Umberto Eco, Petite Etoile

In Europe people go to houses of amusement, here we have entire cities of amusement. One such is Las Vegas, a “signs” city which does not communicate in order to function, as normal cities do, but functions purely to communicate. It is however still a real city because people really live there and work there. There are other cities however that are absolutely fake cities, an obvious example would be Disneyland, but there are cities that were built to imitate others. Some are authentic preserved cities from the past, but others have been born out of nothing. I believe St. Augustine is a good example of a preserved and renovated city, although there are parts of it that have been built out of nothing. I went on a field trip to a mini city there that was built to reconstruct an old farm, you can shuck corn and churn butter. Then they take you to the “Indian Village” where you can make old-style Indian jewelry, go inside a tepee and sit in a circle and sing Indian songs with an Indian. Wax museums have representations of reality, but make it clear that they are fakes. You can take pictures with Brad Pitt but you know that it's not really him, and you also know that it's not even a real person, he will not begin moving and put his arm around you and smile for the camera. Disney however invites you in and allows you to interact with the city and the people, and further blends reality and fiction. You know your not really in old-time America, but you can really enter the stores and talk to the characters and make purchases just as though you really were living in old-time America. Disney not only creates a fictional world, but it makes us prefer the fictional over the real thing. On our trip to North Carolina over thanksgiving break, we hiked a trail up a mountain to see a waterfall. As we went up the mountain, I remember my mom saying, “Now this isn't Disney World you guys, there's no handrails or workers here so if you fall you fall so be careful.” As we continued on the trail it got colder and colder and the ground started to be covered by ice. It was a long way back down, slipping and sliding and shivering (being from Florida and Brazil, cold isn't really our thing..) and I remember one time my mom almost fell completely she whined “I want my fake Disney World mountains back...” It's just more convenient to have a fake versus the real thing. You always know whats going to happen, so you're always guaranteed to get what you want, to be safe, and to have a representative there to help you or reimburse you if something should displease you. It's like the robot dogs or tamagochis we used to play with. You get the same satisfaction of a dog, it barks, wags its tail, walks, “eats” but comes without any of the responsibilities of a real dog. It doesn't smell, it doesn't make a mess, it doesn't run away. You don't have to bathe it or clean up after it. And you only have to “feed” it or “walk” it whenever you want. If you forget it in a closet or a drawer for a few weeks it will still be there alive and well whenever you decide it's amusing again. It's as if our society is teaching us that we don't have to be responsible for anything, just do whatever makes you happy or whatever entertains you and don't worry about the repercussions because there are none. Pregnant? Have an abortion. Fat? Take these pills or do this surgery. Don't have enough money? Just take out a loan or use a credit card. Do whatever you want whenever you want without thought or care as to what will happen in the future or how it will affect others. I think this is one of the main reasons we have such a problem with being eco-friendly here in America. We don't think about the repercussions. People buy SUV's, leave the water on, leave lights on, and don't bother to waste time recycling because they don't think about what that will do to our future. No wonder the rest of the world thinks were stupid, were messing up the same planet they have to live on. And it's only now with the economic crisis that people started “caring” about the environment and buying hybrid cars, and turning off their lights and water and buying energy efficient things. Plus celebrities have gotten in on it so it's become more of a fad than anything. Shopping organic and bringing your cloth bags with you to the grocery store is the new thing. Green is the new black.