Aladdin!

Disney’s Aladdin is likely to be a hit. And Naomi Scott is likely to be the break-out star. The half-English and half-Guju British chatterbox is also going to play Elena Houghlin in this fall’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels.

The casting of the mixed Scott, of white and Indian ancestry, as Jasmine created some silly backlash online. But one thing that strikes me about the Jasmine she depicts is that her sartorial style has a definite South Asian rather than Near Eastern tincture.

14 thoughts on “Aladdin!”

  1. Is she a PoC? I come at this from a similar background – half white and half Bengali. To the extent that I get treated as non-white in the States I think it’s mostly about my slightly East Asian features, which come from my Bengali side. That’s also why I have trouble identifying with Bollywood. They’re all off-white like me (on screen at least), but without the E Asian touch that I have.

  2. I wouldn’t call her half Gujarati though. Gujarati is a culture first and foremost and from what it appears (I could be wrong!) she neither speaks the language nor self-identifies as one.

  3. It seems like a downgrade to go from vivid and expressive animation to live action trying to be photo-real. The live action Jungle Book at least improved on the story of the original cartoon. Doubt they will be able to do the same with the new Aladdin and Lion King which doesn’t even have Jeremy Irons.

  4. Lion King might be a hit though, its like Star wars for 80s and 90s american children(who are now adults). Not sure about Alladin

  5. Such physiognomies are not rare in Serbia. This is easily explainable if she is a Gujarati, who are (I myself haven’t studied yet) according to Xerxie, Scythians (i.e. Serbian) descendants. This qualifies her as our half-sister. Considering that her other’s half is a Scott, i.e. a Celtic (Goths) who were Serbian speaking tribes originated in Vinca, it makes her a whole sister.

      1. Serbs originated in Vinca (R1A – 12000 years old) and over time spread all around the world. Medes came to today’s Iran from Macedonia (previous name was – Media), Croats are more than 80% ethically Serbs recently converted to Catholicism and about 10% descendants of Avars. Sarmatians (Sarbatians) were also Serbian speaking tribe.

        Some old Serbian toponyms in today’s Iran:

        https://www.google.com/search?q=map+serbian+toponyms+in+iran&rlz=1C1GCEA_enAU795AU795&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=0xMfgokcxlqC1M%253A%252Cq5OWTumtrNd5pM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kR_NshyZ4IruCiIGRmUot1b_blj9Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFmqmzpLDiAhU_4nMBHVA2DkEQ9QEwDXoECAgQDA#imgrc=kYvJXHizNrIX1M:&vet=1

        1. PS. The language (apart from genes) is the key. Because no one wants or can’t answer the question – which language was spoken in Europe in 2000BC (or 3000 or 5000).

    1. It was a question – Our?(sister)…
      Razib’s, SP’s, Karan’s, Omar’s, Anan’s, Jaggu’s, Priyanka’s, Nikki’s, my…
      A nice mix of OIP/AMT/Muslims/Orthodox/Hindu/(Bahai??)/atheists……

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