The idealistic childhood memory every child thinks back to is their first trip to Disney World, “The Happiest Place on Earth, “according to Walt Disney. The ideal place where everything is magical and fairytales do exist. Disney World has become America’s most popular attraction since 1923. Whether it’s through one of Disney’s theme park, 227 radio stations, six motion studio pictures, three cruise lines, or its theatrical production companies, Disney Corporations culture monopoly has gone unnoticed by Americans. Americans are indulged by Disney’s childhood fantasies with the image every princess has a prince, and will live happily ever after in a magic kingdom. Although it all seems innocent Disney’s Corporation has America indulged with its theme parks, merchandise, films, and cruise lines. The industry rapidly establishes consumerism in Americans. For instance, Disney since the age of three drives children to own collections of films and merchandise in order to fulfill satisfaction in the idealistic fairytale living. Americans do not realize these material goods are not necessarily important, instead, it becomes a routine of material objects to have a sense of completeness; these buying habits are perpetual. America is now defined as materialistic rather than over-consumption. People deliberately purchase material goods constantly and frequently without needing it. Shopping has become a lifestyle, there is no appreciation or sense of value to what we own, and instead it is depicted and seen as a “retail therapy.” The consumption of materialistic goods is what makes America feel happy and complete. In today’s culture, consumerism is what defines it. Americans perplex the difference between wants and needs. Retailers constan... ... middle of paper ... ...ed to increase their debt with compulsive shopping behavior demonstrating why there is no value toward the money earned as well as why consumerism is very materialistic. As of today, many Americans will continue to bypass the greediness many industries like Disney promote. In fact, with the national debt, many shoppers will continue to simply lounge around in the shopping centers purchasing their wants. After all, individuals cannot resist the stores latest hottest trends and spatial designs. In other words, our society will continue to be hungry for material satisfaction. Consumerism has replaced society’s sense of desires for life’s necessities with insatiable search for commodities, because consumerism is based on purchasing new goods without the attention to its needs, advertisements will continue to expand resulting in materialism as a major life philosophy.
There are many people who are driven by consumerism, and many people who wish they could get in touch with that type of world. Consumers are often encouraged to advertise more of the products that they are buying to get more people to buy more products. Hari Kunzru, author of “Raj, Bohemian,” creates a narrator who is obsessed with maintaining his individuality and free will in a world that is overcome with consumerism. Believes that the world takes away individuality when consumerism comes into play and how hard it is to maintain their true self. In her LA Times article “Teen Haulers Create a Fashion Force,” Andrea Chang writes about the phenomenon of teenage YouTube users who make videos that publicize their latest shopping binges.
America’s current standard of living is going to cause our demise. Consumerism is a problem throughout Americans culture since mass production began in the late nineteenth century. The obsession with consumerism has led to mindless wastes of resources, a diseased society and economic instability. Rick Wolff, a professor of economics at University of Massachusetts, states “economics of capitalism spread consumerism—now uncontrolled, ecologically harmful, and fiscally disastrous—throughout the United States”. Wolff’s viewpoint on consumerism aligns with mine. Believing that an economy based on promoting endless consumption is volatile and unsustainable. Consumerism can be analyzed and seen to be embedded by corporations and politicians.
The advancing American market and excessive, yet deceptive advertisements, leads to the nation’s consumerism culture that challenges our well-being spiritually and economically. As stated in his essay, Henry David Thoreau underscores the corrosiveness of materialism and the continuous toil to the individual's humanity and spirit...
After World War II, Americans became very concerned with "keeping up with the Joneses." Everyday people were not only interested in fulfilling the American Dream because of the optimistic post-war environment, but also because of the economic emphasis on advertising that found a new outlet daily in highway billboards, radio programs, and that popular new device, the television. With television advertising becoming the new way to show Americans what they did not (and should) have came a wide-eyed and fascinated interest in owning all kinds of things, products, and devices suddenly necessary in every home. One could not only hear about new necessary items, but see them as well. Meanwhile, marketplaces and small shops were being dismantled to create the supermarket, a temple of consumerism where any passerby may walk in and purchase almost anything he or she desires without a thought of their neighbor, who runs the suffering little fruit stand around the corner. The literary rebellion of the 1960's was concerned, in part, with the desire to break down this growing consumer culture.
The Disney corporation is easily the greatest empire of entertainment in the world thanks to the creator Walt Disney and his brother. Disney’s influence has been great within culture and society and I learned how much of an influence Disney has had through our course this semester. This influence is reflected and broadcasted through the many works and readings that we examined in class. The articles gave me new knowledge about Disney that I was previously unaware of.
(1) Michel G. Rukstad, David Collis; The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King; Harvard Business School; 9-701-035; Rev. January 5, 2009
Consumerism is the idea that influences people to purchase items in great amounts. Consumerism makes trying to live the life of a “perfect American” rather difficult. It interferes with society by replacing the normal necessities for life with the desire for things with not much concern for the true value of the desired object. Children are always easily influenced by what they watch on television. Swimme suggests in his work “How Do Kids Get So Caught Up in Consumerism” that although an advertiser’s objective is to make money, the younger generation is being manipulated when seeing these advertisements. Before getting a good understanding of a religion, a child will have seen and absorbed at least 30,000 advertisements. The amount of time teenagers spend in high school is lesser than the amount of advertisement that they have seen (155). The huge amount of advertisements exposed to the younger generation is becomi...
Walt Disney, creator of all things “happily ever after”, renowned for his work in movies and tv, is not only a famous animator and film producer, he is also a pioneer in American history by changing the lives of many through his encouraging work in movies. Walt Disney is important to the study of American history because he created movies and tv shows that taught happiness and heartbreak to children. He taught them that being small cannot hold you back from being mighty and doing the right thing. He revealed different cultures to children, and broadened their views on the world around them. In doing this, he widened global communication and the understanding of varieties of cultures and ethnicities (4).
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
“Despite the undeniable fanciful world of Disney’s shorts, it would be a grave mistake to associate people’s attachment to the Disney brand as nothing more than a desire for escapism.” (Page 113) She indicated that the society needed something that they could not identify with to “escape”. She also claims that Disney changed fairy tales and made it more fit for the American society. Disney portrayed the “American dream” of happily ever after and happy endings. She concluded that Walt Disney changed social myths and dreams in to a transformational literary form, and helped the grey and cloudy America have a little hope.
In the present day we find ourselves questioning what we call reality. Disney land is the perfect example of ideal utopia. Where everything to do with it behold positive connotation. It is microcosm disconnected from the harsh reality of the world, Laing beyond this walls. Within it’s boundaries society is mesmerize
Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. Columbia: University of Missouri, 2001. Print
The Story of Stuff: Consumerism at its Worst America has become a culture that is ‘for consumers, by the corporations’. While this is an immense statement, there is enough evidence to back such a claim. For one, it can be reflected in the fact that every aspect of our life involves commodities in some way: from the bed we sleep on, to the food we eat on our tables, to what we do for entertainment.. Commodities are ever-increasing in significance for the average American. In fact, our whole concept of “modernity” is deeply hinged on materialism: we cannot imagine being ‘modern’ without the widely available commodities and establishments around us today, like toilet paper, convenience stores, and iPhones.
The man, the dreamer, the artist, the creator, producer, the pioneer, and the developer; Walt Disney accomplished building his own empire along with his legacy that continues to grow every day. Every individual has a story about what drives them to be the person they are today and will be tomorrow. Personally, I love his impressive movies and alluring theme parks. Walt Disney has played an integral part of my family’s life. In fact, my daughter became engaged at the end of Main Street, in a fairy-tale moment in front of the enchanted Cinderella’s Castle, in the Magic Kingdom theme park for her birthday over the holidays. Just about everyone has some knowledge of Walt Disney’s incredible endeavors. However, how many people can say that they have knowledge of the man Disney was before creating Mickey Mouse and what follows?
Individuals also learn to adopt materialistic values through social learning from family members, peers, and the materialistic messages that they are frequently bombarded with in television programs advertisements (Kasser et al., 2004). The materialistic lifestyle, According to Kasser (2002), is a process of acquiring material goods beyond the necessities to meet human needs. It is of high importance to the individuals to attain financial success, impressive possessions, an attractive image, and a replicable status. Materialistic people tend to use money as a mean of self-enhancement (Kasser et al, 2004). Similarly, Belk (1985) explains materialism as the importance a consumer places on the acquisition and ownership of possessions (Belk 1985) and the view that there is a ris...