tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post1331202340987475834..comments2024-03-28T21:56:51.675-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Mid-century man-childrenagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-16389943374670787162015-10-17T14:20:35.263-04:002015-10-17T14:20:35.263-04:00Virgins and doofus dads with Ariel-as-booth-babe:
...Virgins and doofus dads with Ariel-as-booth-babe:<br /><br />http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37400000/Walt-Disney-World-New-Fatasyland-Princess-Ariel-PrueFever-walt-disney-characters-37465793-3976-3552.jpg<br /><br />http://www.kennythepirate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/walt-disney-world-magic-kingdom-ariel-valentines-day-2014-30.jpg<br /><br />https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4027/4504626842_1960bd3bf7.jpg<br /><br />http://yourfirstvisit.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/me-and-ariel.jpgagnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-41126229186619951842015-10-17T14:12:10.836-04:002015-10-17T14:12:10.836-04:00I haven't been since the early '90s, altho...I haven't been since the early '90s, although my brothers and my nephew went when he was just 2 or 3, about 4 years ago. They were both very clear about how boring, chaotic, and embarrassing it has become -- more like Walmart Disney World.<br /><br />Lardasses on power scooters zipping all around you, like you were in the middle of rush hour traffic. School-age kids being pushed around in SUV-sized strollers. Endless lines, having to pay extra to get to the front, lardasses on power scooters EVEN WHILE WAITING IN LINE. Etc. Thanks, but no thanks.<br /><br />Disney World is going to get much worse now that the Millennials are kicking into high gear on lifestyle striving. Remember that their entire childhood consisted of watching Nicktoons on TV, playing video games, and Disney movies on VHS. No outdoor life, no playing with other kids. Re-living your childhood for Gen X meant starting up an "is it ironic or not?" kickball league. For Millennials, it means Disney-themed consumerism, now with way more disposable income.<br /><br />In that Reddit post on making Disney World your lifestyle striver getaway vacation, only 8 people commented, but 25% of them (2 of 8) said they were having their HONEYMOON AT DISNEY WORLD. As they would say, "Wow. Seriously? I literally just... can't even."<br /><br />It's depressing and shameful to see Disney World catering more to adults than to children. Have to upscale the hotels, make the restaurant menus foodie-oriented, and so on.<br /><br />If you image-search Disney World people, you see far fewer small children than in the '70s or '80s. It's common for parents to be taking their teenagers there -- something that would've mortified my generation when we were that age. Not because we hated Disney or thought it was uncool -- just not cool for us teenagers, but fine for little kids.<br /><br />Another disgusting sign of catering to adults -- look how many photos there are of virgin adult men taking their picture with Ariel from Little Mermaid. It's even more cringe-inducing than those awkward pictures of nerds at a comic-con taking a selfie with some butt-kicking babe from some Sci-Fi channel show they've been masturbating to. These are children's cartoon characters, in a supposedly children's theme park. Gross!agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-39952713958398681242015-10-17T10:48:56.874-04:002015-10-17T10:48:56.874-04:00Those 1970s pictures are very interesting. I like...Those 1970s pictures are very interesting. I like seeing the costume characters from movies now considered obscure. Whereas that Rapunzel face actress looks like a piece of work.<br /><br />I notice a couple differences from modern photos: the park guests themselves are, as far as I can tell, not dressed up themselves as Disney characters. And there are a lot of children... I would guess that many of them have children in company.<br /><br />Some 2015 Disney pictures:<br /><br />a work retreat -- no under-20s in sight: http://imgur.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/ZlnJZmW<br /><br />princess cosplay -- two adults, one actual child, all dressed as Disney princesses: http://imgur.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/B3khJep<br /><br />If you click through the related pictures shown to the right of the pictures linked above, which appear to be selected from the same Disney themed forum, you will see some park photos with all adults, a few with children, a few of exhibitions (which the 1970s photos show also). But many of the photos simply depict purchased merchandise rather than people/ exhibitions, such as commemorative cups and personalized wristbands that savvy guests can apparently use to expedite certain aspects of ride waiting — essentially an upgraded ticket with an identifying magnetic signature that is worn on the wrist. I notice that none of the 1970s photographs depicts merchandise or park tickets. None of the 1970s guests are even wearing Disney tee-shirts, let alone dressed up as characters. In the photos stamped as 1989, the park guests are seen wearing some Disney tee-shirts and light amounts of merchandise.<br /><br />Here is a text posting by a self-identified "Millenial with no children" providing lengthy suggestions regarding strategies for getting the best dining experiences. He recommends spending many hours on your smartphone starting about a month in advance of the trip to attain the optimal reservation time, while suggesting that those who make reservations further in advance have "too much free time" as he discovered by sinking his own free time into this endeavor and finding that they change reservation times often. He also generously offers advice on the correct appetite level and restaurant-dependent rate of food & beverage consumption, like when it would be best to sip versus drink at an average pace — thank GOD somebody demystified these confusing activities:<br />https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/comments/3g1pwr/suggestions_from_a_millennial_with_no_children/Petrochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02217119917847445017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-4368143717731418742015-10-16T19:13:45.550-04:002015-10-16T19:13:45.550-04:00For what its worth, here are some photos of Disney...For what its worth, here are some photos of Disney World from the 1970s:<br /><br />https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/sets/72157625179476460/<br /><br />As to your question, its not so much that adults are going there by themselves as they see it as being a lifestyle contest.<br />Curtisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-90735004297426042452015-10-16T15:07:59.505-04:002015-10-16T15:07:59.505-04:00Through a friend's girlfriend, I was introduce...Through a friend's girlfriend, I was introduced to a subculture of adults who devote loads of time, effort, and income to making regular (annual, give or take) visits to Walt Disney World — occasionally with kids, should an adult sibling brings their children along, but just as often in parties of all grown-ups. There are Walt Disney World online forums, and the devotees are knowledgeable in how to procure the best deals, when to visit each park to ensure an optimal experience, etc., to an academic degree of fine detail. They create "challenges" for themselves such as drinking a beverage in every one of EPCOT Center's world locales and taking photographs as proof of the feat. This means that, over the course of an afternoon and evening, they walked 4-5 miles, visited about a dozen bars, ordered a cocktail at each one, drank it, and took a picture at the same time. It is also a common marriage proposal location for young men going with their girlfriends. All seem to enjoy themselves tremendously and unironically, however, and so any feeling of minor disgust this gives me, makes feel like the Grinch looking in upon Whoville. What is your take on this phenomenon? Do you know whether this is recent, or did grown-ups do this 15-20 years ago?Petrochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02217119917847445017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-29782437070938509642012-01-19T13:02:56.093-05:002012-01-19T13:02:56.093-05:00Not reasonable but "understandable" in t...Not reasonable but "understandable" in the sense of "I can build a simple model to understand it." And definitely not in the sense of "desirable." It's an over-reaction.<br /><br />And again with hysterical sociophobic remarks like "people stay out while criminals increasingly prey on them". You think and talk like a woman.<br /><br />Either you have no memories of those times, and are trying to understand it abstractly, in which case you need to just look at the real world, how it was portrayed then and remembered now. There was no feeling of "Holy shit, can't go to the supermarket or I'll get killed."<br /><br />Or you were there but are a socially avoidant type, the one group that becomes even more avoidant when primed with thoughts of death.<br /><br />It's not just criminals preying on people in public spaces, though. It's also that when more people are out in public, they knock into each other more at random (mass action law). So there will be more little accidents and misunderstandings that escalate into fights, e.g. at a bar.<br /><br />That's just part of being a social species. Do you never visit your family because there's a non-zero chance of getting into long arguments over dinner?agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-18121538545890321522012-01-18T07:31:19.630-05:002012-01-18T07:31:19.630-05:00So if its a natural cycle, and a pretty reasonable...So if its a natural cycle, and a pretty reasonable one, then why are you so disgusted? Why do yo call it 'cocooning', 'autistic', 'inexpressive', 'immature' ? <br /><br />What is it you want? That people stay out while criminals increasingly prey on them?spandrellhttp://bloodyshovel.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-13642108140194724802012-01-17T15:31:59.120-05:002012-01-17T15:31:59.120-05:00I kind of enjoy the paradox(?) that being more OK ...I kind of enjoy the paradox(?) that being more OK with rising violence (which is what analysing the patterns the way agnostic does seems like it leads to) actually seems like it would kind of inhibit the rising-crimes attitude that would be theorised to lead to the cultural trends he enjoys, i.e. feeling that you're in an apocalyptic bad time where you have to band together and be creative and on edge and out and exploring your environment to stay ahead of the curve. <br /><br />If people if rising violence periods thought "These are the good times and the increase in violence isn't that big a deal, because the absolute chances are still pretty low" it probably wouldn't lead to the same trends?<br /><br />More on topic of this thread, I'm probably normalised to the level of manchildishness from the late 90s (adults playing videogames, relatively delayed adulthood) but I seriously kind of hate that some young men of my generation think it's OK to like My Little Pony though... The ponies!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-84032986492931635682012-01-17T14:09:52.376-05:002012-01-17T14:09:52.376-05:00Cocooning is the desire for "greater security...Cocooning is the desire for "greater security than in the recent past," not simply "security." To put it more formally, they achieve a negative first derivative in the crime rate -- not some "low level" on the absolute scale.<br /><br />The cycle goes:<br /><br />- People leave their cocoons, spending more time in public spaces.<br /><br />- Criminals now more opportunities to prey on people where they're vulnerable (i.e. public spaces). Crime rates go up.<br /><br />- The rising crime rate causes people to band together, while they're still out and about. Eventually the violence level gets high enough that people feel there's nothing left to try in the form of mutual aid, so they return to their cocoons.<br /><br />- With far fewer people out in public anymore, criminals have fewer targets. Crime rates go down.<br /><br />- After crime rates have gone down for so long, people sense that it's finally safe to come out of their cocoons, which starts the cycle all over again.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-77544964245570664702012-01-17T06:59:49.788-05:002012-01-17T06:59:49.788-05:00I wasn't hysterical, just making the opposite ...I wasn't hysterical, just making the opposite position simpler. Rhetorical exaggeration is a useful tool in my opinion .<br /><br />So if its not security then what is it that caused cocooning on the 50s and 00s? There sure seems to be a demand for it. <br /><br />Isn't it just cyclical? People get social, proles get uppity, people get scared, stay home, get bored, get social again.<br /><br />The Schopenhauer cycle between suffering and boredom.<br /><br />By the way the 1960s 'trascendental values' pretty much murdered Western culture, so I don't see much to celebrate. I'm sure people were more fun to hang out with though.spandrellhttp://bloodyshovel.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-86919835853380143522012-01-16T14:18:15.162-05:002012-01-16T14:18:15.162-05:00That kind of hysterical exaggeration confuses the ...That kind of hysterical exaggeration confuses the absolute level and the rate of change, which I keep emphasizing through the cumbersome and probably annoyingly repeated term "rising-crime times."<br /><br />There were no black hordes raping and stealing back in the good old days. Mad Max, Ghostbusters, RoboCop, etc., were works of fiction that symbolically heightened our concern with rising violence rates.<br /><br />The actual chance of being raped, killed, or robbed was quite low -- just higher than it had been within the recent past. If you talk to anyone who grew up in the '60s, '70s, or '80s, they never mention anything like "thank god we've left those dark ages of raping and pillaging." If anything they're wistful.<br /><br />And on the other end, you exaggerate how safe we are now, as though we've got the problem licked. You say "the price we pay for security," as though security has cleared some absolute threshold.<br /><br />But we're only safer than we had been earlier. Raping, killing, kidnapping, etc., are still out there. That's why I state it as the price we pay for a falling crime rate.<br /><br />In any case, the man-children phenomenon is only one of the many costs we pay. The main one I've focused on is cocooning, the loss of community, the evaporation of a thriving folk culture, less expressiveness, and the shift from transcendent values to trivial materialist values, existentialism, and the glib empty forms of atheism.<br /><br />That is all far too much of a price to pay just to go from the scarcely dangerous world of the 1980s to the even less dangerous world of today.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-53166117025197959282012-01-16T09:58:38.942-05:002012-01-16T09:58:38.942-05:00So what is it, "lets unleash the black hordes...So what is it, "lets unleash the black hordes to rape and steal" again? <br /><br />I admit I also hate comics and kiddy music, but if its the price to pay for security I guess I can stand it.spandrellhttp://bloodyshovel.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com