All Magic Has A Price -- at Disney's
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Titled "Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class", I find this a thoughtful essay on the American middle class' changed position:
America’s 20th century was a fortunate moment when we could rely on companies like Disney to deliver rich and unifying elements of our culture. Walt Disney hoped that his audience would have “no racial, national, political, religious or social differences” — he wanted to appeal to everyone, in no small part because appealing to everyone was profitable. It was a time when big institutions were trusted, and the culture they created was shared by nearly all Americans.
The economics of appealing to the middle class aren’t what they used to be. The market, and increasingly the culture, is dominated by the affluent. And technology is enabling companies to see these previously invisible class divides and act on them.
Based on what we earn, we see different ads, stand in different lines, eat different food, stay in different hotels, watch the parade from different sections, and on and on. What’s profitable today is not unification. It’s segmentation.
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When I was a kid there were still black and white reruns of ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ on tv which I thought was stupid. Mickey Mouse cartoons I also didn’t like. Bugs bunny was my guy.
So I was a lost generation for Disney until the Pixar films pulled my son in.
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I should add I went to Disneyworld a bunch as a kid because from 9-14 we loved a little over an hour away, we got in-state discounts, and my mom would purposely find an unexpectedly lovely day in the off season and pull us out of school to avoid crowds, which weren’t nearly as bad back then to begin with.
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@Mik said in All Magic Has A Price -- at Disney's:
Bugs was one of my role models. Srsly. How to deal with idiots. But the major one was Popeye.
My hero was Dick Dastardly. I found it incredibly frustrating that he never ever won. What kind of lesson is that for young children who want to succeed in business?
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Sorry, I lost interest in the news article as soon as it started virtue signaling classism.
But I do agree that Disney as a resort destination has jumped the shark in their pursuit of the dollar, and the general daily atmosphere of the parks is declining.
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I went to the one in Anaheim for the first time in 2022. I was promised a trip to the Grand Canyon if I coughed up, and apparently my kids were promised a trip to Disney if they came with us to the GC.
I'm British, so queueing is practically our national sport, but waiting to get on for that first freaking Star Wars ride nearly broke me. Obviously, we then paid extra so that we wouldn't have to spend the entire rest of the day standing around complaining.
I must admit I did kind of enjoy it once we paid the extra money, but never again.
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I have visited Disney and a few of the parks more than I would like - often because a meeting was held at a Disney property or as a "perk" from some corporate entity. As a non-parent, it is all wasted on me. Still, I had a niece who worked at Disney as Minnie Mouse. I have a brother who took his two children to Disneyworld and was viciously articulate enough to get a full refund of his family's admission to the park. They hated everything about it.
