Everything about Disneyfication totally explained
Disneyfication and
Disneyization (also
McDisneyization) are
neologisms derived from the name of
The Walt Disney Company to describe what some see as the spread of the principles of Disney
theme parks throughout society. Sharon Zukin (1996) uses the former term in her book
The Cultures of Cities, as do other social scientists writing about urban transformation. The latter term was popularized by
Alan Bryman in a 2004 book,
The Disneyization of Society. Disneyfication of urban space is explored in Jeff Ferrell's
Tearing Down the Streets: Adventures in Urban Anarchy.
The terms are generally pejorative, and they imply theming, de-differentiation of consumption, merchandising, and emotional labour. They can be used more broadly to describe the processes of stripping a real place or event of its original character and repackaging it in a sanitized format. References to anything negative are removed, and the facts are watered down with the intent of making the subject more pleasant and easily grasped. In the case of places, this typically means replacing what has grown organically over time with an idealized and tourist-friendly veneer reminiscent of the "
Main Street, U.S.A." attractions at
Disney theme parks.
The
French philosopher Jean Baudrillard (who writes about the nature of
reality and the
hyperreality) has called
Disneyland the most real place in the
U.S., because it isn't pretending to be anything more than it actually is, a
theme park. In his
essay Simulations, he writes:
» "Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation."
He also criticized the hidden corporate nature of the company in his book
America:
» "The whole Walt Disney philosophy eats out of your hand with these pretty little sentimental creatures in grey fur coats. For my own part, I believe that behind these smiling eyes there lurks a cold, ferocious beast fearfully stalking us."
Further Information
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