the beginning of ACOMAF was such bs considering it literally turns into like Victorian England as soon as they enter velaris with leggings and slutty dresses.

Also where is the moon stone palace bc the moonstone palace is not the house of wind bc that’s what i originally thought but the house of wind is practically in velaris and how they get to the court of nightmares ig???

They literally have this whole palace that they use for two scenes in ACOMAF and then ignore

Pls tell me how they needed that fifth house again??🤔

yesss this is another thing that i always always see people fighting over tbh. so much discourse about how bat boys and lucien's skin tone is described or not

well we know she's lazy at this point for sure. we just breezed by the moonstone palace thing i dont even remember what that's supposed to be or do.

feyre got them dollar signs in her eyes sometimes (can't blame a girl but damn)

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I hate how now every time a discourse is being had about classic Disney movies, the godawful remakes (or retellings) have to be included in the conversation. It's no longer just the animated movie that is adressed. You can't discuss Aladdin without its 2019 remake, Sleeping Beauty without its 2014 remake, The Little Mermaid without its 2023 remake, Beauty and the Beast without its 2017 remake, The Lion King without its 2019 remake, Mulan without its 2020 remake, etc, etc, etc. I hate how they will be forever attached to these classic movies. It actually pisses me off to no avail.

[vampireclub7]

Can you please share your experience into stanning Enhypen? You seem to hold them in high regard. The only group you stan is BTS so that tells me you have high standards or at least similar taste to me, but Enhypen doesn't have rappers which you said yourself. So what makes you like them better than other 4th gen groups that do have rappers? What was your descent into the rabbit hole like if you don't mind me asking.

***

This ask is going to take too long to answer properly, so I'll try to give the abridged version here.

I fell in love with Enhypen the minute I heard their debut song: Given-Taken. The very first thing you hear is a harp and it's so pretty.

I liked them right then, they made an impression, a real one. It reminded me of how I felt watching BTS perform their debut stage 10 years ago. It reminded me of that feeling, but in a different hue. I kept up with Enhypen since then and have progressively liked them more.

But the moment I realized I liked them a whole lot, was after watching this video:

It was here I learned Jungwon's favourite album right now is the OST for Disney's Aladdin. It's here I learned Jay loves to play Layla by Eric Clapton on his guitar, Layla is one of my favourite songs of all time. It's here I learned Sunghoon's role model is BTS. Naturally, all three guys became my bias.

The next moment I recall that stuck with me, was revisiting Drunk Dazed randomly last year. When I first heard Drunk-Dazed I didn't really care for the song. Enhypen does 'noise music' well, but it's still noise music and I wasn't in the mood for it at that point in my life. I knew the song was good, but set it aside when I first heard it. But time passed, and sometime last year I decided to listen to it on a whim. I wanted to hear it again, see it with choreography, so I played the Studio Choom and by the end of it I was spamming my GC, sending that video to all my friends afterwards.

The entire video is insane.

Enhypen are the best performers. Period. I sometimes see k-pop stans comment on whether they sing live and inevitably turn it into discourse, but as usual that discourse is rubbish. They sing live but with heavy backtrack because their choreographies are literally insane. That's not an exaggeration. There is no group active today that does as much floor work as Enhypen. Think about it. If you ever watch an Enhypen performance, count how many times they're on the floor: lying down flat, sitting, crouching to the floor, bending, kneeling - count how many times they're on the floor in a position where it's physically near impossible to sing. And then remember this is their regular choreo for their songs, a choreo they'll have to perform every time, and then remember that Enhypen is known for their dance breaks. That is, dance routines that are incremental to everything they've just done.

It's mental.

They make the best music, are ridiculously talented, have the best visuals, and have got the best vibes for days. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part to like them, I just saw what I saw, heard what I heard, and my brain did the next logical thing which was to start supporting them.

Like I said, I'm active in the Engene fandom so that means there's overlap on my twitter with my ARMY moots. At first, a few of them were ticked off to see me retweet Enhypen tweets. When they told me it bothered them that I was supporting Enhypen while stanning BTS, I sent them a video of Enhypen one year after debut. I sent them this video.

They shut up.

One of the three people who initially had a problem with me now ults Enhypen. Lool. Even I'm not at that point yet.

Anyway, the music is what seals the deal for me. They just make objectively better music by my tastes, which already sets them above the pack. They have a handful of songs with rap verses (eg Blockbuster OT7 version) which they do remarkably well so I hope we get more rap/chant verses in future songs. But even without the rap their music is god-tier. Then you remember they have the best dance-line in 4th gen. And they are adorable dorks on top of it...

It's easy to love them. They don't have it easier than other HYBE groups when it comes to the unwarranted hate unfortunately, and that's why even though I don't technically stan them, or at least ult them, I still support them whenever I feel like it and have the means.

Enhypen is a solid group and I wish only more health and success for them.

[runawaymun]

Amber for the ask game?

amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have.

@raointean okay here's your actual answer:

oooo man I had to think about this one. I don't feel like wading into Silm/LOTR fandom discourse so let's go with -- I don't think all of the disney live action remakes are trash. IMO while they definitely have flaws, the new Aladdin, Jungle Book, and Cinderella are actually really good and in the case of Jungle Book & Aladdin - improvements upon the originals (minus Genie's plotline. They really fucked that up). I think both versions have different messages and serve different character arcs and that's ok. It's the same story, just a little to the left. This is definitely affected by the fact that I don't have nostalgia related to the originals, though! I wasn't allowed to watch them growing up, (except Jungle Book), so I didn't see most of them until I was an adult.

And I actually really loved the Beauty and the Beast live action. I don't think it's better at all, but I did find it enjoyable.

[fantastical-and-magical]

Feeling like starting some healthy discourse/dialogue today so here are my Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios tier list based simply on how much I personally enjoy the films and not overall story/characters/plot/history

Image Description: Pixar Film Tier list from S (best) to F (worst) S Tier: Toy Story 2, Coco, Turning Red A Tier: Monsters University, Inside Out, Onward, Luca, Elemental B Tier: Ratatouille, Cars 2, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, Cars 3, Toy Story 4, Soul C Tier: Monsters Inc, Cars, Up, Toy Story 3, Finding Dory, The Incredibles 2, Lightyear D Tier: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles F Tier: Wall-E

Image Description: Walt Disney Animated Studios Film Tier list from S (best) to F (worst) S Tier: The Black Cauldron, Aladdin, Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Frozen, Encanto A Tier: Peter Pan, Aristocats, Oliver and Company, Mulan, Hercules, Treasure Planet, Meet the Robinsons, Tangled, Strange World B Tier: Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Sword in the Stone, Fox and the Hound, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, Lilo and Stitch, Bolt, Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana C Tier: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, 101 Dalmatians, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Brother Bear, Frozen 2 D Tier: Bambi, The Three Caballeros, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Rescuers Down Under, Pocahontas, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Dinosaur F Tier: Fantasia, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, Sleeping Beauty, Home on the Range, Chicken Little, Raya and the Last Dragon

[dontbestingybaby]

“Inside the film's Arabia, therefore, overt and covert power, recognition and misrecognition, deceiving friends and deceiving enemies all function as they did in the multiple plots of the Iran-Contra/Iraq-gate episodes as interchangeable sets. One could argue, in fact, that far from reflecting the informing narratives of those political episodes, the shifting sands of Middle Eastern identity within Western discourse made the narratives possible. Only by harboring the sense that the Muslim Middle East is the site of confused identity, unstable power, and nomadic allegiances could U.S. intelligence, government, media, or popular opinion shift principals and narratives over the past decade with the ease and alacrity of a reader leafing through One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.”

from "A Whole New (Disney) World Order: Aladdin, Atomic Power, and the Muslim Middle East" by Alan Nadel in Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film ed. Matthew Bernstein and Gaylyn Studlar

[mxbitters]

discourse about stuff like kink at pride being bad because like,,kids,,, is so strange to me like.. if theyre gonna have kinks growing up it won’t matter what they were exposed to its not even gonna take that for them to figure it out. for me it was the fucking kidnapping scene in peter pan 2. as a kid id take everything out of the toy chest and just curl up in there like i was getting fucking kidnapped by pirates. i was weirdly fascinated by the trope of someone getting tied to the train tracks or some shit. literally any scene in any fucking movie if someone was tied to something as bait for the hero or whatever. tim curry. scary characters. watching aladdin and that one scene where he’s like chained to a wall?????? the horned king from the black cauldron for fucks sake. as soon as i fucking hit puberty before i even learned much about sex even was i had some fucking understanding of what i was into and it did not take outright exposure to kink to understand that. like holy fucking shit dude if anything the lack of real exposure to it just meant i was ashamed of it and felt like there was something wrong with me for being interested in that sort of thing but like!!! god!!!!! point is people need to stop acting like kids knowing about sex related things is gonna ruin their lives bc if anything had i known earlier i probably would’ve felt a lot safer talking about things i went through and being able to like recognize and express personal boundaries like. god this is a long ramble it’s just like wow the purity culture around sex is not going to do anything to help anyone !!! people should not be left ignorant about sex and kink should not be a place of shame!! god!!!!!!!

[spearheadsofgod]

Cultural Soundtracks in Animation https://spearheadsofgod.com/cultural-soundtracks-in-animation/?feed_id=729 We are thrilled to unveil our latest analysis, fresh from the figurative production line. Your feedback is eagerly awaited and we endeavor to navigate you through a gripping and illuminating journey within our discourse! Animation movies have an innate ability to transcend boundaries and captivate audiences of all ages. Central to their enchantment lies in the synchronization of visual elements with soundtracks. The title of this article, “The Impact of Cultural Soundtracks in Animation Movies,” gives us a lens to explore how incorporating cultural elements in soundtracks has not only enhanced the richness of animation movies but has also played an instrumental role in bridging cultural divides and fostering global awareness. The Harmonious Blend of Culture and SoundIn the 1990s, animation giants Disney revolutionized the industry by integrating cultural soundtracks into movies. The movie “Aladdin” (1992), for instance, is adorned with Middle Eastern music, which is a fundamental part of Arabian culture. The soundtracks use traditional instruments like the Oud and Qanun, and the melodic structure is based on Maqam scales, which is a characteristic of Middle Eastern music. Another example is “The Lion King” (1994), where the soundtrack reverberates with African rhythms and choruses. Hans Zimmer, the composer, went to great lengths to ensure authenticity by incorporating Lebo M., a South African composer, and using African instruments like the Marimba and Djembe. Cultural Education and RepresentationAnimation movies with culturally-rich soundtracks serve as an educational tool for viewers. In “Mulan” (1998), the soundtracks draw heavily from traditional Chinese music, which uses the pentatonic scale. This introduces viewers to a different kind of tonal palette compared to the heptatonic or diatonic scales predominantly used in Western music. Similarly, “Coco” (2017), a movie by Pixar, employs Mexican music to weave a story around the traditional Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos. By using Mariachi style and instruments like guitarrón and vihuela, it acquaints the audience with Mexican culture and traditions. These movies foster cultural representation and provide viewers with insights into the rich tapestry of different cultures. Commercial Success and Global AppealThere is a significant positive correlation between the use of cultural soundtracks in animation movies and their commercial success. Box office hits such as “Moana” (2016), which incorporates Polynesian music, and “Coco”, are testaments to the global appeal of cultural soundtracks. Research shows that movies with culturally authentic soundtracks tend to do well in international markets, as they appeal to a broader audience. The music evokes a sense of familiarity among the native audience while providing a novel experience to others. The Power of Music in StorytellingThe cultural soundtracks in animation movies do not just act as a backdrop but are often integral to the storytelling. They convey emotions, depict settings, and often progress the story. For example, in “Spirited Away” (2001), a Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli, the soundtrack composed by Joe Hisaishi incorporates traditional Japanese instruments like the Shamisen and Shinobue. The music is not merely complementary but is integral to understanding the characters and the ethereal world they inhabit. Addressing Cultural AppropriationWhile cultural soundtracks in animation movies have their benefits, it is essential to address the issue of cultural appropriation. When elements of a minority culture are used outside of their cultural context, especially without proper understanding or respect, it can be problematic. For example, the initial release of “Aladdin” faced criticism for the portrayal of Arabian culture. It is crucial for filmmakers to research and approach cultural elements with sensitivity and respect to avoid misrepresentation.

 ConclusionThe incorporation of cultural soundtracks in animation movies has undeniably added a new dimension to the cinematic experience. From Disney’s “The Lion King” to Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away”, the harmonious blend of culture and sound has not only enchanted audiences but has also played an instrumental role in educating them. Through the use of traditional instruments, scales, and rhythms, these soundtracks transport viewers to different parts of the world, allowing them to experience various cultures from the comfort of their seats. Moreover, this integration of cultural soundtracks has proved to be a catalyst for commercial success. The global appeal generated by these soundtracks has been evident in the box office numbers. Audiences around the world have shown a keen interest in diverse cultural content, which in turn has influenced the industry to produce more culturally enriched animation movies. However, with this power to influence and educate, comes the responsibility of respectful representation. Filmmakers must be vigilant to avoid the pitfalls of cultural appropriation. In-depth research, consultation with cultural experts, and involvement of artists from the cultures being represented are key to achieving authenticity. Another interesting avenue that the industry has taken is the localization of soundtracks. This entails adapting the music to suit the tastes and preferences of different cultures, thus further enhancing relatability and appeal. An example can be seen in Disney's “Frozen”, where the song “Let It Go” was adapted into over 40 languages, each rendition incorporating elements of the local culture. In conclusion, cultural soundtracks in animation movies are a potent tool for storytelling, education, cultural exchange, and commercial success. However, like any powerful tool, they must be wielded with care and respect for the cultures they represent. As the world becomes more interconnected, and the exchange of cultures continues to enrich our global tapestry, one can only expect the role of cultural soundtracks in animation movies to become even more prominent. What are your thoughts and opinions on the subject? Do you believe that the incorporation of cultural soundtracks in animation movies has a broader impact beyond entertainment? Is there a particular movie that touched you through its cultural representation in music? Engage in the conversation and share your insights.

[mmmmalo]

Okay so in roughly the order I noticed stuff:

First, How the World Works. The show was produced during 2020, right. So between Socko asserting the FBI killed MLK and describing police as enforcers of economic hierarchy, the puppet functions not only as an ambient voice of leftist critique, but also a stand-in protestor in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Bo threatens to take Socko off his hand when the critique/protest violates a standard of decorum (said "fucking"). In context, Socko's being sent into the waking paralysis of being off-hand, unable to move or speak freely, seems like a clear metaphor for incarceration. Hence Socko delivering the "I can't go back (implicitly to prison)" line, hence Bo demanding the sock look in his eyes and call him "sir", like an officer in the mood for humiliation

MLK comes up again on White Woman's Instagram, being incorrectly attributed as the source of an undescribed Lord of the Rings -- a white voice coming out of a black (or black-aligned) protestor's mouth, like Socko? The attribution line is perhaps doubled by "a dreamcatcher bought from Urban Outfitters", insofar as MLK famously Had A Dream, Urban is a once common euphemism for Black, and the clothing store suggests Socko (and/or wearing MLK like a t-shirt). The dreamcatcher alone suggested cultural appropriation (a Native cultural artifact turned into a mass commodity), so we're implicitly invited to project that same sense of exploitation onto the misuse of MLK's name and status

Unpaid Intern is a white-collar synonym of "slave", which along with the bluesy, Hit-the-Road-Jack-esque melody racialize the proceedings and frame Bo's protest song as a distortion of George Floyd protestors, as with Socko. The kaleidoscopic accumulation of reaction videos represents the Discourse that follows ("the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun", as he later puts it in That Funny Feeling)

The playful appropriation continues in Sexting: "we talk dirty like we're ancient Egyptians" isn't just a comparison of emojis to hieroglyphs, but a statement of the RnB track's basic structural premise of a white guy adopting a black mode of expression for the purpose of sexy times.

Look Who's Inside Again is a moving reflection on the social anxiety Bo associates with performance, like many of these tracks -- but it also continues the invocation of police brutality, with the anxious closing line "come out with your hands up, we've got you surrounded". The song's mocking title begins to sounds like officer taunting a repeated offender they have returned to the Inside of a jail cell...

...hence the song is followed by Problematic, which is a workout video because that's what you do in prison. Bo's confession about having long ago dressed up as Aladdin (He's really sorry!!) doubles as a description of the song's present, in which Bo plays the part of a minority locked up for some crime or other. "Are you gonna hold me accountable?" the prisoner cries, ironically.

...and we now hear the prisoner lament that he is Turning 30. He remarks that he will "do another 10" years (a phrasing that implies a prison sentence), and once he turns 40 he'll kill himself. In the US, more than half of all prisoner deaths in the last 8 years were suicides, apparently

All Time Low affirms the ongoing use of Bo's personal struggles to symbolize racially inflected policing with a quick denial: he is "rapidly approaching an ATL, which is an All Time Low, not Atlanta".

That Funny Feeling is very cryptic in its juxtapositions, but I'm guessing "live action Lion King" was placed next to "Pepsi Half-Time Show" for the shared content of "singing minorities"...? Or else it's a remark on the march of civilization, raw nature to hyper-commercialization? Unsure. The pair is followed though by two seeming reaffirmations of Bo's desire to kill himself: first with "20,000 years of this, 7 more (years) to go" as though the 10 year suicide clock from Turning 30 plunged forward -- apparently there's a film called "20,000 years in Sing Sing (Prison)", which explains the first number and grounds us in jail. After this line, the suicide is reinforced by "Carpool Karaoke. Steve Aoki. Logan Paul" which walks us from the recurring topic of disassociation (singers in Carpool Karaoke perform their own music) to the Aokigahara forest (a suicide spot in Japan; Logan Paul infamously posted one of the dead to YouTube). "20,000 years of this" is the implicit cause of the suicidal ideation, so Bo here delivering a sense of doom built on either anti-civ primitivism or racism...? The Unabomber (who is in jail?) approves, in either case. This might have something to do why Bo does this song as an acoustic folk melody and spends other bars tying "female Colonel Sanders" to the prospect of Civil War and bemoaning commercial gun culture -- this song has takes its focus and affect from the white/rightwing, rather than the black/leftwing.

Anyway, All Eyes On Me borrows its title from a Tupac song, which like Bo's ditty juxtaposes self-aggrandization with an all-consuming sense of paranoia directed towards the innumerable eyes watching/targeting him. In Pac's case, this included federal authorities, who harassed his family for its ties to the Black Panther Party.

That's everything I caught. Obviously none of this encompasses the work, but its clear at least that Bo is by some measure engaged with some political connotations of being stuck inside

Homestuck's training in white racial irony is helping me catch some saucy double entendres in Bo Burnham's Inside, so that's fun