Peter Pan Parenting: Disney and the Magical Imperative

Document Type

Presentation

Presentation Date

4-12-2016

Abstract or Description

In this paper we examine how Disney discourses produce a particular kind of childhood that is grounded in “magical capitalism” (Wickstrom, 2006) and constructs a parental imperative to provide children with pleasurable “storybook” experiences that are free from the conflicts and tensions of adult life. As Giroux and Pollack (2010) have observed, the ubiquitous Walt Disney Company has become synonymous with childhood innocence and thus embedded in the western notion of what it means to be a child. Childhood “happiness” is conflated with prefabricated experiences that are extraordinary; astonishing for their unlikeliness in the “real” world. As Wickstrom (2006) notes, “Disney has made ‘magic,’ or enchantment, into a shining feature of capitalism” (p. 69). Disney—through its various products, movies, and theme park experiences—sells the promise of a magical escape by offering us “an opportunity to enter into a more vibrant and imaginary world” (Giroux & Pollock, 2010, p. 7). At Walt Disney World, touted as “the most magical place on earth,” magic is experienced passively because the landscapes of escape and fantasy have already been “imagineered;” the characters and their stories, as well as the very structure of the park experience, have already been thought out for visitors (Hubbard, 2014). As Villmoare and Stillman (2002) observe, the pleasures are experienced precisely because a visitor “does not have to think seriously about what to do next or what kind of environment to do it in. One can do whatever one wishes to do, and the setting is known to be safe, clean, and amusing” (p. 92). Similarly, parents, particularly the white middle-class demographic targeted by Disney’s marketing ploys, feel pressured to produce vibrant, engaging environments and extravagant experiences to provide them with a magical childhood. As one blogger recently asked, “Since when does being a good mom mean you spend your days creating elaborate crafts for your children, making sure their rooms are decked-out Pottery Barn Ikea masterpieces worthy of children's magazines, and dressing them to the nines in trendy coordinated outfits?” (Laditan, 2014, para 2). These discourses around the enchantment of childhood construct what we call a “magical imperative,” which produces a particular kind of relationship between parents and children premised on parents’ ability to “imagineer” their children’s lives as series of grand productions. Taking as our objects parenting blogs, Disney theme park marketing, and Disney store architecture, we examine the ways that this magical imperative operates to produce the “Peter Pan Parent,” who, like the eponymous character Disney brought to Technicolor in 1953, is perpetually youthful and can transport his or her children to a magical world far away from the fears and complications of everyday life. We ask what the magical imperative as a feature of capitalism “does” pedagogically, illustrating how the notion of childhood as an escape from reality allows us to disavow historical trauma, ignore the tensions of the difficult present, and disregard the grim uncertainties of the future by offering stories of simplicity, racial harmony, and global peace that silence alternative narratives.

Sponsorship/Conference/Institution

American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting (AERA)

Location

Washington, D.C

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