Concerning the ridiculous all-consuming obsession over Justin Trudeau’s Aladdin costume: Why was this harmless representation immediately condemned as a nasty derogatory racial act?
My immediate reaction was that Mr. Multiculturism incarnate had been honouring a famous folk hero from another culture. The racial origin of the Aladdin myth isn’t even clear, so it’s hard to know exactly who he was even offending, if he had done so.
Why is portraying a famous character from a well-known fable insulting? If it is, then Walt Disney, nativity plays, and the entire acting profession including Mr. Shakespeare himself, must all be banned.
To my mind, celebrating mythological heroes and heroines of the world by portraying them and telling their stories is not racism or derision, it is multiculturalism at its best. These myths and legends unite us all as humans on this planet. Aladdin is a good guy, and the moral of the story is sound and positive for everyone of all ages and races and cultures. How are we supposed to “embrace multiculturalism” when we live in fear of incrimination at every turn? What is wrong with people that they immediately assume offense in absolutely everything, without even thinking it through?
I am not a Trudeau fan, but I must speak up to say that this massive feeding frenzy is PC gone completely bonkers. And sadly, Trudeau has shown his true colours by guiltily cowering, grovelling and profusely apologizing instead of pointing out that his lifelong interest in other cultures prompted him to portray a character from one (whichever one it actually is). I even heard a news reporter gleefully gasping that this is the biggest election scandal in Canadian history. How ridiculous. Having lived some years in the UK, I can tell you that Canadians have no idea what a REAL political scandal is.
The worst part is that all the vitally important issues that desperately need debating are now thrown to the wind and the media is off and running with some supposedly dirty knickers in its teeth.
I always used to think my fellow Canadians of all races were reasonable and intelligent people with common sense, but I really do wonder now. Well they’ve definitely lost me, I won’t be tuning in to any “news” again until the election is well over.
Summer Joy
Merville