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Aladdin », Corbin Puryear », Featured Articles », Guest Post », Guest Writers », PS Exclusives
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Aladdin: The How-to Film on Being a Good
Wingman
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008
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A.A.C. Puryear STAFF WRITER
On a blustery cold Thursday night in November, I joined a
number of people from the infamous organization FYP, including
PopSense staffers Norman and Jeffrey, for an epic viewing of
Disney classic Aladdin.
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Since it had been years since I last watched it, I naturally picked
up on a lot more things than I had previously, as one typically
does watching a childhood classic in college. Plot moves quite
fast. The apple serves as a motif throughout the movie. Iago is
incredibly witty. I also saw the love story in a new poetic light:
Aladdin, despite being a brave and clever young man, bears a
powerful insecurity due to his low social class, which only
increases when he finds out his dream girl is a princess. He
spends the rest of the movie trying to become a prince so that
Jasmine will love him, but it turns out she already started to after
the meeting in the market. He had her love all along.
But perhaps the most notable realization I made was the fact that
Aladdin, while not being adequate enough to defeat Simba in the
“PopSense Election," essentially has a team of unique wingmen
to help him win over Jasmine. While it turns out he didn’t really need them, Abu, Genie, and the Magic
Carpet all help him in his schemes to get the girl.
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After watching a great deal of How I Met Your Mother, I consider myself knowledgeable of what is
acceptable wingman etiquette (thank you Barney Stinson’s Bro Code). Essentially, you help the guy
meet the girl (“Hi, haaave you met Ted?”) and you make the guy look impressive to the girl so he
doesn’t have to try to and thus look incredibly self-centered and arrogant (“Anyway, Marshall’s a great
guy. Salad in a bag, his idea.”). Because of this, I feel like I can assess whether or not a guy makes a
good wingman.
So the question here is, which of Aladdin’s eclectic comrades fulfills the role of wingman? Here’s my
assessment:
Abu: Aladdin’s roommate and partner in crime...
literally. Ideal criteria for a wingman. Plus, he’s
there when Jasmine and Aladdin first meet and
he helps Aladdin in his scheme to convince the
slash-happy merchant that Jasmine is only
stealing because she’s crazy, which of course is
when the initial attraction between the two
characters surfaces. Also, he does a great at
distracting the Captain of the Guard (jumps on
him and pulls his hat over his head) whenever
he busts in the scene. I mean, c’mon that guy
basically cock-blocks Aladdin because he hacks
and slacks through Aladdin’s crib just as he’s about to “kiss the girl” (ah, Disney movies are a great
source of pop culture references). However, Abu is incredibly selfish; he nearly gets Aladdin killed in
the Cave of Wonders when he touches that big red jewel. That can cause issues. The guy can’t get
the girl if he’s dead.
Genie: he’s that crazy guy who’s always the life of the party.
Being seen with him generally makes good with the ladies.
Plus, Genie does whatever Aladdin thinks he needs to
impress Jasmine. He throws an entire parade to introduce
him as Prince Ali, and gives him the confidence he needs to
spit his game. Bottom line: Genie makes Aladdin look good.
But he’s not perfect. After all, sometimes his eccentricities
get a tiny bit out of control. In the balcony scene (move over
Romeo), Genie keeps whispering all kinds of distracting
2/11/11 9:51 PM
Aladdin: The How-to Film on Being a Good Wingman | POPSENSE
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advice in Aladdin’s ear, which makes him say the wrong
thing to Jasmine (“You’re so... punctual!”). Yes, Genie does
save Aladdin’s life rather than almost end it, which gets him
better wingman status than Abu, but saying the wrong thing
with a girl you just met (again) can be an instant turn-off.
Let’s move on to the next contestant.
Magic Carpet: The designated driver of the
bunch. The responsible one. Not a likely
candidate for wingman of the year. But let’s take
a deeper look. For starters, he doesn’t have
Abu’s selfishness or Genie’s vice of talking too
much. Furthermore, the magic carpet enables
Aladdin to take Jasmine on exhilarating ride
through the skies, as seen in the YouTube
Roulette video. Not only is this the single most
romantic thing he can do, but this act also
enables Jasmine to feel free and unshackled by her rigidly structured life as a princess. He doesn’t just
impress her; he reaches her on a powerful emotional level. None of this would be possible without the
subtle aid of the magic carpet. It enables Aladdin to be a better version of himself.
And if that doesn’t seal the deal, check this out: when Aladdin drops Jasmine off on the balcony after
their “date”, right before he flies off, the magic carpet pushes Aladdin up for the kiss. At this point in the
FYP viewing, I exclaimed “Best Wingman Ever!”
So guys, what have we learned? If you want to get the girl, you’re better off with a fancy rug than a
cute pet or a talented friend with tricks up his sleeve. Didn’t see that one coming...
So am I right? Am I off the mark completely? Who do YOU think makes the best wingman and why?
9 comments »
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Better than, say, an adolescent golden retriever? I think yes.
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Michael said:
hahah, totally never saw it like that, thank you!
December 12, 2008
Diane said:
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December 12, 2008
Chris said:
cool!!
this is my favorite article from you yet, and i've really enjoyed your others as well, this was really
funny and i love the manipulation of something old school like aladdin and putting it into our
more 'adult' terms!
December 12, 2008
Anonymous said:
"The guy can't get the girl if he's dead" hahah
2 of 3
2/11/11 9:51 PM
Aladdin: The How-to Film on Being a Good Wingman | POPSENSE
http://www.popsense.com/2008/12/aladdin-how-to-film-on-bein...
December 12, 2008
Daniel said:
those others parts are funny, but he's so right though, it's definitely magic carpet FTW!
December 12, 2008
Matt said:
hahah genie as the life of the party who helps him 'spit game'.
I think Abu is a fail when it comes to wingman definitely cause of the whole almost killing him
thing, and then yeah magic carpet is the safe bet, but my vote is Genie!
great work!
December 12, 2008
Jeff Luppino-Esposito said:
I totally would have went with that slippery bastard Abu, or at least the genie because of my
undying love for Robin Williams, but I was totally won over by your argument - Magic Carpet is
so my designated driver from here on out.
Well done corbinator.
December 12, 2008
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2/11/11 9:51 PM