Media images and the external world

Media images are detached from the external world to a certain extent. I watched Aladdin a lot when I was a primary school students, it was a cartoon series with fantasy and musical elements produced by Disney in 1992. It actually represents the concept of "Orientalism" since there are orientalist views of the western countries that can be found in the series. The main character - Aladdin indeed represents as a typical model of the western stereotype of the Arabs. In the movie, Aladdin is poor and dirty. Besides, he is a beggar and he loves to steal other people's property at the beginning of the story. The social phenomenon, such as extreme wealth between the rich and the poor, and the behavior of avarice are also shown in the movie. Another interesting aspect is that the film actually shapes Middle East as a very dangerous and uncivilized place where there are a lot of desert and monster.

Media images and the external reality can be closely related although most of the media images are edited and published by the authors in order to achieve specific goals nowadays, such as create noises and gimmicks in the society or making profits to them. However, it may represent some of the truth although it only contains and reflects certain sides of the story/event. Therefore, we ought to think critically when we are absorbing different kinds of media images.

Student Name: Chu Chi Wai