Aladdin is a Superior Movie over The Lion King

Framework: Determining which film is “superior” requires an interpretive framework for evaluating the comparative quality of movies. I advocate a holistic framework to evaluate the quality of films: we should judge by 1) how well the artistic choices serve the artistic goals of the film and 2) the value of said artistic goals. This framework considers all aspects of the film without imposing arbitrary judgments. If neither movie is superior, Con should win- this position would negate the Resolution. 1. Lion King has more complex characters and themes, resulting in a more compelling narrative. Most movies rely on flat characters that primarily act in whatever way the plot requires. One of the most striking features of the Lion King is how all the characters act as unique individuals to create a story rather than drive one. a) Parental relationships are central to both Aladdin and the Lion King. Mufasa is a fleshed out individual with strengths and weaknesses. In contrast, the Sultan is largely a boob manipulated by Aladdin and Jafaar and exists largely as an object for plot development. b) Nala shows the audience the contrast between how Simba was raised and what he has become. When first finds Simba as an adult, she is ecstatic over being reunited with a close friend. After talking with Simba and discovering his abdication of responsibility, she becomes disgusted with him. Even in brief segments of dialogue, Nala reveals that she is a strong-willed individual striving to save her home. This is in stark contrast to Jasmine, as I will describe below. c) Simba’s decision to return to his kingdom exhibits the narrative and moral depth of the Lion King. Simba attempts to run from his past by fleeing the Pride Lands. Eventually he is confronted by Nala and the news that his kingdom is nearly destroyed. The cliché would be for Simba to realize he must save his kingdom, but instead Simba again turns his back on his responsibility. Simba is then enticed to follow Rafiki and is shown a vision of his father. This critical moment of character development is cinematic poetry layered with meaning. Simba realizes he can never run from his past because his identity is inseparable from his life experiences. The only way to be true to himself is to own responsibility for the “murder” of his father; he must honor his father by living up to his father’s values. This scene is incredibly rich- all the preceding events of the film collide to develop into a major character development. Simba’s decision to return to Pride Rock is organic yet radical and momentous. d) Jafaar is a boring villain- he’s just an evil magician that uses his wizard powers to get what he wants. Scar is a rounded character. He manipulates people using trust and concepts of family obligation. Scar must work around being physically weaker than Simba and Mufasa by using cunning. This gives the conflict in the Lion King more texture than the straight-forward battles of Aladdin. 2. The intended moral themes of Aladdin are not consistent with the plot development. A major theme in Aladdin is honesty and being true to yourself. But this theme is totally undermined. Aladdin consistently ignores the Genie’s advice to be honest and flies to Jasmine’s balcony. Jasmine tells Aladdin to leave because she isn’t into cocky show offs. Aladdin shows off his cool rich guy magic carpet. Jasmine is suddenly super into Aladdin. Aladdin’s big “in” with Jasmine is precisely his fakeness- his cool magic stuff. This scene is the equivalent of a guy picking up a girl by offering a ride in his Aston Martin. When Jasmine realizes Aladdin LIED about not being the boy from the market, Aladdin LIES AGAIN saying he’s a prince but pretends to be poor. Jasmine forgives him immediately. Aladdin is finally revealed as a liar by Jafaar but Jasmine is unfazed. There are NO consequences to Aladdin’s lies; Jasmine isn’t even a little angry about being lied to TWICE. Despite the movie’s insistence that lying isn’t how you win over a princess, it works out pretty much perfectly for Aladdin. 3. Aladdin lacks character development and characters act with inconsistent motives. a) Jasmine is supposed to be an independent-minded princess that insists on being treated as someone capable of making her own decisions and uninterested in hotshot rich boys but she has no problem with Aladdin repeatedly lying to her and is totally into Aladdin’s hotshot flying carpet. b) Aladdin is supposed to be a “diamond in the rough.” Yet he consistently proves himself to be an untrustworthy liar, even threatening to renege on his promise to free the Genie when he realizes he needs his power to keep up his lies. We see very little character growth in Aladdin- he never actually admits to his lies, Jafaar outs him as a liar by force. The character arc of Aladdin is at best superficial and at worst incoherent. 4. The Genie’s comedy overwhelms the film. a) Robin Williams is like garlic: in the right proportion it makes any food taste amazing, but adding too much overwhelms the dish and drowns out the other flavors. The Genie is almost divorced from the story- the character is just Robin Williams riffing on pop culture and making funny voices. His jokes in many scenes are jarring- for example in the balcony scene there are sudden cuts from Aladdin and Jasmine to the Genie making random jokes as a bee. Genie literally exists in this scene as a distraction from the plot. Furthermore, the Genie’s ability to break the fourth wall and make modern pop culture references has led to widespread fan theories trying to explain this bizarre incongruity with the rest of Aladdin. People have speculated that the Genie exists outside of time and space, thus allowing him to have pop culture knowledge of the future. Others have suggested that Aladdin is in fact post-apocalyptic, that the Genie knows about Jack Nicholson because Aladdin is set 10,000 years in the future. 5. Aladdin is a little bit racist Despite the Arabian setting, Aladdin speaks like a good old boy from Gary Indiana while Jafaar is a caricature of and Arabian villain- his skin is darker, his eyes have a pronounced almond shape (compare to Aladdin’s round eyes), and he speaks with a notable accent. Jafaar’s ethnicity is seemingly used as shorthand for his moral character. Additionally, the Jafaar’s power comes from mysterious eastern magic. 6. Pro’s arguments are arbitrary and subjective- he just points out differences between movies without explaining why they make one movie better or worse. Aladdin is at heart a love story so of course the romance is more developed. The inclusion of more humor is an artistic choice- it doesn’t inherently make a film better or worse. I have argued that the humor in Aladdin is often distracting. Pro needs to explain why the differences he points out make Aladdin better- Transformers has better action scenes than the Shawshank redemption, does that make Transformers a better movie?