The ego, as some of you may know, it (according to freudian theory) the part of the psyche which is the conscious, the part that is aware and the part that controls the self through everyday life. It is the part of the self that presents itself to others. It also tries to protect the rest of the self by building a facade around it, putting a front to the real person by showing what the ego believes others want. The ego is also an attention hog, demanding that all focus should be on it, or on things that it believes that it needs to keep up it's charade. Because of it's nature, the ego hides the true self behind walls of defenses, and if it is left unchecked, it can lead to an insatiable quest for more and more power and attention.
As I was thinking of this, some weeks ago, it occurred to me that Aladdin is a perfect example of the different states of Ego. (I am of course speaking of the Disney cartoon Aladdin, which I admit is not a true telling of the story, but is none the less, a more widely known version)
In the beginning of the movie, Aladdin has, in essence, no ego, as he is living on the street and therefore has no need to hide his true self from friends (as he has no friends save his monkey Abu). This unattachment from society lets his true nature shine, one which is mindful of helping the defenseless, even if it means harm to him. Meanwhile, Jasmine is sick and tired of being forced to live a strict life and having her ego forced upon her. She wishes to get out and see the world, to cut all ties to the stresses of social life and let her true self reign free. The two meet, are attracted to each other (probably due to the fact that they recognized that the other was showing their true self and not hiding behind a mask life everyone else).
Back in the palace, Jafar, who is obsessed by a quest for power by his domineering ego, strives to find a way to make his dreams come true. Long story short, he tries to get Aladdin to get him the lamp, Aladdin gets the lamp, but then keeps it for himself. In the process, Aladdin finds out Jasmine's identity. This knowledge makes his ego grow, making his believe that he must somehow impress Jasmine in order for her to even consider marrying him. To meet his goal, he has Genie (Jinn, Djinni, however you want to spell it) "make him a prince." As he strives to reach his goal, his ego grows bigger and bigger, and all the while he becomes less like himself. He pretends to be who he isn't and begins to tell lies in order to try to woo the princess into liking "him" (his ego self), simply because he does not think that she would like his true self. Along the way, he begins to believe the lies he made and starts to believe that he got where he is now on his own accord, abandoning the lamp and allowing he to be stolen by Jafar, who instantly uses it to try to satiate his ego's drive for power. After realizing that the same beast that is in Jafar is the one who nearly caused his own downfall, Aladdin uses Jafar's ego against him by tricking him to become trapped as a slave to his power by becoming a genie himself. Aladdin abandons his ego, finally realizing that his true self is the road to happiness. The end.
Yeah, that did not work quite how I wanted, but I think I got the point across (by reinterpreting the movie scene by scene.) Once again, I am sorry if the post is overly long, I just wrote what came to mind. I'm sure that if I tried, I might have been able to say what needed to be said in a more concise method. I am planning on having other posts which analyze various topics (for instance, a look into the Lion King and how it relates to christianity.) However, I must now get to bed. Come back later for more insights into
LIFE
THE UNIVERSE
AND EVERYTHING
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