Aladdin vs. Jafar

In the Disney movie Aladdin, Jafar plays the villain who sought the power of a genie for his own personal gain. He wanted to be king while having the power of a genie so that the people would fear him. He was willing to do anything to obtain the power of a genie and in his quest; he sacrificed people to obtain the magic lamp that held the genie. Jafar is a prime example of what power is: scary, intimidating, controlling, and strengthens people at the expense of others (122). Power is something that is usually interpreted as something that is bigger than any single man or woman. Power is normally negative but it can be a positive. Power should be defined by the man or woman that possesses it. In the hands of the right person, power is not negative but a positive that can bring meaning to a person’s life. Not so much of negative when I put it that way now is it?

When power is used correctly and for the right reasons, the Aladdin character come out of the best of us. Aladdin is the type of character that uses power with responsibility and positivity. He gave the genie his freedom and he used it for love (balance of power and love = “good guy of the movie”). Aladdin is exactly what power can be for people today: freeing, collaborative, and derived from relationships, knowledge, experience, vision, and discipline (122

We have to know where we stand on power. As of now, in regards to this class, I am trying my best to be Aladdin because the efforts I am making is definitely not for my own benefit. Of course I have had my benefits from this class (reading ingredients like CRAZY) but the greatest part I took from this class was spreading what I know. Whenever I come home, I’m always sharing what I learn in this class with my friends and family because they can relate to the topic of food. I hope I’m not alone in being Aladdin on this magic carpet ride we call our colloquium class. We all need to step up because if you’re taking all we learn and doing absolutely nothing with it, the only thing keeping you from being Jafar is that you don’t have powers of a genie.