Posted by As the cast of the new live action Aladdin has recently been announced. And already there has been controversy surrounding the casting choices. Naomi Scott has been cast to play Jasmine in the remake. This has caused the biggest scandal within Disney since the first draft of live action Mulan was announced. Disney is having to keep “one jump ahead of the breadline” in order to keep their critiques at bay.
   Naomi Scott is a British born actress hailing from East Asian decent. Controversy has been caused among the Disney community who were holding out for at least the main characters of this Arabic tale to be played by Arabic actors. Co-Star, Mena Massoud who will be playing Aladdin, hails from a more Arabic origination.
   So does Disney have an excuse for casting a non-Arabic actress in the new Aladdin? While some have called the casting of Naomi Scott a “A poor oversight on Disney’s part.” others have argued that during the time periods Aladdin is set in, it wouldn’t be impossible for an East Asian princess to be involved. Disney has yet to release a statement on the matter although some fans are calling out Disney for making a racist misstep.
   Although there is a definite negative response to the casting choices, we also see an audience that is overjoyed. After all Naomi Scott is a great actress known for hits like Power Rangers and Lemonade Mouth. She even has Disney roots hailing as a Disney Channel Original Movie star. And even if she wasn’t the correct casting choice, at least we can hold comfort in Will Smith, as Will Smith was cast to play the coveted Robin Williams role of Genie.
   Whatever your opinion on the matter the overall feeling for the upcoming Aladdin movie is still overall excitement. Although we don’t have a release date for this film, it is expected to air during or before 2021. Is this a whole new world for Disney? Or Disney Displaying classic racism behavior? It’s yet to be seen whether or not Disney will address it’s accusers. But in the meantime we can look for to this live action remake of a classic tale.
And as always,
Have a geek filled day!
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