Reading Francis

You could do worse.

At some point last year, I was reading a daily devotional that had the message that parents needed to inculcate in their children the stories that tell them who they are, or else Disney will do it for you. And my thought at that moment was, “You could do worse.”

I’ll write another time about how Disney runs the risk of idolatry; given that I have written the same about college football several times in Abandoning Temples, it’s a little surprising to me that I haven’t yet made the point about The Mouse. The two – Disney and Football – are an interesting compare-and-contrast. Another night.

For now, my point is that, in ways more intentional than football’s, Disney actually has a worldview that offers a form of transcendence. (Sure, with a side of consumerism, but hear me out.) And, man, Walt knew how to tell a story.

The term “theme park” is so interchangeable with “amusement park” that, for all but a few diehards, few of us recognize that there is a difference. While any collection of thrill rides, overpriced fair food, and merch stands can qualify as an amusement park (looking at you, Six Flags), a theme park has, in fact, a theme, a central motif around which the constellation of rides, shows, restaurants, environment, and, yes, stores revolves. Disney may or may not have created the concept of a theme park, but it certainly mastered the medium as an art form.

There are points at which Disney overtly reveals the theme of a park. If you ever go to one, the guidemap (assuming they still print some on paper), will have a brief motto on it that hints at the theme. I discovered recently that EPCOT, at least, states its theme in its “The park is closed for the night. Get out.” message, which I wish I had recorded. For now, let me focus on what Disney Imagineers refer to as the “kiss goodnight”, the end-of-night fireworks show, because they elaborately tell us a story about who we are.

My favorite Magic Kingdom fireworks show is called “Happily Ever After.” To be honest, it’s my favorite because it’s narrated by Jeremy Irons, who could read a phonebook captivatingly. The message of that show is peak Disney:

“Each of us has a dream, a heart’s desire. It calls to us. And when we’re brave enough to listen, and bold enough to pursue, that dream will lead us on a journey to discover who we’re meant to be. All we have to do is look inside our hearts and unlock the magic within.”

And at the end of the show (after a lot of Disney songs, fireworks and projections):

“And so, our journey comes to an end. But yours continues on. Grab ahold of your dreams and make them come true. For you are the key to unlocking your own magic. Now go. Let your dreams guide you. Reach out and find your Happily Ever After.”

But my all-time favorite show is called “Luminous,” at EPCOT, and its message is both more complex and maybe more surprising. The subtitle of Luminous is “The Symphony of Us,” and it seeks to tell the story of humanity at an individual level. The narration walks through a life (again, with a ton of pyrotechnics and Disney songs interspersed):

“When we are born, we come into the world to raw noise.  Cradled in tenderness. We tune ourselves to the world around us.

“We begin to understand what our instrument can do.  We find our voice and add it to the ensemble of our ancestors, Our family.  Nuestra Familia.

“We begin to recognize the music in others, Trading notes and improvising; music becomes play.

“Sometimes, we find another, And our melodies blend. And suddenly, with the hum of our heart string, our world becomes a duet.

“Inevitably, in life, the accompaniment drops out.  And we experience great loss.  We find that the melodies we cherish… are gone. And for a moment, we are playing alone.

“But we are never truly alone.  Sing out so others can hear you. The music we make echoes back at us, in chorus, In Concert, In Symphony.

“Together our Voices can Luminate the World, if we only listen closely, for the sounds of each other.”

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OK, so two different (though compatible) visions: Happily Ever After captures the individualist creative’s mindset: go chase your dreams. Luminous grounds the individual in the community and outlines a developmental framework in which we discover who we are only within the context of those around us – our family, our loves, our community.

These are not explicitly Christian messages. That is, if you look to the stories of the Bible to tell us who we are, they will say as much or more about who we are in relation to the Divine Creator and Lover than they do about how we relate to our dreams or communities. 

But they could fit within a Christian worldview. I think it would be fair to say that Disney’s worldview, based on these examples, is deeply humanist. But there is a long tradition of Christian Humanism, and it doesn’t take a lot of work to go from Jeremy Irons and EPCOT to an understanding of each soul as being created to fulfill a purpose within the larger community.

Was the devotional writer correct? Should parents help their children understand who they are through stories? Yes. Will Disney do it otherwise? Probably.

But you could do worse.