dmariel, Dorfman and Mattelart

Unlike most other children, I was never a huge fan of Disney. I believe that as a child I didn’t know exactly why I didn’t like it, possibly the long lines, the big crowds of people, or the emptiness I felt when I left. Today, I believe I have come to a better understanding of why I never caught onto the Disney craze. I think that Disney makes children ignorant to the world around them. It is an entire world in itself, built without politics, class conflict, or any truth about reality. Dorfman and Mattelart state, “this autonomous realm of magic, is artfully isolated from the reality of everyday life”.
Just recently in CMC200, we studied Disney in depth. The article we read explained that Walt’s motive was not to recreate history, but to improve it. What is referred to as a ‘Disney Realism’ is the way that all of the negativity in the world is programmed out as unwanted elements to make room for positivity. This type of construction teaches children from young ages the wrong representation of the world, leaving them to be bombarded at some point with truth. Disney has become a utopia, that according to Dorfman and Mattelart, “brainwash children”.
I found the instructions on “How to Expel Someone from the Disneyland Club” to be truthful yet comical. The authors describe themselves to be the exact opposite of Disney: indecent, immoral, political agitators, embittered, subverters of youth and domestic peace, unpatriotic, and cultivators of “Marxism-fiction”. Their goal is to remove innocent brainwashed children from the world of Disney and to provide them with their own literature. Children without Disney can have the opportunity to learn, to grow, and to develop in a world full of love, hate, class inequality, war, etc..This may not be as ideal as Disney, but it may create a better and more sophisticated generation of children. I believe that kids would be entirely different if Disney never existed. Although children’s innocence is probably their number one quality, I believe that it is important to be introduced to the world at a young age.