FREE ESSAY ON INSIDE THE MOUSE

INSIDE THE MOUSE

Disney World places social controls on its visitors and workers in many ways. Disney is a
very large corporation and has the power to implement these controls. The major forms of
social control that I found were; consumerism, security, technology, location,
conformity, and standards of behavior. Through these forms of social controls, Disney is
able to control its visitors and workers.
Consumerism at Disney starts before the visitors even get to Disney World. The
consumerism starts with the pictures in the brochures. Selling the visitors on Disney
World even before they get there. Showing pictures of happy families enjoying themselves
at Disney World sells the idea of a safe and nice vacation to the visitors. When the
visitor finally arrives at Disney, they are bombarded with products that have the Disney
logo on them. Selling the visitors official Disney products. The products sold at Disney
symbolize the goodness that Disney possesses. When the visitors purchase these products
of memorabilia, it gives them the identity that they are good also, just like Disney is.
If the visitors' identity is good, they will feel safer at Disney World. This leads into
the next form of social control at Disney World, security.
Visitors to Disney World very rarely hear about accidents or crimes committed there. As
Karen Klugman says in the book, Unless you live in Orlando and watch Channel 6 or know
someone who works at the parks, you have probably never heard of any problems (104). I
personally have never heard of any problems at any of the Disney parks. Having only been
to the park in Orlando and the park in Tokyo, Japan, I felt very safe at both locations.
This could be because Disney is a very safe place or that the news never gets out. I
would imagine that the news never gets out past the cities the parks are located in. By
keeping the parks safe, Disney gives the visitors a very good sense of safety. Disney is
able to control its own environment for the visitors. It is a very powerful and rich
corporation. There is always a Disney staff member around to help with minor accidents.
If a child falls and scraped their knee I am sure, that Goofy or Mickey is right around
the corner to help comfort the child. When Disney staff do this it gives the parents a
greater sense of security for their children and themselves. With information booths and
staff running around everywhere in costumes the visitors feel safe, especially the
visitors with children. When Disney staff do this it gives the parents a greater sense of
security for their children and themselves. With information booths and staff running
around everywhere in costumes the visitors feel safe, especially the visitors with
children. If a child gets separated from their parents, it will not be long before the
child is returned or kept in a safe place until their parents are located. These are some
of the reasons that Disney is a safe and pleasurable place for a family vacation. There
is no perceivable danger to the visitors in a trip to Disney World.
The world of technology also affects the visitors and workers at Disney. Through great
advances in technology, Disney is a safe and almost crime free environment. With the use
of surveillance cameras and new technology for rides and other attractions, Disney is a
fairly safe place. There are surveillance cameras on the rides to ensure that unruly
guests will not exit or disturb the attractions. With this technology making the
environment inside Disney safer, the visitors feel safer. The technology at Disney also
keeps dishonest and delinquent employees out of trouble. I am sure that the employees are
watched as much if not more than the visitors are. If an employee decides to wonder off
and take a break on the clock or skim a little amount of money out of the cash register
someone will notice. This gives not only the employees a sense of a safe environment to
work in; it also gives the visitors the same feeling. If the employees at Disney are
honest and accountable, the visitors will feel safer being there.
As described in Inside the Mouse, when a visitor is on the bus going to Disney they do
not go through downtown to get there. The bus takes the scenic route to Disney. By making
Disney's location away from the city, in a scenic and pleasurable place the visitors
almost get the sense that they are in another world. The location of the Disney parks, in
a pleasurable place, makes the visitors forget about their worries. The visitors feel
safe in this utopia, not having to worry about the daily routine of life or work. The
placement of the parks by Disney had to be strategically planed. The nice sunny and
tropical environments, lying on the beach, staying at a leisurely resort, these all give
the visitors a new identity, a care free identity. By having a worry and carefree
environment for their visitors, Disney invokes a sense of security and safety. This
pleasurable environment with a sense of safety influences the choices of the visitors to
return to Disney, most will return.
The social controls of conformity and standards of behavior go hand in hand. When the
adult visitors enter Disney World, it takes them back into their childhood years,
influencing their identities. The adult visitors ride the rides and eat cotton candy,
just as they did when they visited the park as children. It gives them a carefree and fun
identity. They conform to the standards of behavior of having fun and being happy. The
children that visit the park do not have to conform to these standards because the
standards are already set at the children's level.
Disney is one of the most powerful and rich corporations in the nation and can easily
control the visitors through these social controls and norms set upon the visitors.
Disney gives the visitors a safe and secure environment to take their family on vacation,
influencing them the whole time.
Based on the book, lecture, and discussions I would have to choose public governmental
institutions to regulate future social environments. The use of private corporate
institutions is becoming too wide spread in America today. Corporations control
everything in our world, from transportation to amusement parks to public gathering
places. When corporations control our world there is no sense of national pride, and the
people give up their rights as citizens of a country that is ruled by corporations.
Corporations can make their own rules and regulations and enforce them however they
please. If things are ran by the government, a sense of equalization is achieved. There
are equal rules and regulations for everyone everywhere. The people have rights under
governmental control, rights to keep themselves safe and secure. Under the control of
corporations, the people lose these rights to the corporations. Giving the citizens less
control over what they do and how they do it. The corporations tell them what they can
and can not do, through corporate manuals and guide books. Although most people feel
safer in a corporate controlled environment, they do not realize that they are giving up
these rights. They give up their rights for the sense of safety, but in reality, their
lives and identities are only being manipulated and influenced by the corporations. I
believe that the public governmental institutions where equality id the baseline, is the
best and only choice to regulate future social environments based on the ideas I have
presented.