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Feb. 15th, 2010 03:38 amSo I'm a bit confused (not the word I want, but the word I'm going with) by one of the comments on this Sociological Images post.
I’m more disturbed that anyone would consider Disney’s “Main Street” as an adult destination for a genuine experience. In essence this is a scripted wedding proposal in a simulated Main Street in a simulated American town by simulated celebrities (the american idol winner). Not only are they buying into this whole marriage proposal script, but they are buying into this whole Disney reality as being a true substitute for an actual social space. ... What creeps me out is this substitution of manufactured experiences for actual genuine experiences.
I get most of this comment, but the author loses me at Disney reality as a substitute for an actual social space. Obviously I know that visiting Main Street, U.S.A. is not at all the same thing as visiting a small American town, that DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor is an idealized Italy, that Adventureland has no real world counterpart. I get that these places are, to a great extent, artificial, and I get that this creeps some people out. But it's when people talk about Disney parks as if they're not even real places that they lose me. Disneyland is not an "actual social space"? What are you talking about? Does the artifice of the setting mean you can't have a genuine experience there? If you have a fight with your friend while standing in line for Temple of the Forbidden Eye, does it not count because it happened in Disneyland? If you have a friendly conversation with a stranger while on the Mark Twain, does it mean nothing because it happened in Disneyland? Are any and all experiences made invalid because they happened in Disneyland, which is apparently not an "actual social space"?
In all social situations we're surrounded by rules and conventions and whatever. I don't see how Disneyland is all that terribly different, at least not to the point that it's impossible to have a "genuine experience" there. What the heck. :|
I’m more disturbed that anyone would consider Disney’s “Main Street” as an adult destination for a genuine experience. In essence this is a scripted wedding proposal in a simulated Main Street in a simulated American town by simulated celebrities (the american idol winner). Not only are they buying into this whole marriage proposal script, but they are buying into this whole Disney reality as being a true substitute for an actual social space. ... What creeps me out is this substitution of manufactured experiences for actual genuine experiences.
I get most of this comment, but the author loses me at Disney reality as a substitute for an actual social space. Obviously I know that visiting Main Street, U.S.A. is not at all the same thing as visiting a small American town, that DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor is an idealized Italy, that Adventureland has no real world counterpart. I get that these places are, to a great extent, artificial, and I get that this creeps some people out. But it's when people talk about Disney parks as if they're not even real places that they lose me. Disneyland is not an "actual social space"? What are you talking about? Does the artifice of the setting mean you can't have a genuine experience there? If you have a fight with your friend while standing in line for Temple of the Forbidden Eye, does it not count because it happened in Disneyland? If you have a friendly conversation with a stranger while on the Mark Twain, does it mean nothing because it happened in Disneyland? Are any and all experiences made invalid because they happened in Disneyland, which is apparently not an "actual social space"?
In all social situations we're surrounded by rules and conventions and whatever. I don't see how Disneyland is all that terribly different, at least not to the point that it's impossible to have a "genuine experience" there. What the heck. :|