Page 160 - The Disneyization of Society

CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE

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trample over them. Interestingly, in Disneyland Paris, where such attractions are
more chaotic than in the US, no such instructions are given.
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One form of resistance to control over the visitor’s movement is to use one of
the unofficial guides to the Disney theme parks as a means of circumventing the
directions that are implied by Disney landscaping in order to avoid long lines.
However, this is a strategy that is doomed to failure since the advice is widely
available and often accessible on the internet, resulting in large numbers of visi-
tors employing precisely the same tactics and still ending up in long lines.
There are also unsavoury forms of resistance. Characters in costumes are often
attacked. For example:

the wolf from Pinocchio was strolling through the park when a group of teenage girls asked him to
pose for a picture. They carefully positioned him, with a nearby wall as a backdrop, a girl under each
arm and two kneeling in front of him. The camerawoman announced, ‘Ready … set …’ But just as
she was about to snap the photo, the girls at the wolf’s sides swung around and pinned his arms
against the wall and the other two reached up and fondled him. Then she quickly took the shot. 66

One wonders whether the girls had thought about the gender of the inhabitant
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of the costume. In addition, Snow White’s breasts are sometimes fondled, as are
Minnie Mouse’s, while two Snow Whites have reportedly been raped. 68 In
Disneyland Paris, there have been reports of children attacking costumed charac-
ters. 69 In Disneyland, Plutos frequently get bloody noses as a result of being
punched by children 70 and a Brer Bear has been stabbed. 71
In addition, consumption of drugs and alcohol among teenagers and young
adults is occasionally encountered, 72 while occasional queue jumping sometimes
occurs too. Whether these various infractions of Disney rules and the law repre-
sent resistance to Disney as such is open to debate but together they point to a
variety of ways in which resistance by visitors is not only possible but occurs with
some frequency. Disney control of them is not total.

Worker resistance
Worker resistance in the Disney theme parks can take several different forms which
to a certain extent are affected by the kind of job under consideration. One
response is to ‘switch off’. According to Van Maanen, when feeling too tired to
smile but still having to, ride operators simply switch off. 73 Various names are
given to this sensation: automatic pilot; going robot; can’t feel a thing; lapse into
a dream; go into a trance; checking out. He describes these as passive forms of resis-
tance – ways of preserving an element of individuality and of retaining self-respect.
However, more active forms of resistance are also in evidence. One is to become
difficult or overbearingly polite. The latter essentially entails exaggerating emo-
tional labour with the clear implication that the worker clearly does not mean it.
As an example of the latter, a cast member may respond to a difficult visitor by
saying in an exaggeratedly Disney voice ‘It’s been our pleasure to serve you.’ 74