More Subjects
Student
Course
Instructor
Date
Utopia Research Article Disneyland
Utopia is not a newly coined word; it comes with a history and a long series of hopes and imaginations. Literally, the word means ‘no place’ or as described by Thomas More, ‘a happy place’. It is used to describe the happy side of the world, without privatization and sectarianism, but a welfare state where everything is perfect. The perception of Utopia is a wide subject and different people have different descriptions for Utopia due to their beliefs and values. Nevertheless, vast majority considers it as a power of dreams and imaginations and it is established that there are various benefits of looking at the world in a different and positive way. On the contrary, there are many examples where people wanted to turn their Utopias into reality but it all went wrong and became a nightmare for them ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"xjaJ6izQ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Caines)","plainCitation":"(Caines)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":833,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/GYCV63A4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/GYCV63A4"],"itemData":{"id":833,"type":"webpage","abstract":"There is a fine tradition of Utopias going terribly wrong when people tried to put their ideals into practice","container-title":"The Independent","language":"en","title":"9 of the most miserable attempts to create Utopias","URL":"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/utopia-nine-of-the-most-miserable-attempts-to-create-idealised-societies-a6887316.html","author":[{"family":"Caines","given":"Michael"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,9]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",2,21]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Caines). Despite the many manipulations and exploitation of the term, there many individuals have flourished through their imaginative ideals.
The Utopias are created in the human minds when they start thinking about fleeing the present diaspora of the painful present. It can also be motivated by the sense of nostalgia, which actually is an escape from the present. Walt Disney took advantage of the endless childhood dreams and fascinating fairy and princesses’ tales. The entertainment industry started branding those ideals and materialized the innocent dreams. The first theme parks opened in the 1950s and they continue to expand them. Millions of visitors head to the Main Street in the United States and leave behind the melancholies of this world. Within that boundary, the conventions of this outer world cease to haunt human minds; senses are overwhelmed and aroused to a point of ecstasy and anesthesia. Eventually, rational judgement is deferred, the individual identity shifts into the acts of consumption. The visitors feel themselves immersed in a fascinating experience in the form of their idealized characters.
Disney opened the first complex in 1955 in California, and was later developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s under the name of The Florida Project. It intended to create a distinct vision of diverse attractions for its viewers. The original plan of the Walt Disney also included an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). It was an experimental project for a new city with enthralling innovations. Walt Disney died during the construction of the Disney complex in 1966. After his death, the company deviated from the original project plan and built a resort just like Disneyland. The first theme park known as Magic Kingdom was opened in the complex in 1971. In 1982, EPCOT was opened too following the Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 1989 and Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1998. Today, Walt Disney World has become one of the most visited vacation resorts in the world. The Disney World was created as a metropolis of fictional, nostalgic and futuristic ideas. Walt created it with the intention of its educational along with amusement value to provide entertainment for children and adults equally.
Walt Disney’s idea of the futuristic city was based in the progressiveness that would never end and there would always be a gap to bring in innovations. If the project was processed under critical scrutiny, the dreamers could actually see the darker undertones to this urban Utopia. His ideals were to build an independent, unparalleled quasi government control in that city. He acquired municipal jurisdiction over the area and it meant that he could build anything he wanted to. Alas! Disney was never a utopian city Walt had dreamed about. The prototype project was designed so that it could become an operational city. It was supposed to be a place where future was limitless. Yet, it did not give the tenants the authority to own land or even vote. The residents were kind of employees or subjects hired by Walt Disney so he could test his prototypes under strict surveillance. He also wanted to introduce his own transportation system inside the Disney World. His plans had various limitations, as people would not have been able to deliver heavy liftings and supplies. According to the plans, EPCOT was supposed to be an environment friendly city where there would be no automobiles and everyone would lead a carefree life. However, the demise of Walt Disney changed everything and his dream died with him. The board of directors abandoned the project and today what remains of the futuristic city is essentially an EPCOT theme park.
Disneyland functional city still remains a dream and it raises questions for the think tanks that can there really be a Utopian city? Or would it always remain an imaginative world to live in? People, in this world full of despair and monotonous, want to head out far off this world. Walt Disney gave them an idea to think through and live in the imaginative world where there is justice, equality, peace and happiness. Some analysts argue that projects like Disneyland can never be implemented or even they are, they will still be fake and artificial. They can never replace the originality of the world we live in ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1doZI91i","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Cl\\uc0\\u233{}ment)","plainCitation":"(Clément)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":830,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/6RX64ELQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/6RX64ELQ"],"itemData":{"id":830,"type":"article-journal","abstract":"Long held as the province of capitalist domination, the Disney parks have recently seen other trends of analysis emerge, providing renewed emphasis on user activity and the parks’ competitive environment. In this article, we identify three trends of research toward the Disney theme parks, with the ‘locus of control’ for the parks’ meaning, design, and operations placed successively within the Disney-controlled environment of the park, within the user, and, lastly, within the park’s wider socio-economic context.","container-title":"InMedia. The French Journal of Media Studies","ISSN":"2259-4728","issue":"2","language":"en","source":"journals.openedition.org","title":"‘Locus of Control’: A Selective Review of Disney Theme Parks","title-short":"‘Locus of Control’","URL":"http://journals.openedition.org/inmedia/463","author":[{"family":"Clément","given":"Thibaut"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",12,9]]},"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012",11,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Clément). Socioeconomic analysts have suggested that constructing artificial environments in order to achieve fantasy goals can cost political, social and economic disparities in the society. Others have criticized the authenticity of the emotional expression and cultural performance in such places. Critics said that happiness is subjective yet Disney implies on its employees to stay happy and smile for its visitors. Such an apprehension instills confusion related to the concept of happiness and ultimately the idea of Utopia seems vague and unreal. Just like some figures on a colossal table game, the fabricated Disney World could never manage to become truly a Utopian city. It could not have political autonomy like the one Disney had imagined. All the experimental projects such as theme parks, schools, museums and film studio were set out in efforts to achieving higher goals. The idea of living in a Utopian city was a fascinating one but we would never know how it would be if it became a functional one. A city that has its own rules and government, and where residents can have absolute power over their civil matters except for the ownership and voting rights seems like something people dream of when they watch a Disney fairy tale. The project did not fail due to lack of vision or labor unions, but due to the inapplicability of an artificially made environment for mankind to live in and the ultimate surveillance. Walt Disney personally examined and supervised all aspects of this project as if it was one of his greatest films. However, the impossible city that Disney and many had dreamed about ultimately conformed to the desires of its visitors and made them feel like their dreams did come true. Disney’s genius is not dependent on creating an exploitable and profitable scenery but on his efforts on making the Disney fans and visitors never abandon the mysteries and fantasies of the Promised Land. Walt Disney constructed a factory full of memories to bring the nostalgia of childhood into reality.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Caines, Michael. “9 of the Most Miserable Attempts to Create Utopias.” The Independent, 21 Feb. 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/utopia-nine-of-the-most-miserable-attempts-to-create-idealised-societies-a6887316.html.
Clément, Thibaut. “‘Locus of Control’: A Selective Review of Disney Theme Parks.” InMedia. The French Journal of Media Studies, no. 2, Nov. 2012. journals.openedition.org, http://journals.openedition.org/inmedia/463.
More Subjects
Join our mailing list
© All Rights Reserved 2024