For some reason, this reminded me of how much I miss the PBS I grew up with back in the 70s and 80s. Jim Henson's Sesame Street. Fred Rogers' Neighborhood. The Electric Company. And as I grew, Nova (presented by WGBH Boston). Nature. Connections. Cosmos. Some British things - Monty Python. Dr. Who (Tom Baker!). The Hitchhiker's Guide. And later in life, Yan Can Cook (and so can you!). The Joy of Painting. It was a slower, more measured, more contemplative pace.
PBS in the 80s was magic. Even as recently as the 2000's, I raised my kids with Between the Lions (Monkey Popup Theater!) and Square One (the names have been changed, but the problems are real).
But watching Sesame Street today, it's so...frenetic. Jumpy. So Short Attention Span Theater. Where did it all go wrong? When did speed become the ultimate goal? When did it all get fed to The Machine?
I grew up in Southern CA, and had friends who worked at Disneyland. Disney was also a serious racist and a homophobe. Please, let's move beyond putting people on pedestals. Walt Disney was a genius, but he was also a businessman and far from perfect.
You did. When I taught yoga classes I was clear about my wish to stay off of pedestals. That position would inevitably result in a bad fall at some point over 30+ years 🙂
Thank you, the need to return to a protective masculine model is critical. I want to add that 'The Greediest Man in the World' hasn't created the technical achievements; he's hired the brilliant engineers who did so.
Critical because we face greatly increased violence by angry, disaffected young men. I've been rebelling against the patriarchy for over 50 years 🙂 I am looking at the need for protection of the planet, society, and neighborhoods as well as family. Playing knights instead of soldiers. Thanks for the opportunity to explain more clearly
I think I was quite honest—even blunt—about Walt’s failings. This essay was never an argument that Walt Disney was a saint or that his politics were spotless. They weren’t. And I said so.
The point wasn’t Walt as a person.
The point was what his creativity was oriented toward.
One man used his genius—flaws and all—to build worlds that revealed wonder, safety, and possibility to children.
The other uses his genius—talents and all—to conceal ego, extract meaning, and exercise domination.
It’s a directional argument, not a biographical one.
If the reader gets hung up on whether Walt was morally perfect, they’ve missed what the piece is actually doing: contrasting revelation vs. concealment, generative vs. extractive, creation for others vs. creation for the self.
Yes, you were. Honest and blunt, as well as illuminating some of his traits ( inventiveness) of which I was unaware. It is not his character flaws, which prompted my comment, but a visceral dislike of the “ Magic Kingdom” concept. Virtual reality before its time. Fake, plastic, expensive. Take your children for a walk in the woods instead. I didn't always feel that way, took a couple of visits to Disney World, but the feeling hit hard, when it did. Your, work, as usual, is beautifully constructed and argued.
As I point out above, you could write the same article about Jim Henson, or Fred Rogers, or Bob Ross; any of the great PBS stars from the 70s to early 2000s.
We also used to call Disney's world "innocent" or "escapism", but you have described something entirely different. After all, his generation was bloodied in body and soul by a World-wide War. So much for innocence! It was followed by an understanding and appreciation of real humanity, by sweetness and crooners and imagination. Making a better world, kinder, more creative and more equal.
At the same time, the corporate giants saw opportunity to recapture gains of a burgeoning middle class, and began to squeeze the kindness, the creativity, the imagination, the equality out of our systems. The imaginations that fired 60s aspirations and rebellion against corporate myopia and crudeness, the renewal we call the Third Founding, with Civil Rights for all, were gradually stifled by petulant bankers and associated bad boys who never grew up and have perpetuated and amplified more of the same, promoting anxiety, cruelty, mischief, lawlessness toward perpetual world-wide war and profiteering. Some of us are gratefully reminded of the truth, and through a renewed appreciation of our better angels have a blessed opportunity for a Fourth Founding, ranging much farther and wider than 50s strictures preserved. Generations have passed new exams, and the big question is whether we have learned enough to recapture the magic of human imagination and perseverance so well described for Walt Disney. It may be our very last chance.
For some reason, this reminded me of how much I miss the PBS I grew up with back in the 70s and 80s. Jim Henson's Sesame Street. Fred Rogers' Neighborhood. The Electric Company. And as I grew, Nova (presented by WGBH Boston). Nature. Connections. Cosmos. Some British things - Monty Python. Dr. Who (Tom Baker!). The Hitchhiker's Guide. And later in life, Yan Can Cook (and so can you!). The Joy of Painting. It was a slower, more measured, more contemplative pace.
PBS in the 80s was magic. Even as recently as the 2000's, I raised my kids with Between the Lions (Monkey Popup Theater!) and Square One (the names have been changed, but the problems are real).
But watching Sesame Street today, it's so...frenetic. Jumpy. So Short Attention Span Theater. Where did it all go wrong? When did speed become the ultimate goal? When did it all get fed to The Machine?
Yes! I was blessed to have the pleasure of meeting Brian Henson, his son, earlier this year in Los Angeles. A world of wonder lost to time.
Could the magic of Jim Henson or Fred Rogers be made today? Somehow I think not; the algorithm would reject that contemplative kindness.
A brilliant and important essay.
I grew up in Southern CA, and had friends who worked at Disneyland. Disney was also a serious racist and a homophobe. Please, let's move beyond putting people on pedestals. Walt Disney was a genius, but he was also a businessman and far from perfect.
I did address this in the piece.
You did. When I taught yoga classes I was clear about my wish to stay off of pedestals. That position would inevitably result in a bad fall at some point over 30+ years 🙂
Joyce Carol Oats also said this about muskrat.
Thank you, the need to return to a protective masculine model is critical. I want to add that 'The Greediest Man in the World' hasn't created the technical achievements; he's hired the brilliant engineers who did so.
What do you mean by critical? I’d rather not go back to the patriarchy
Critical because we face greatly increased violence by angry, disaffected young men. I've been rebelling against the patriarchy for over 50 years 🙂 I am looking at the need for protection of the planet, society, and neighborhoods as well as family. Playing knights instead of soldiers. Thanks for the opportunity to explain more clearly
The theme is excellent, but Walt Disney? Your spidey sense has left you on this occasion.
I think I was quite honest—even blunt—about Walt’s failings. This essay was never an argument that Walt Disney was a saint or that his politics were spotless. They weren’t. And I said so.
The point wasn’t Walt as a person.
The point was what his creativity was oriented toward.
One man used his genius—flaws and all—to build worlds that revealed wonder, safety, and possibility to children.
The other uses his genius—talents and all—to conceal ego, extract meaning, and exercise domination.
It’s a directional argument, not a biographical one.
If the reader gets hung up on whether Walt was morally perfect, they’ve missed what the piece is actually doing: contrasting revelation vs. concealment, generative vs. extractive, creation for others vs. creation for the self.
The essay isn’t about who Walt was.
It’s about what Walt built toward.
Yes, you were. Honest and blunt, as well as illuminating some of his traits ( inventiveness) of which I was unaware. It is not his character flaws, which prompted my comment, but a visceral dislike of the “ Magic Kingdom” concept. Virtual reality before its time. Fake, plastic, expensive. Take your children for a walk in the woods instead. I didn't always feel that way, took a couple of visits to Disney World, but the feeling hit hard, when it did. Your, work, as usual, is beautifully constructed and argued.
Thanks for replying.
As I point out above, you could write the same article about Jim Henson, or Fred Rogers, or Bob Ross; any of the great PBS stars from the 70s to early 2000s.
We also used to call Disney's world "innocent" or "escapism", but you have described something entirely different. After all, his generation was bloodied in body and soul by a World-wide War. So much for innocence! It was followed by an understanding and appreciation of real humanity, by sweetness and crooners and imagination. Making a better world, kinder, more creative and more equal.
At the same time, the corporate giants saw opportunity to recapture gains of a burgeoning middle class, and began to squeeze the kindness, the creativity, the imagination, the equality out of our systems. The imaginations that fired 60s aspirations and rebellion against corporate myopia and crudeness, the renewal we call the Third Founding, with Civil Rights for all, were gradually stifled by petulant bankers and associated bad boys who never grew up and have perpetuated and amplified more of the same, promoting anxiety, cruelty, mischief, lawlessness toward perpetual world-wide war and profiteering. Some of us are gratefully reminded of the truth, and through a renewed appreciation of our better angels have a blessed opportunity for a Fourth Founding, ranging much farther and wider than 50s strictures preserved. Generations have passed new exams, and the big question is whether we have learned enough to recapture the magic of human imagination and perseverance so well described for Walt Disney. It may be our very last chance.
Thank you for this. It brought tears to my eyes.