The first time I saw Aladdin was on my seventeenth birthday. I think everyone has a few Disney classics that they just miss somehow; for me, it was Aladdin. Maybe my mom thought lamp-genies were Satanic or something. (Ironically, it was my youth group that hosted the party and Aladdin-viewing.)

During the famous musical sequence “A Whole New World,” my friend Brian leaned over and whispered to me, “this song is about drugs.”

As if Aladdin needs any more accusations of vice. From Abu supposedly yelling the S-word to Aladdin mumbling something about “taking off your clothes,” perhaps no Disney film has been at the center of more controversy. My personal opinion? None of these supposed subliminal messages are based on anything but the twisted minds of the people who come up with them. And if a monkey who’s about to get crushed under molten-hot rocks in a magical cave wants to use the S-word, then he’s entitled.

“A Whole New World” could be about drugs, I suppose. But it’s hard to tell; at seventeen the human mind has been so twisted it’s impossible to look at anything with the pure eyes of a child. Parents, in particular, are paranoid. They imagine that some sinister effort to corrupt their children lurks around every corner, even within a G-rated film. But kids don’t see it. Even if it’s there, they don’t notice; they are swept away in the magic of the story.

“A Whole New World” isn’t about drugs. It might be about a magic carpet, and it might be about hallucinating entire cities filled with lights, but it’s not about drugs. The ecstatic experiences that we associate only with substance abuse today can be achieved by the human mind all by itself; it’s kind of sad that we’ve forgotten about it.

Do your kids a favor and show them Aladdin before they’re seventeen and jaded and mad at the world. Trust me. They’ll thank you.

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