Sgt. Pepper, Eco Dorfman and Mattelart

The most fascinating point I thought Eco made was when he talked about the ride at Disneyland where you take a ride down the Mississippi in the historic city of New Orleans. He goes on to explain the things you see on the ride, alligators and other wildlife, and how they're expected to be seen on the ride because that's the stereotypical Mississippi River. He describes how he purposely rode the Mississippi River ride, then rode an actual tour boat down the real Mississippi in New Orleans and how it becomes a disappointment if people don't see that wildlife. Disney offers the utopian, stereotypical reality for which we yearn.

"Disneyland tells us that technology can give us more than nature can." (203).

In a similar fashion, I think a similar mind trick is going on with the Rollins College campus. Someone told me yesterday that the City of Winter Park is putting brick roads in the entire "campus quarter" neighborhood. While Rollins has its brick roads, its cultural Mediterranean architecture and flawless landscaping, I feel that in a sense we live in a hyperreality on this campus. I would assume that most of the buildings on campus are not historical, and that the brick roads weren't here before the college was built. Thinking back, it makes more sense that when I visited Rollins for the first time and fell in love with it corresponds with people's love for Disney World. To live in a place where the temperature rarely drops below 70 and that borders a beautiful lake, Rollins fulfills my stereotypical utopia.

Dorfman and Mattelart focus more on the influence and reactions parents have at a Disney World-type function, and it seems to go right along with how my parents reacted to Rollins. So beautiful and perfect on the outside, there are no problems here! (Boy, were we wrong). Makes me wonder about the truth behind Disneyland's happy-go-lucky characters. That would make for a great E! Hollywood True Story.