Umberto Eco

For class tomorrow we were asked to read “The City of Robots”, by Umberto Eco. Eco discusses how all over the US there are many different places that imitate another city, and the best example he uses is Disneyland or Disneyworld. He refers to these cities as “absolutely fake cities”. Epcot is a prime example, but it’s more like a fake country- it consists of many countries and each country has their own area with restaurants and shops that “mimic” that country. It tends to be very stereotypical-for example in Mexico, the people working there wear sombreros. This relates to Baudrillard’s quote when he says, “Disneyland exists in order to hide the fact that it is the ‘real’ country…Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe the rest is real”. Epcot wants tourists to go and get the feeling that the countries are real because the food is supposed to be from that country, and overall the vibe that’s given off is supposed to make it seem like your in that country. The problem is we know these countries aren’t real because we don’t see the “real” obstacles happening, like war, violence, etc. that do happen there. In reality, Disneyland is actually there to make us believe that the world outside of Disney is real…but Baudrillard’s argument and what Eco is also saying is…is it actually real?

Eco also brings up a good point when he says, “…Disneyland, blends the reality of trade with the play of fiction”. When walking down Main Street in Disneyland/Disneyworld you get the feeling that you’re actually in a town. All the houses are full-sized and look like actual houses that you can live in. Depending on what part of the park you are in, all the shops are made to look like whatever the theme is. Going back to Epcot, all the stores and restaurants are made to look like whatever country you’re in, and this really does have an affect on people buying the products. Because people feel like they’re really in these time periods/countries, when they go into stores they want to buy the products because they feel like they are ‘playing along with the game’. Eco says, “a disguised supermarket”, which means that it really is a store where you can buy souvenirs and food but they design it in a way that is more inviting and more fun, and in a way that allows you to feel as if you are living the “fantasy”.

This made me think of how you can eat dinner in the castle at Disneyworld but it’s really difficult to be able to because it’s so exclusive and popular. The food probably isn’t even that good, it’s probably just a normal restaurant, but people want to eat there so bad because it’s all part of this game-that you are eating where Cinderella lives and it makes people want to go there more.

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