Fear and Loathing at the Magic Kingdom
Las Vegas and Disney World are quite similar except one’s for kids and the other’s for adults. Yet, Disney World seems much more pernicious than Las Vegas could ever claim to be.
I have schizoaffective disorder which means I’m basically constantly tripping. The Magic Kingdom is a bad place to go on a trip especially if you have a head full of Marxist theory. All the manufactured happiness, the blaring repetitive clown music, the large crowds of people all there to open their checkbooks so that their kids can enjoy themselves and get indoctrinated into American consumer culture.
Add to that the cashier who commented on my accent like I was a foreigner and I was about to blow a gasket.
Apparently, Walt Disney’s utopia is something of a capitalist nightmare. Gates everywhere regulating entrance and exit from the multiple park, tiered domiciles from the uber wealthy to the unwashed, constant tracking, hell, there’s even a microchip in the drink cups (good for refills until 11/28/2021)., and don’t get me started on the lightning lane for the bourgeoisie.
It’s a marker of efficiency but it only works if people are willing to spend a couple of paychecks on the “experience.”
Mr. Disney’s fantasy is the indoctrination into American consumer culture (for kids) and the cost of it (for adults). Disney’s Magic is printing money. Las Vegas too, but there’s something sad about Las Vegas in that everyone there knows you can’t escape it even when you leave. Disney is just happy enough to teach that this is good magic, not the dark arts.