Vinyl Leaves: Walt Disney World And AmericaWalt Disney World is a pilgrimage site filled with utopian elements, craft, and whimsy. It's a pedestrian's world, where the streets are clean, the employees are friendly, and the trains run on time. All of its elements are themed, presented in a consistent architectural, decorative, horticultural, musical, even olfactory tone, with rides, shows, restaurants, scenery, and costumed characters coordinated to tell a consistent set of stories. It is beguiling and exasperating, a place of ambivalence and ambiguity. In Vinyl Leaves Professor Fjellman analyzes each ride and theater show of Walt Disney World and discusses the history, political economy, technical infrastructure, and urban planning of the area as well as its relationship with Metropolitan Orlando and the state of Florida. Vinyl Leaves argues that Disney, in pursuit of its own economic interests, acts as the muse for the allied transnational corporations that sponsor it as well as for the world of late capitalism, where the commodity form has colonized much of human life. With brilliant technological legerdemain, Disney puts visitors into cinematically structured stories in which pieces of American and world culture become ideological tokens in arguments in favor of commodification and techno-corporate control. Culture is construed as spirit, colonialism and entrepreneurial violence as exotic zaniness, and the Other as child.Exhaustion and cognitive overload lead visitors into the bliss of Commodity Zen—the characteristic state of postmodern life. While we were watching for Orwell, Huxley rode into town, bringing soma, cable, and charge cards—and wearing mouse ears. This book is the story of our commodity fairyland. |
Contents
Stalking Woozles | 1 |
Culture and Context | 21 |
America and Consumption | 35 |
Copyright | |
22 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
Adventureland advertising American Adventure animation architecture attractions audience audioanimatronic become building Carousel of Progress central Florida characters Cited in Zehnder commodity CommuniCore corporate Disney-MGM Studios Disney's EPCOT Center Disneyland employees engineering entertainment entrance EPCOT Center especially façades fake fantasy Fantasyland film Frontierland Future World human Ibid images invention Island Lagoon land Liberty Square Living Seas Magic Kingdom Main Street USA merchandise Miami Herald Mickey Mouse Mickey's million movie Orlando Sentinel pavilion percent planning plants Plaza political Popular Culture postmodern present Press Prizer problem quote restaurants ride robot scenes screen shops simulated social space Steve Birnbaum stories symbols television tell theater theme parks things tion Tomorrowland tour tourist trees United utopian vehicles visitors Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Productions Walt Disney World Walt Disney's EPCOT World Showcase York
References to this book
Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis John Hannigan No preview available - 1998 |
Critical Issues in Tourism: A Geographical Perspective Gareth Shaw,Allan M. Williams No preview available - 2002 |