The Aladdin Effect: Interview with writer/director Lena Khan

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By Fareeha Molvi

(This post was originally published to Instagram on September 22, 2020)

Have you ever watched something and thought, “I wonder why they cast an Indian actor to play that Arab character? Did they think no one would notice?” This ethnic substitution is commonplace in Hollywood, so much so that I call it “The Aladdin Effect.” Anything vaguely brown, exotic and foreign can be lumped into the same orientalist bucket: one people, with one language and culture. Of course, we know that’s not true because how different is Afghanistan from India or Iraq? 

So, I asked writer/director Lena Khan to shed some light on what goes on behind the scenes of casting. Khan is currently working on her next feature film, Disney’s “Flora & Ulysses.” (I highly recommend you check out her film “The Tiger Hunter” on Netflix.)

Brown in Media: When you see an ethnic switch-up (like an Indian actor playing an Arab character) –what happens in casting?

Lena Khan: “While I’m not attempting to give any excuses, I can’t give a simple answer. They say 50% of directing is just in who you cast, and it’s among the biggest decisions of the movie. That also means every person of power in the filmmaking process is feeling the pressure of making sure the person who is the most right for the story gets the part.

In some cases, people might just be ignorant and not take the care to change a person’s backstory to fit the character.

In some cases, they have certain reasons they have to keep a character’s background, but were so blown away by an actor who they feel truly embodies that character that they can’t see anyone else in the role.”

BIM: Do you think this conflation between different ethnicities on screen is problematic or a harmless error?

LK: “I think it’s problematic as a whole, without saying every single instance of this is unquestionably wrong.

When you are acting as if every brown person from a huge swath of the world is the same and one group can be subbed out for the other – that is certainly a problem.

When people are denied the specificity that we give to others, it is a lack of respect and honor to that group, and denies the uniqueness that every community has. It is as if they don’t have their own identity; they are just ‘the other.'”

BIM: What’s been the most appalling instance of the Aladdin Effect that you’ve come across, if any?

LK: “It’s not the most appalling one, but I was bummed that they did not cast an Arab as Sayid in Lost. He was an awesome character, and then if he were an Arab, maybe he could also have said, ‘Hey guys…you know how there’s not many Arabs on TV? Maybe my storyline doesn’t have to be sooo obsessed with me torturing people.’ And then there’s a greater chance he wouldn’t mess up the Muslim prayer.”