OK first I have to say I love the word “Oracular”. Thanks for using it.

Secondly, have you read Fast Food Nation. Check it out and you will see how close Disney and McDonalds are.

Finally I have wrestled with an issue I would love to discuss with other people at some point and maybe this is as good a forum as any. At heart I am an anarchist, but I know that in my life I will not live in an anarchist society. If I am watchful and courageous I might create some of this in my family, community and the company(s) I help start and grow.

I also believe that capitalism (including the evolution of the corporation), socialism and social democracies have key roles in our social evolution towards such an ideal situation as anarchy. The Disneys of the world are creating cultures much like other corporations, and I believe there are some virtues here as well as some detriments. One virtue is that Disney crosses cultures and socio economic boundaries like few other cultures. As cheesey as it is – “It’s a Small World” was one of the first multicultural experiences I remember and to see the harmony of song and dance across these cultures has always stayed with me.

Don’t get me wrong I had friends who worked at Disneyland in college and I remember the stories of the oppressive and exceedingly strict environment, and I agree with your statements about the ruthlessness of advertising and marketing fields. In time I believe we will see lawsuits much like those currently being aimed at the tobacco industries and that will emerge against the fast food industries. When we reach a place where the psychological aggressiveness of these global advertising and marketing firms and their associated research firms is truly considered, there will be a massive backlash. Look a few blogs down and you can see one of the current areas where this is already happening – body image.

So my struggle lies in how to embrace what is good in our current system of capitalism and the corporations that are so prevalent in our day to day lives, without succumbing to the abuses. How do I encourage, through my purchases and my voice, the virtues and constructive values of these organizations and systems, without becoming too attached to them as to depend on their continuance?

I would be curious to get others perspective here. How do we encourage one another to act responsibly within the system while trying to improve it?

Our family is going to Disneyland in October and we are going down for a few days to watch our nieces and nephews run around the park. I know the joy on these kids face and the memorable experience will draw me back to my own memories of the park, though I understand it has changed since then. I will go both to experience and to observer – even more so since I read your blog Eric. Thanks for the ideas – very well thought out and crafted. I would love to hear how you and others wrestle with these challenges.

I’ll have to see That’s so Raven, just out of morbid curiosity. It does sound pathetic, which is what Disney has been for so many years in one way or another. Under the cutesy mask this corporation is still an ethnocentric, sexist nightmare. It’s subtle but powerfully heady stuff for young racists and misogynists to be. “It’s A Small World” is barely window dressing up against the consistent Disney reality of a world consisting of the wonderfully brave and axiomatic white, blond white guys (the good guys) —fighting (“the bad guys”) represented by grossly stereotypical sounding, sinister looking, dark haired, people of color, otherwise known as “evil-doers.” Now substitute an Iraqi man into the Disney picture. What role does he play?

Once Disney has primed you for “aspirational marketing”, you can grow up and watch the Nightly News, get freaked out by terrorism, and then blithely segue into the ultra smooth, high volume, car commercial every few minutes. It’s that super sleek, yet sensible sports car, with the age-demo nostalgic rock-op soundbytes, that will bring you inimitable safety—in stark contrast to the news-worthy fear just put into your heart. It’s a scary world with random acts of violence, but these products can protect you, right the inbalance you feel,make you feel happy again, the tacit packaged message.

Some interesting comments. Thank you both! You bring up some important points. I have to say it is an issue that is very complex, with tendrils in so many areas of life. And it embodies such a dichotomy: I love Disneyland. I love Disney animation (I guess it can’t all be anime). As much as I bitch about Disney, I would LOVE to be an Imagineer. Still, they scare me.

I agree Eric – it is a dichotomy.

Here is a list of movie titles Disney has played a role in http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/300382/1/ref=br_lpsp_pg/002-9100186-8906415?

Here are just a few of the titles:
Evita
Never Cry Wolf
Aladdin
Mulan
Fantasia
Sister Act
Anne Frank
Rember the Titans (takes racism head on with Denzel Washington)
Nightmare before Christmas
James and the Giant Peach
Tron
The Black Hole
Pixar projects
Countless stories of animal adventures that are sympathetic to endangered species and animal rights and treatment issues
Spirited Away

Not exactly black and white by any means

I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed aspects of Disney, but there are serious underlying issues to be conscious of in many movies in their library. Here are only a few links that take a deeper look at what I am talking about.

http://www.newint.org/issue308/dolls.html

http://www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/MickeyMouseMonopoly/studyguide/html

http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/cho3108j5.htm

There have been quite a few Disney movies I’ve loved. One of them was “Song of the South”. I think I was 8 when I saw it. I don’t remember it well enough to make my own judgement of whether it was racist, but the question is still asked today. I do remember the songs, though. I know artists, people who make the films, are doing what’s necessary to do what they love and get paid for it. And I can respect that. I also respect how they continually push their boundaries.

Yet still it is that today more of the substance of our environment and by extension our consciousness and our experience of life is being manufactured, and done so with very specific purpose. The Disney Channel is the shining example of the notion that to be successful an ad need only satisfy one condition: You must remember it. It’s an art form that has moved from persuasive to invasive. You remember your dreams, your ambitions, and The Disney Channel invokes this wonderful frame that is so central to us and quietly hangs a pair of mouse ears on the corner. It’s utterly brilliant, like so many weapons are.