"showing and knowing"
With three "adventure parks" around the country- Orlando, San Diego, San Antonio- Sea World has carefully crafted its ways of "showing and knowing" nature, and Susan Davis's book Spectacular Nature thoughtfully illuminates and carefully critiques these ways.
As we progress from week to week, I am always shocked by how much of my life speaks to the topics and sites we discuss. Growing up with a year-round pass to Sea World Orlando, I have numerous memories of the park as it (and I) changed over the years. For many of my formative years Sea World was responsible for what was 'shown' to me and 'known' by me, as every Science teacher I had during grade school took us to Sea World at one point or another, and I remember during one of those trips, around the age of 10, I decided I wanted to be a Marine Biologist so that I could swim with Shamu! It was an innocent and youthful fascination, long before my days of comprehending corporate structure and animal exploitation, and reading this book has both deepened and disturbed my understanding.
Loved by parents, teachers, and children, Sea World is a built in learning experience—a no-brainer educational site; thus, I was particularly intrigued by Davis’s treatment of the educational marketing of the park in chapter 4, “Enlightenment Lite: The Theme Park Classroom.” One important point Davis makes is the fact that Sea World is first and formost a money making machine, but it masks its true motives with earnest educational concerns and pursuits. “The theme park education that works its way into the life of the school and the family is so carefully crafted to meet Sea World’s marketing and publicity needs that the union between spectacle and education is a lopsided one.” (118) Rarely (if at all), are decisions based on the interest of the consumer, but rather with a focus on corporate profit. “The education Sea World produces is closely tied to its spectacular entertainments and always harnessed to the goal of expanding profits.” (127) Davis cites the location of "Kodak moments" throughout the theme park, and I recall many pictures of my childhood taken in those spots. I find this to be a brilliant marketing tactic, as these sites situate the visitor in the advertisement that attracted them in the first place, and sends them home with manufactured memories to share with family and friends.
Show me the money!... After perusing the Sea World website, I am not only shocked by the excessive marketing of the Shamu show "BELIEVE" (she has her own website), but also by the gross expense it costs visitors to get into the park. Sea World is now $65 for admission, but what I find most alarming is how much it costs to interact directly with its “spectacular nature” at Discovery Cove, a manufactured beach experience where guests get the opportunity to “swim with dolphis, snorkel with rays, and relax on pristine beaches". If you pay for an “all-inclusive Summer evening package, Twilight Discovery” you are able to “explore Discovery cove with sunset interactions.” Unbelievable… Not only have they commodified Marine life, but also the sunset! Moreover, check out the price tag: “pricing starts at $249 for dolphin admission and $149 for non-dolphin admission.” Apparently, dolphins are worth a hundred dollar mark up. Also, it pays to be a resident of Florida because you can get a yearly pass for the price an out-of-towner pays for one-day admission.
As Davis cites, there are gaps between what is 'shown' that we can't see and what is 'known' that they don't tell us. (12) The mediated educational "adventure" of Sea World is a perfect example of the front/back model Goffman describes. Preported as a "hands on" experience, it is actually anything but, as they are only "showing and knowing" their scripted version of nature.