NB, on "A Fighter "

Commentary: Disney's Aladdin contains issues of social class. Aladdin is of very low social class - he lives on the streets in a rooftop of an abandoned building, has no parents and his only friend is a monkey named Abu. He faces many struggles such as stealing food in order to eat. He is constantly running from the guards and trying not to get killed for stealing. If he did not steal, he would starve to death. This is addressed in one of the opening songs when Aladdin sings “Got to eat to live, got to steal to eat.” He is called names such as “rift raft,” “street rat,” and “worthless.” Aladdin knows he is none of these and that “there's so much more” to him. He has big dreams of “being rich, living in a palace, and having no problems at all.” The issue of social class comes up in the movie again when Aladdin cannot marry the one he loves because he is not a prince.

Although I did not include scenes of Princess Jasmine, she too is trapped by her social class. She deals with struggles and challenges, and fights for her freedom, similar to the way that Aladdin does. Although she receives many benefits in life such as being wealthy and living in a palace, she is missing one very important thing – her freedom. She has no friendship in her life due to not being allowed out of the palace walls and her father is trying to force her into marriage. She stands up for herself and decides to sneak out of the palace and wanders out into the unfamiliar streets. After meeting Aladdin, Jasmine is fascinated by Aladdin's life, especially his freedom. She fights for her rights and in the end she ends up happy and free. Although she ends up with Aladdin in the end, it was not easy for her to be with him. She initially could not be with him due to her being of high social class and him being of low social class.

I feel the song “The Boxer” by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is a good fit to emphasize Aladdin's struggles he faces in life. Aladdin is a fighter just as the boxer is in the song. He tackles many challenges which are shown throughout the video. At the end of the movie, Aladdin conquers and achieves his dreams of wealth and true love. Even though Jasmine is not “poor” and doesn't face the same challenges that Aladdin has to. She is a fighter as well – both Aladdin and Jasmine fight for what they want and it pays off in the end.