Post Class, Disney with Dr. Casey, 3/4/10

In our Thursday discussion with Dr. Casey we took a further look into the hyperrealistic ideas of Disney World in today's society. We used Dorfman and Eco's readings along with our discussion. The "Absolute Fake" relates to the fact the US is filled with cities that imitate other cities around the country or even around the world, much like a wax museum. This was compared to Disney's main street and how it seems like fiction, which has become a commercial reality. Dorfman continues this discussion by saying that, Disney substitutes reality and becomes and authority figure that represents moral values. These moral values have been instilled in Disney movies today, which has been a part of many parent's lives, which they hope to instill in their children. Disney World is an experience that is sometimes equally enjoyed by the older generation because these characters and films ha such a big impact on them as well. Dorfman went on to explain how Disney is a common collective vision and how Mickey Mouse is more popular internationally than the national hero of the day. "The Universal Disney family is a supernational bridge across all human beings that may communicate with each other, the registered trade mark becomes invisible." (123) Disney has become a totalizing metanarrative, a cross cultural understanding that strongly influences our world. The last Disney fact we touched upon was the idea of simulacra, which is taking an idea or concept of a country and using that to reproduce an image or symbol. This was related to the idea of being able to go "Around the World at Epcot" where you can visit every country, try its food, meet people from there, and get the Americanized/ Disney version of these countries.