Disney Magic: Consumerism, Technologies, and Influences

Autor: ffan_11 • October 11, 2015 • Thesis • 471 Words (2 Pages) • 1,039 Views

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Vera Feng

AMST 3253W

"Disney Magic: Consumerism, Technologies, and Influences for the Society 1945-2015"

ABSTRACT. The "empire of consumption" is a typical characteristic of the United States and it has been around for an extremely long period of time. The Walt Disney Company not only established a kingdom where your dreams would come true, but also a particular capitalist consumerism that shapes and influences every waking moment of children's daily lives - all toward a lifetime of constant, unthinking consumption. This kind of consumption actually got adopted into people's lives in many different ways. While more and more people spend a large amount of time on new electronic technologies, Disney Magic started to spread out and established a style of its own. I would like to know how Disney changed children's lives, what role does modern technology play and why, and what influences do these mega corporations have on consumers by using a combination of historical analysis, event, news, business records, and business reports. Instead of talking a lot about the overall impact that Disney made on their customers, my research would focus more on the impact that the company made in different time periods and different places, the direct and indirect effect that Disney made on young generations regarding their gender roles and the stereotypes that are embedded in children's lives through media, school supplies, magazines, clothing, and more. Disney's commodification of childhood is not just a method of entertainment, and the values that Disney produces as it attempts to control or commandeer children's desires and build up fiction dreams may lead us to think about how companies like Disney could influence the society or even the next generation significantly. The consumerism of Disney also provide us some important clues about the changing nature of our society and the destructive force behind the scene that is managed by mega corporations. The historical events that associated with the development of the Walt Disney Company not only influences the company's future, but also caused by some of the decisions that Disney made.

PROPOSAL RUBRIC

CATEGORY	DESCRIPTION	POINT VALUE (5% total)
OBJECT	Object is actionable, mama bear sized, relatively little examined Object meets some of these criteria Object does not meet these criteria	1% .5% 0%
THEME	Theme is applicable, specific, unexpected, and important Theme meets some of these criteria Theme meets none of these criteria	1% .5% 0%
QUESTION	Question is mama bear sized, reveals something new, is specific, and operationalizes the theme Question meets some of these criteria Question meets none of these criteria	1% .5% 0%
HYPOTHESIS	Hypothesis has a strong counter-argument, has strong evidence to support the claim, answers the research question, and changes the way we look at the theme Hypothesis meets some of these criteria Hypothesis meets none of these criteria	1% .5% 0%
SO WHAT	‘So what’ is clearly defined and compelling ‘So what’ meets one of these criteria ‘So what’ meets none of these criteria	1% .5% 0%