This is an interesting editorial about "wokeness" at Disneyworld. What's disappointing (but VERY predictable) are the roles people fall into by either defending or attacking it... a shame because there's an productive conversation that could be had. /1 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/guest-commentary/os-op-disney-wokeness-ruining-park-experience-20210423-y6i6ofah2bfzfcbauj4rdurjoy-story.html

I have no idea what's in the guy's mind in terms of race, gender roles, etc... and frankly it feels like a waste of time to try and figure it out. Will he learn something or be taught something if he needs to through social media hot takes? No. It's unproductive. /2

But buried in the article (and in fairness the writer doesn't communicate it well) is an interesting question: should current world issues and social topics impact an immersive experience? And more to the point... how? Disneyworld is an immersive experience. That's the point. /3

You could argue why a family theme part would create a "plantation based" hotel in the first place... as opposed to crafting some frankensteined monster of a visually accurate pre-Civil War hotel but with 2021 sensibilities around race. That sounds insane. Who would do that? /4

Immersive products fail when they "break the illusion" -whatever that illusion might be- and there's plenty of evidence that injecting modern concepts into immersive environments ultimately kills them. Even if you like the modern concepts you're introducing. /5

This is true with theme parks, movies... and yes, comics too. I don't know if that was what the guy was getting at, or if he just hates seeing people with tats running the queue for Space Mountain. But either way, we've seen the conclusion to this debate. /6

Both sides scream at each other, the end result becomes this bizarre "makes neither group fully happy" outcome and the property suffers. Disneyworld is wildly popular... I don't fear it going out of business... but when you break immersion you do risk losing value. /7

I'd just like to see the conversation happen without the very exhausting "But racism! But SJWs! But politics! But look at the fat white dude!" takes. How you handle immersion is a very interesting topic... and feels like it needs more airtime. /end