Disney's malice

Somehow, this week, I've recieved, through one social network or another, three remarks about Disney's racism and control over young people's imagination. Each completely independent from the other.

First was a photography project by Dina Goldstein. She says:

These works place Fairy Tale characters in modern day scenarios. In all of the images the Princess is placed in an environment that articulates her conflict. The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues.
The project was inspired by my observation of three-year-old girls, who were developing an interest in Disney's Fairy tales. As a new mother I have been able to get a close up look at the phenomenon of young girls fascinated with Princesses and their desire to dress up like them. The Disney versions almost always have sad beginning, with an overbearing female villain, and the end is predictably a happy one. The Prince usually saves the day and makes the victimized young beauty into a Princess.
As a young girl, growing up abroad, I was not exposed to Fairy tales. These new discoveries lead to my fascination with the origins of Fairy tales. I explored the original brothers Grimm's stories and found that they have very dark and sometimes gruesome aspects, many of which were changed by Disney. I began to imagine Disney's perfect Princesses juxtaposed with real issues that were affecting women around me, such as illness, addiction and self-image issues.


(left: Goldstein's rendition of Belle from Beauty and the Beast)

See her project here: http://www.lifelounge.com/Fallen-princesses-by-Dina-Goldstein.aspx







Then I received, from Brasscheck, this video:


And finally, today, Funny or Die tweets "Lion King on Sega is either accidentally impossible or it's teaching kids that everything in Africa can kill you instantly"



So what is this ominous voice that is speaking out about Disney's monopolization of children's view of race, women and human relationships? Just coincidence or Eisner up to something I've missed lately?
Whatever it is, it's good to see that the realization about corporate child entertainment is finally being questioned - although not by the masses, but the murmur is definitely there.

The Machine is Changing Us

I beleive Time magazine called it 'the century of the self'. What would come next, after the self that is? Would we, as a civilization, so based on our communication enter the phase of a meta-self, would we go onto a more spiritual plain where we not only 'transcend space and time' but also transcend being? Or maybe just transcend communication.
If this is the Age of the Self, would it be, later, the post-Self? If so, media, social networking, communication would surely have a role in that. Going beyond ourselves would be a true evolution.
The funniest thing is that while watching this video, Faisal had his laptop to his side and his iPhone with ear phones plugged into his ears, we watched the video on my computer, at least the tv was turned off. Has technology, social networking entertainment, and narcissistic showmanship changed the way we interact? Are we really amusing ourselves to death? Are we buried in the apathy of our egocentric lives? Yes, I would say that that, surrounded with screens in an otherwise quiet flat, was case and point!
I enjoy hearing this guy, Mike Wesch, speak. A Digital Ethnographer, he makes me want to partake more in our media landscape and connect to the world, surpassing time and space, as he puts it.

hmmm... what's funnier, i was just amused, almost to tears, by the fact that ITV2 shows Ricki Lake (yes, late 90's style) at 9am!

a ponder

today I am writing more for my dissertation, exploring the concept of nation branding, attaching it to the case of Bahrain, and looking into how the spaces have been re-appropriated to fit the new brand image.
later I shall have dinner.
i haven't taken any new pictures, but today is an obscure day when I can ponder ideas pertaining to my existential conflict. A whimful day that will be over in less than 7 hours.
Its Ramadhan, so I am abstaining from drinking. My dissertation has taken precedence, so I shall not be fasting.
cheers anyway

Gay Pride Paris (June '09)

Just got some lomo's developed. This was probably my favourite one, girl, pink, rainbow, and smiles all good :)

shading and numbering

Walking the streets of London, examining the typography of numbers...

The annual summer pavilion is up at the Serpentine Gallery. This year by a Japanese duo, SANAA. It's lovely, but a shame that the weather has been so grey.
Come back sun, reflect off the mirror amidst the park!