To quote the great (even at times godly) Jay-Z, "I'm not a businessman - I'm a business, man." After close analysis, it seems Jay-Z pretty much sums up Janet Wasko's work "Challenging Disney Myths" about as well as a person can in one sentence. All jokes aside, the main point from the piece is definitely to show how the life of Walt Disney and the company Disney interact together and how the perceptions about each developed over time.
As a kid, Disney was pretty much around me at all times. Whether I was watching Lion King with my sister in the family room or drinking from my Mickey Mouse sippy cup, the influence Disney had on me (and most other children, as my experiences were pretty common) is truly remarkable. Having such nostalgic memories about the Disney corporation is perhaps why it can be difficult to separate the magical characters we all grew to love as kids from the business side of Disney. I thought Wasko did a good job of distinguishing the two sides. However, it shouldn't take an economist to realize that money matters and companies won't produce unless they can make a profit. Like CEO Michael Eisner says in the article, "We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective."
While Wasko was successful at reiterating this point, I do disagree with the stance she takes on the matter, as she seems to be overly critical of the profit-driven motive that the Disney corporation has demonstrated. She derisively states that a video documentary of Walt Disney is in the works and how "of course" there is an online gift shop to buy biographies and other books. It is statements like this I disagree with. The truth is that money makes the world go round and I applaud any company that can carve a successful niche for itself. After all, no one is criticizing Nike for selling shoes or Apple for selling phones.
I think the same general statement can be said about Disney's life in general, another thing in which Wasko is critical. She draws attention to how the image of Walt Disney is different from the actual man. He is mentioned as being from a big city rather than a small town, acting reclusive and demanding rather than fatherly and comforting, and being power-hungry rather than humble. The fact that Walt Disney was able to focus attention towards his "magical" product while painting a positive image of himself is commendable, not erroneous. In fact, it should be argued that this is the goal of many businessmen and that many of the top entrepreneurs around the world have had similar success. In particular there are two points that Wasko states about Disney the man to argue against his serene public image that I find ridiculous. She states that he was quite bossy and thinks this should stain his image. However, this should be thought of as a positive, a sign he was a good boss. She also claims that acting as the face of the company and taking credit for the initial animations (even though he had help) was a bad thing. To this, I say that this will always be the norm. Bill Gates had Steve Wozniak and Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, but only Gates and Jordan are household names. That's just the way things will always be. There has to be a Batman whenever there's a Robbin.
While in these ways I thought Wosko was wrongly critical of Disney, both the company and the man, there were a number of valid points she brought forward in the piece. For one, the argument about much of Disney being geared towards adults was particularly strong. Obviously Disney holdings such as ESPN, ABC, etc. aren't reliant on children, but her point that Disney World isn't either stuck with me. She describes how in order for something to be family-geared (as many of us picture Disney as a whole being) there has to be aspects aimed at different demographics. The example of Winnie the Pooh was useful to express this view. Finally, the research done on the gender roles and also race roles in Disney movies was also fascinating and credible. In these areas, Wasko's reservations towards the wholesomeness of Disney seemed fair.
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