Mickey Mouse - Spawn of Satan

 

  A leading Catholic cleric has launched a fierce attack on Disney, claiming it has corrupted children and encouraged greed. Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth in West Sussex, has accused the corporation of "exploiting spirituality" to sell its products and of turning Disneyland into a modern day pilgrimage site. He argues that it pretends to provide stories with a moral message, but has actually helped to create a more materialistic culture.

  In a guide to helping people find happiness, the abbot, who starred in the hit-BBC series The Monastery, warns that society is in danger of losing its soul because of growing consumerism and the decline of religion. He suggests that many people have become obsessed with work, sex and eating in an attempt to ignore their underlying unhappiness, and criticizes corporations and industries that have benefited from promoting false notions of fulfillment. Fr Jamison, who has been tipped as a contender to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor as the next Archbishop of Westminster, targets the behavior of Disney in particular, which he says is "a classic example" of how consumerism is being sold as an alternative to finding happiness in traditional morality.

  While he acknowledges that Disney stories carry messages showing good triumphing over evil, he argues this is part of a ploy to persuade people that they should buy Disney products in order to be "a good and happy family". He cites films such as Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians that feature moral battles, but get into children's imaginations and make them greedy for the merchandise that goes with them. "The message behind every movie and book, behind every theme park and & T-shirt is that our children's world needs Disney," he says. "So they absolutely must go to see the next Disney movie, which we'll also want to give them on DVD as a birthday present. "They will be happier if they live the full Disney experience; and thousands of families around the world buy into this deeper message as they flock to Disneyland."

  He continues: "This is the new pilgrimage that children desire, a rite of passage into the meaning of life according to Disney. "Where once morality and meaning were available as part of our free cultural inheritance, now corporations sell them to us as products." Fr Jamison, who is one of Britain's most prominent Catholic clerics, claims that brands such as Disney market themselves to be about more than mere materialism to create an addiction to consumption. "This is basically the commercial exploitation of spirituality," he says, adding that as a result Disney and other corporations "inhabit our imagination". "Once planted there they can make us endlessly greedy. And that is exactly what they are doing." Link

   I've mentioned before that there's a theory suggesting Walt Disney was a primary cause of the 60s' and it's attendant drug abuse. It's a well-known fact that Disney used recreational drugs starting in the 40's and his vision regarding animation may have originated from those drug experiences. It's difficult to argue against that when one considers such classics as Fantasia or Sleeping Beauty - the drug-like special effects are all too apparent. So perhaps, Walt Disney did play some part in leading some people astray.

   I take exception to the notion that the Church - any church - is the sole arbiter of morality or ethics. Being a lifelong atheist, I find goodness, kindness and selflessness functions of logic and comfort - natural extensions of a desire to be well-treated - all things being equal. I suspect the good Father is simply trying to garner some attention. He should very careful - pissing off Mickey Mouse & Company can be costly on several levels. That'd be an interesting lawsuit wouldn't it ...

... Disney vs The Catholic Church?
... Mickey Mouse vs The Pope?
   
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Comments

[Uncle Fester]

Don't forget the Pink Elephants sequence from Dumbo. That's an acid trip if I ever saw one.

[Gerry]

Since Walt died, the general Disney mantra is "lets dumb everything down to the lowest-common-denominator IQ".

I was sad when they took over Pixar; every movie they have produced since then has slid downward on the moron scale.

[Oldcatman]

Is there anything in this world that is not subject to somebody's BULL SHIT theory?

[Jim]

I was never so disappointed as when as a small child Fantasia was re-released and all I wanted for my birthday was icecream and to see that movie.

[Steel]

Fantasia is greatest animation ever done.

I don't care about Walt Disney, his methods or his greed.

He authored the best animation known to man and Fantasia will go down in history much like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Buy a copy and a gallon of ice cream.

Pile the kids on your lap and enjoy.