The Politics of Entertainment- John Dietrich
The bottom line is simple: Theme Parks are a highly creative way of offering a guest a sometimes innovative, sometimes inspiring, and generally fun alternative entertainment experience. Yes, each of their objectives or mission statements are different based on the particular adventure they are offering, but I can guarantee you that at the outset of development and conception, the goal is creativity, exploration, education and simply trying to break new ground in entertainment experience, just as any entertainment medium does; television, film, or the theatre. And as in those industries and any industry, success is key, financial and critical. Key simply for the reasons of survival and the ability for further creative growth and development. Never, in my work, have I run across or heard of a situation where developers in Theme Park attractions have been driven by the sole purpose of making money as the primary objective. Nor have I ever seen the primary mission of a Theme Park driven by demographics or the desire to reach a “particular” social class as implied in Susan B. Davis’s book. I actually found some of her statements incredibly misguided: “Although other Theme Parks in California use dress codes and profiles to discourage the presence of “gang members”, to my knowledge the people who run Sea World do not do only anything active to keep ethnic minorities out of the Park”. I would put that under the heading of racially offensive statements. Also: “In the end, it is hard to show how or whether the general economic standing and class makeup of Sea World’s audience is an artifact of the park industry’s search for an affluent audience, or whether nature is a commodity with special, important meanings for white people.” Why this road is being gone down, is due to lack of true understanding of this industry or the industries history. “It is possible that the version of nature marketed by Sea World appeals positively to white people as part of being appropriately white and middle class.” Once a theme park finds its audience it certainly does look at demographic numbers to determine two things: how to maintain and satisfy its’ current core customer and how to reach out to a wider audience. And that is the basic goal behind any forum of entertainment or cultural experience.
Disneyland was not created for the purpose of mass marketing the Disney film archives or mass merchandising the Disney product. Walt Disney was a lover of locomotive trains and he used to take his young daughter to a park near his home in Glendale, California that had a miniature train ride for children. All of the parents would sit on benches and watch the children go round and round. His thought was, why can there not be a place where children and parents can experience these types of pleasures together, different types of adventure, enjoyment and experiences that drive the imagination? An experience for ALL ages.
To all who come to this happy place – welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideas, dreams and the hard facts that have created America… with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. ”
— Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955
Sea World apparently did have an identity struggle in its’ early development and seemed to shape its’ role and style over many years of trial and error. It didn’t know what it wanted to be, educational, fantastical, historical, and as is the case with a number of the other Theme Park chains, its’ character and objective would evolve and often be redirected with change of ownership. Though Davis at times seems to mock Sea World’s mantra of needing to exhibit a “universal appeal”, this is probably the exact distinction between profit and non-profit. Any attraction, be it museum, historical site or theme park has a desire to broaden its’ audience base, but a non-profit has a greater freedom to say “this is what we are” and probably not everyone will be interested in it. Where in profit, survival is based on having EVERYONE interested in it. And when that happens, the definition of who you are suddenly has to become that much broader. Much of Davis’s study and research does reflect the state of the theme park industry and a commonly held perspective on how to be successful and appealing in this business. Generally it is a “pleasure and entertainment” industry that can be directly tied to the notion of escapism, leisure and a “vacation” role, it is when it goes beyond that, and attempts to delve into education and a higher stream of culture that the industry is able to catch its audience off-guard and begin to redefine the function of the theme park for the twenty-first century.