My wife loves Christmas. Each year it seems, our celebrations get bigger, and our traditions grow. And I love every minute of it right along side her, and the joy it brings us to be with family and friends, and the memories we are making with our children. So, it was little surprise that, have really enjoyed coming to the Magic Kingdom in January, we decided that we would kick off the 2013 Holiday Season at Walt Disney World as well.
As such, we found ourselves partaking, once again, and this time truly soaking in (because we knew better what to expect) the Osborne Family's light display at Disney's Hollywood Studios. As readers of this blog know, this experience back in January prompted a blog post as well (indeed, to date, it is the most visited post I've made as part of this blog).
The experience, to borrow a word so often heard at Disney, is magical. The lights, the music, the "snow" (soap foam). It is nearly perfect. I'll not rehash the arguments I made in that earlier post here. Rather I'll simply say that it is very special, and a very nice way to start thinking about Christmas during this holiday season.
This trip has gotten me thinking about Disney in other respects as well on the academic front. And that is to what degree Walt Disney (and the Company that continues to bear his name) were actively involved in not just story telling, but in creating a working, modern, mythology -- both for Americans and one might argue Western Civilization. In some respects, that involves a standardization of stories (akin to what the Brothers Grimm once did). In others, it might be crafting an agenda of sorts (what do the stories, as Disney related them, say about children or parents, men and women, etc). How has globalization (as well as say consumerism changed/altered that vision)? What role should historic accuracy play in telling these stories? For me, thinking about those lights again, I'm also left asking what the role of faith/religion/Christianity is in all that story telling as well.
These are all good questions I think. But for now, still warmed by the memories, I'll look once again at those lights and be thankful for the family that first put them up and the company that keeps on doing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment