Consuming in the "Absolute Fake"

Preparing for my upcoming trip to Disneyland this weekend, I could not help but become completely immersed in the texts of Eco and Dorfman. For as long as I can remember, I have sat back and took Disney for all of the magical and clean-cut qualities the parks and films promote. However, this semester I having the opportunity to take a peek into the oppositional side that I struggle accepting (sometimes even acknowledging). Disney is about imitation, replication; it is about confusing reality with fantasy and blurring the lines of social movements and struggle. It is as Eco claims, the “Absolute Fake,” however that does little in keeping the millions of guests that flood the parks away (200). What is it that makes these parks the most attended the world, these characters the most recognized, and the concept of real so hard to distinguish?

Personally, I feel that it is in a sensual connection that we begin to lose grasp of what is actually going on behind us. You enter an environment such as Pirates of the Caribbean and you feel the goosebumps as the cold air consumes you, you hear the shouts of pirates, and see jail sells, ships, even the pirates themselves, making it a completely in depth experience. Except, that is where we find struggle, because it is an experience, it is a “pleasure [derived from] imitation” and one that controls you “through complete synesthesia” (204). Just as Eco writes, “detachment is impossible” because you are cast as being a part of the greater scene and seeing firsthand the lives and the conflict of these pirates.

Disney reigns supreme when it comes to the science of experience and will make sure to keep you attached - and spending money - in their storybook as long as possible. They will imitate everything they deem appropriate and play with your senses and mind enough, you begin to fall back as Benjamin’s “absent minded” critic. When most people walk into those “golden gates” of Disney, they are not going in with the mindset of analysis and study. They are going in ready to take in all the sensational elements Disney can provide and completely consume themselves in the “absolute fake.”