We recently returned from our annual visit to Walt Disney World in Florida. Yes, the universal capital of consumerism and marketing to youth is where my family goes to relax. No flaming necessary - I am well aware of the irony. Some things are just too hard to give up, I guess. For now, anyway.
The more I examine the ideas of Humane Parenting, though, the more I notice things I never noticed before. Take the ride It's a Small World, for example. Nothing could be more innocent, right? You would think so. You enter and take a slow-moving boat ride, and look at adorable singing dolls. First you go through Europe, with all the Dutch girls and their geese, the lilting Leprechauns, the Buckingham guards, the can-can dancers and the gondola drivers. Then come the sari draped women in front of the Taj Mahal, traditional Thai dancers and Chinese kite fliers. Then, Africa. A couple of men wielding spears and wearing loin cloths, a nod to Cleopatra sailing the Nile, and lots and lots of safari animals.
Wait a minute. Africa is the most populous continent on this planet. At least a thousand languages are spoken there, according to the most conservative estimates. Who knows how many distinct cultures and tribes can be found there. The oldest human fossils are found there. Human civilization was born there, for crying out loud. And the most they could come up with was a few smiling elephants, a couple of lions and zebra, and a gaggle of spear-chuckers?
Holy racist, Batman!
Disney isn't as much fun as it used to be.
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