Friday, February 20, 2009
Headlines
Friday, February 6, 2009
Why are you such a dick?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
It's the world that we share, when we're finally aware...
Move over, children of the globe — it's a Disney world after all.
More than 40 years after the "It's A Small World" ride opened to promote world peace and showcase the cultures of the world, Disney is populating one of its most beloved attractions with its own trademark vision of the planet: Aladdin, Nemo, Ariel and more than two dozen cartoon characters plucked from its movies.
Okay, let's start here. This ride update has been a long time coming, and took over a year for them to complete (including oft-reported and eroneous rumors that they had to update the boats because patrons were fatter--not true! The boats were bottoming out due to decades of patching holes in the canal with layers of fiberglass). The decision to add characters came after the enormous popularity of the Tokyo ride, which has always included characters. So this isn't the first time, AP.
Disney says it supplemented the human dolls with make-believe figures to keep the aging ride appealing to younger generations and give it a new twist. Yet some angry fans see an unabashed marketing ploy that trashes the pacifist message at the heart of the "Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed the World" and ruins one of the few rides that remained unchanged since the days of Walt Disney.
"What message are they actually saying about the world?," said Jerry Beck, an animation historian who runs the blog Cartoon Brew. "That you can go anywhere and there will be a Disney theme park?"
All right, Jerry Beck, let's think about this. What message has Disney ever had about the world? Let's not pretend that back in 1964, when this ride originated, or in 1955, when Disneyland opened, that it was some bastion of peace, love, and communal harmony. Disney has always been about money, marketing, and relentless self-promotion. If a conservation or pacifist message squeaked by, well then all the better, as long the money train keeps pulling into the station. I mean, I'm a Disney apologist, for crissakes, but c'mon!
Others are miffed that Disney would inject fantasy worlds into a ride dedicated to cross-cultural understanding. The added figures from a dozen movies include the blue alien Stitch, the mermaid Ariel and characters from the 1992 movie "Aladdin," which angered many Arab-Americans with its portrayal of Middle Eastern culture.
Right... because the original portrayal of the Middle East (circa 1964) was so sensitive and accurate to the culture.
"Disney wants to brand the diversity of the entire world and somehow say that it's Disney derived," said Leo Braudy, a cultural historian at the University of Southern California. "It seems a bit crass to put this brand on something that was meant to be a sort of United Nations for children."
Yes, you're right Mr. I-Have-An-Advanced-Degree-In-Being-A-Jackass, the original intent of the ride was "United Nations for Children." That's why Disney opened his doors to the children of America and allowed them all to ride it for free. Oh wait, it never happened, because he was Walt-freakin'-Disney.
Also, can we slow the eff down for a freakin' minute here? "Disney wants to brand the diversity of the entire world and somehow say that it's Disney derived"???? Seriously? This is on, like, the 9/11 conspiracy theory level of Disney paranoia. No, Disney doesn't want to brand diversity. They want to charge people to see it and sell them stuffed animal versions of it!
The article continues to describe Disney die-hards (calling them "dis-nerds" -- a term I don't think has ever been used anywhere by anyone), some of whom are members of the most annoying groupe of people on the internet: the Nostalgia Defenders (that's my term; you can use it). Though it's a rant for another day, I'll give you a taste. Nostalgia Defenders are those delusional people who think that their childhoods were so precious and special that how dare you critique or remake their beloved movies, commercials, TV shows and whatever else that somehow defines their childhood experience. Most of these things are crassly consumerist, anyway.
("Oh no, how dare they reissue the Care Bears for a new generation! They were so perfect in 1983 and nothing has changed since then! Blah blah fart, my generation is the best!")*
*Dramatism.
Anyway, the "Dis-nerds" fit here. I can understand being disappointed that your favorite ride was torn down, because legitimately, you'll never be able to ride it again, but these people are like "Oh. Em. Gee. Disney used to offer kids' breakfasts in a mouse-shaped plastic container and now it's paper, Double-U Tee Eff? The quality has gone way down." Okay, calm the freak down!
Here's how the article ends:
But some longtime Disney watchers disagree — although they acknowledge they have yet to see the carefully guarded changes themselves.
"Parents ... could take the kids on this ride and it wasn't so much about sales, it was about the images, the graphics, the dolls," said Al Lutz, a veteran Disney watcher who runs miceage.com. "It was a respite from the overwhelming commercial message that Disney can be sometimes."
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
How do you like your eggs?
- beg
- Greg
- keg
- leg
- Meg
- peg
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sorting Hat!
Some Words I Like...
That Overdue Rant
Why stop at just English. I think the law should specify "perfect English". This way it will force everyone in Nashville to learn perfect English.
— madstan, Madison,WI
How can they standardize on English when they don't speak it themselves?
— MW, Dallas, TX
I had occasion to visit Nashville often when my daugther did her residency at Vanderbilt, and my impression is that if that city is the Athens of the South, Athens should ask for a recount.
— Nutty Joe, Massachusetts
I'd like to know how many citizens of Nashville can speak the English language correctly.
— lawrence Coleman, NYC NY 10003
Also, the last poster included his address but I've deleted it because I'm a caring, rational person.
If these posters were to have actually read the comments, they would have seen that a lot of the English-Only proponents were writing from northern states, and most of those against this disgusting proposal were from Nashville itself. Xenophobia is not limited to the South. Neither is racism, sexism, homophobia (ahem...California...ahem), anti-intellectualism (sorry, Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber are from where?), or any other host of negative, pernicious qualities. The only difference, really, between the South and other regions of the country, is that we are aware of our loathsome place in history and the systemic prejudices that still exist.
I'm not saying that everyone in the South is aware of its history, but I've yet to meet a northerner who will admit to his or her region's inherent racism. When I moved to Tennessee from Maryland (my nomadic childhood is fodder for a different post) as a teenager, I literally had people say to me, "Oh, I hate the south, because people there are racist." I'm sorry, are you blind? People are racist everywhere. At least in the south, people are aware of whether they are racist or not.
That's not to excuse racism. Oh no! I hate racism and any other kind of prejudice. It's an intellectual cancer, that unfortunately seems to be hereditary. I can't deny that I have known and befriended racists (and have not run screaming away if a friend came out of the racist closet). I used to think that was a deal-breaker. But I've learned that refusing to tolerate others for their viewpoints can be just as bad as having negative viewpoints. I certainly can't say that I don't have negative qualities that others forgive me for. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Hate the sin, not the sinner, so to speak.
But, this attitude that only those in the South are racist does no less than PERPETUATE racism in those northern enclaves of intellectual superiority. Oh, well if racism can only exist in the south, it cannot exist in the north! So, if one has a complaint of discrimination, they must be mistaken. We've eradicated racism here in the north. By virtue of being born in the north, I cannot be a racist.
Self-awareness of your own subconscious attitudes and prejudices is how you overcome them. As a region, the South is self-aware. We are striving towards perfection, and though we will never reach it, we are striving. The north sits on its rock of certainty and lets injustice paddle by.
Side note: most of the people who in my life have dismissed the south for racism, were themselves racist, and especially classist. I think a lot of people who grow up in blue states think they are liberal, but they really just vote liberal (by the way, don't stop voting liberal!). If you think you're superior to others because...you went to private school, or took a lot of vacations as a kid, or have parents who are professionals, or live in the Northeast or Southern California, or taught in the inner city for one year before quitting to pursue an MFA in creative writing from an elite, east-coast university, then you're not really a liberal. You just vote liberal.
The key word there was "superior to others". Not to knock just anyone...just those that feel superior.
Anyway, now that I've alienated half of my friends and family, I will end this rant.