Sea World and Utopian Visions
Theme parks such as Sea World disrupt the everyday experience and project the customer towards other places/times otherwise inaccessible. Davis’ book made me think of why counter-hegemonic movements don’t have theme parks. I am not advocating this, but posing it speculatively: what if there were theme parks where we could visit a vision of the future that took “Another world is possible” to the next level? What if the World Social Forums had a permanent, physical space, instead of an underfunded itinerant stage peopled mostly by activists?
I know the first thought is that progressive and advocacy movements almost inevitably lose their revolutionary character when they become institutions. I’m thinking particularly of socialist television in places such as Cuba. Even my most staunchly pro-Cuban friends squirm at its scholastic, repetitive tone and content.
If accessible, public social spaces are traded for suburban theme park experiences, how could “street culture” be regained or strengthened? I’m sure there are plenty of “expos” on sustainability (and hip-hop for that matter), but no popular expression of this scale comes to mind when thinking of theme parks. What would a t-shirt cost in a sweatshop-free world? Will plastic folks one day be exhibited in museums as an expression of a wasteful, unselfconscious consumer society? What is it exactly that we would have to give up if third world debt ceased to exist?
Certainly the corporate world capitalizes on humanitarian concerns, offering certain products that sell themselves as evironmentally safe, not animal-tested, or contribute to aiding some “developing” nation with famine (in an unspecified way). Help someone by consuming THIS! But there are also events like Earth Day (?) that can also be crtically approached and potentially political, though increasingly institutional.
If the destruction of the (underwater) Nature we are so spectacularly shown at Sea World were also put “en-scéne” (staged) critically we could actually see comparative snapshots of the ocean as it becomes depleted of its flora and fauna. This could actually spread some less “lite” education, and serve the public seeking education on marine conservation.
There is an exhibition called Amazonia Brazil that has produced a huge traveling exhibition that recreates a part of the Amazon rainforest. It asks you questions as you move through it, so that you end up in an environment that gives you a visual estimate of how much your everyday commute contributes to the devastation of the Amazon’s resources. Though reminiscent of the worlds fair exhibtion techniques of spatial recreation, I am excited to see what audience attendance and reception will be. (I’ll keep you all posted since it should be coming to NYC soon.)