No celebrating in Celebration

                     

         In his article Why Disney Scares Us, Kevin Shortsleeve mentions Celebration, the small town built by the Disney corporation in a supposed attempt to create a utopian society. However, as Shortsleeve points out, much suspicion surrounds Celebration, its creators, and the motives behind its formation. Described as a “microcosm of [the] paranoia” (Shortsleeve, 3) surrounding the entire Disney company, Celebration has a dark side that starkly contrasts its outward appearance as a model community. Shortsleeve reveals in his article that Celebration was actually a ploy by Disney to gain permits that could only be obtained if a residential community existed in the park. This revelation shatters Celebration’s image as a perfect society based on ideals of fairness and community, and after learning this, I became interested to learn more about Celebration.

         As I searched for more of the reality behind Celebration’s mask of utopia, I found an article by Ed Pilkington detailing a side of the village darker than any Disney conspiracy. In a town where it seems nearly everything is fake, from the ice rink made of white plastic to the actors hired to make Celebration seem more inviting, a shocking event reminds us how very real the dark side of mankind can be. In December 2010, after 14 years of peaceful existence, Celebration experienced its first catastrophe – the murder of Matteo Giovanditto. The 58-year-old retired school teacher was allegedly killed by a man who became enraged when he felt that Giovanditto was making sexual advances. While some residents became traumatized and disillusioned as a result of this disaster, others say that Celebration has a pretty good track record if it has only experienced one murder in 14 years of existence.

          Personally, I think this tragedy serves to show that no matter Disney’s intentions in his creation of Celebration, no society can ever be truly perfect or utopian because mankind is flawed and destined to mess it up eventually. So while Disney was wrong in his deceitful creation of the community, he cannot be held solely responsible for the failure of the village to become what it was envisioned by many to be. What do you think? Was Disney’s dishonest creation of Celebration the foundation of the problem? Or was that only the beginning of a society that would have its own self-inflicted evils?

Works Cited:

Pilkington, Ed. "How the Disney dream died in Celebration." Guardian 13 12 2010, n. pag. Web. 6 Sep. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/13/celebration-death-of-a-dream>.