Page 17 - The Disneyization of Society

THE DISNEYIZATION OF SOCIETY

for its omission of conflicts and inequalities, in much the same way that Disney
representations of history tend to be criticised for the omission of inequality and
8 tensions. As Handler and Gable note, the museum of this period was frequently
depicted as too much like a theme park. Indeed, as one commentator put it,
Colonial Williamsburg was ‘a too-cute, too-contrived Disneyesque re-creation of
what was once the capital of the British colony of Virginia. A historical theme
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park’. The new historians sought to inject a heavy dose of realism and authenti-
city into the museum. However, Handler and Gable, as well as other commenta-
tors such as Huxtable, 21 still point to systematic omissions from its presentation
of history, which is typically regarded as having been purged of undesirable
features of the time.
For present purposes, the crucial point is that the kind of history presented at
Colonial Williamsburg was precisely the kind of history that was deemed unde-
sirable – one that lacked a sense of the diverse and conflictful nature of the period,
a history that was too influenced by a Disney view of how American history
should be presented to the masses. Thus, even though Disney’s influence on the
representation of history was merely that it provided the inspiration prior to the
incursions of the new historians, it was widely seen as symbolizing the kind of
history that was not wanted. The historians and others fighting Disney’s America
theme park took the earlier phases of Colonial Williamsburg as their image of the
kind of historical havoc that Disney might wreak, even though the company was
merely a symbol of sanitized history rather than its manufacturer.
What we see here is a tendency for Disneyfication to be applied to the cultural
realm in the form of stories and the depiction of history. Sometimes, authors
attribute Disneyfication to other kinds of phenomena. Thus, Ross writes that
when he left New York City to live for a year in Disney’s new town, Celebration
in Florida, he was conscious of the fact that he ‘left behind a town frothing with
offense at the Disneyfication of Times Square.’ 22 Giroux similarly writes of the
‘Disnification’ of this area of the city. These are direct references to the transfor-
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mation that Disney has wrought on the area through its location of a flagship
Disney Store and its refurbishment of the New Amsterdam Theater in which
shows based on Disney feature films (Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King) are
shown. Prior to Disney’s arrival, Times Square had become a tawdry and danger-
ous area replete with sex shops, prostitution and drug transactions. It had become
an area that many New Yorkers chose to avoid unless they were looking for the
less than salubrious trade that was rife there. Disney’s arrival and its colonization
of the area cleansed Times Square and encouraged a host of restaurants and retail
outlets to open. It became a tourist and consumer enclave within the city. While
Giroux acknowledges that the transformation may have had benefits in terms
of bringing a wider range of entertainment opportunities to the area for native
New Yorkers and tourists alike, he also sees it as evidence of Disney’s proclivities
for sanitization. In addition, he argues that the regenerated Times Square provides