Anti Disney links [http://www.geocities.com/~jmgould/disney.html] [http://www.saneasylum.com/articles/124] The World According to Disney by John Sterling Trading in Fantasies {draw:rect} Earth Island Journal.
Summer 94
Vol. 9 Issue 3
p32+ {draw:rect} Few people would equate "Disney theme park" with "environmental threat." Most support Disney's wholesome brand of family entertainment because it offers people a respite from the stress of daily life. But Disney's friendly image has been under fire lately due to the financial woes of its Euro Disney park in France and over its current plans to build "Disney's America," an American history theme park, in rural Virginia. A careful look at Euro Disney and Disney's America reveals that the entertainment company is a surprising environmental enemy that covers open space with pavement, shopping malls, golf courses and hotels; creates traffic problems that increase air pollution; and encourages a psychological detachment from the natural world. Despite its environmental transgressions, Disney has received billions of dollars in bank loans and government subsidies to support its recent theme park projects. Kansas State University architecture professor Gary Coates is one of a growing number of professionals who have identified theme parks as inherent agents of environmental decline. "When we are in Disney World... we are inside someone else's story; we cannot tell what is reality and what is not," said Coates in Jerry Mander's book, In the Absence of the Sacred. Coates argues that theme parks create a preprogrammed fantasy world that excludes nature's randomness and unpredictability. As such, these parks lead visitors to believe that an environment can be susta ...