BASIC ISSUES IN INTERCULTURAL STUDIES GROUP PROJECT
DISNEY
COMMODITIES
CULTURE INDUSTRY
edited by Cyan Yuan
The term culture industry was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception", wherein they proposed that popular culture is akin to a factory producing standardized cultural goods — films, radio programmes, magazines, etc. — that are used to manipulate mass society into passivity. Consumption of the easy pleasures of popular culture, made available by the mass communications media, renders people docile and content, no matter how difficult their economic circumstances.The inherent danger of the culture industry is the cultivation of false psychological needs that can only be met and satisfied by the products of capitalism; thus Adorno and Horkheimer especially perceived mass-produced culture as dangerous to the more technically and intellectually difficult high arts. In contrast, true psychological needs are freedom, creativity, and genuine happiness, which refer to an earlier demarcation of human needs, established by Herbert Marcuse.
Adorno choose a kind of expression like cultural industry instead of mass culture, to avoid misunderstanding of mass culture that it serves people and come from people.Actually, the mass culture is imposed upon people by the rulers to control the public.Just like the disneyland, the disney industry is a kind of icon of American ideology.
Using the disney roles images and concepts, there are many kinds of products such as food with a cute packaging,stationary,clothes,articles for daily use like umbrella,towel and cup.But the price is twice or more. Actually Disneyland sales not the product itself but the concept and image about disney.And it becomes a huge cultural industry.
CONSUMERISM
Raymond Williams points out that the word of ‘Consume’ can date back to the 14th century, with the means about profligacy or exhausted.The word ‘consumer’ appeared in the 16th century may have the similar negative meaning.In the middle of the 19th century, however, "customers" has been converted into neutral to reference to the word ‘producer’ of abstract entities.In the 20th century, the abstract field of usage comes into daily life,becoming a kind of everyday language and has dominant meaning.Before ‘Consumer’ appears, ‘customers’ in the literal reference to the demander,and the interaction between the supplier and the demander is built on the actual needs——the needs of customers due to self selection and the supplier meets the needs.But after the rise of consumerism, "customers" replaces the "customers", becoming a kind of abstract form to individual.Its essence is the public, and the public’s needs are created by who meet their needs.While in the Postmodernism, consumerism is regarded as a kind of pleasant activity form.
Disney was born in the 1950 s and '60 s and it’s the "Image Ambassador” of modern American culture,trying to create “The Happiest Place on Earth”.Disneyland offers people a new kind of entertainment experience that people can enter into the film screen flying with Peter Pan and enjoying the afternoon party with Snow White.Disneyland theme as a disney fairy tale world that dreams would come true here and a childlike innocence would be kept forever.“As long as the imagination exist, Disney will never be completed.”Said Walt Disney, the founder of Disneyland.
Nowadays,Disney has developed into an international entertainment kingdom and a multinational, cultural industry in the world,going through a process of “myth".
Every year,disneyland will produce derivatives of the new animated film of the year. Recently, the hot items are products about the film Zootopia. Children and young ladies just can’t resist the temptation of the cute disney dolls.As we saw in the disneyland, more than eighty percents of people in the store are female and most of them bought a lot of products as dolls,T-shirts and some cute accessories.Obviously consumption is an important part in the disneyland and it constitute a part of happiness.
There are even a number of video clips called "Disney Store Haul" on Youtube, as follows:
DISNEY INDUSTRY
We can see that from the video girls are crazy about the disneyland not for the facilities in the theme park but the goods in the store.In my view, the facilities in Disneyland are only suitable for children but boring for grown ups.When I came back home,I only remind of the cute dolls in the disney store.It seems that people prefer consumption in disney store more than play the recreational facilities.