Response to Team Rodent

Disney is taking over the world. That's it. I am officially convinced. Giroux wasn't as easy to get on board with, but Carl Hiaasen's novel-like and relatable tone in his nonfiction book Team Rodent was difficult to disagree with.

I think his chapter called "Whistle While We Work", the second to last chapter, could have been one his first few chapters. This chapter made me gain whole new level of respect for his strong will in not being corrupted on his trip to Disney World- despite the temptation everywhere. How can you reject a stuffed animal whale? His insistence on paying for everything that he got at Disney, at the correct price, was certainly important for his integrity as a reporter/writer. Sure, he could have just taken the free stuff, not told his company, and claimed he was going to stay unbiased, but who knows if this book would have ever even have been written if that were the case.

Also in this chapter, I was smiling when Nicholas Daniloff walked right past Mickey Mouse. I am still appalled that Disney had the audacity to believe that Mickey Mouse was who Daniloff wanted to be welcomed back into the country by after being seized by the KGB. Okay I am fine with Disney doing its thing and playing up the whole fantasy vibe, but when Disney tries to involve itself in serious matters, I get peeved. It cannot be both. Disney has to know its place and this is just another example of how Disney oversteps its boundaries.

And those poor puppies. How could I go without mentioning the chapter "The Puppy King." This is one of those tricky situations in which the public tries to play the blame game. It happened in this chapter when Hiaasen blames the parents as much as Eisner, and it happened recently in the news when that child was snatched up by an alligator. Even with Harambe getting shot, there was out-roar from the public crucifying the mother of the child who got into the gorilla exhibit. No one can say for certain if Disney was responsible for the euthanizing of a multitude of dalmatians for simply releasing a newer version of a classic Disney movie. Maybe the parents should have done more research on the behavior of the dog. Maybe there should have been a disclaimer at the beginning or end of the movie. Who's to say.

Disney has their own police force and governs itself. How messed up is that? How do we let this be a thing? They are basically their own sovereign nation living within America, like the Vatican is to Italy. Do they even need to follow the rules of the Constitution? This book by Hiaasen has grown contempt for Disney within me. Before I did not hold Disney to any higher standard than other company. I understood that they had to use unfair business practices sometimes, but now I understand why Giroux seemed so volatile. Disney parades around as something that it's not. If it wants to be fake, fantasy world where beaches are always clean and water is always blue, I fully understand that. But Disney tries to incorporate itself into the real world and pretend that the fantasy world is more than a fake place made more children's enjoyment. This belief of Disney's that it is more than just pretend is almost alway the reason for Disney's overstepping boundaries. I wish I could back to times of ignorant bliss when I didn't know about this villainous side of the beloved company, but now that I know I will never be the same and I need everyone else to know what I now know, too.