When I was young, every year we went to Disneyland. Today I am reminded just how small this world has become. Beyond the veil of harsh realities lies a fantasy. A simple world, United in their differences welcomes you the outsider in. You float through the temperature controlled building boat chattering up against the rail. Reminding you that you are on a ride.
You tour the cultures of far off lands in their traditional dress, blind to the atrocities of reality. You smile as they wave at you welcoming you in. Throughout the ride, the dream world is peppered with mid Century nods to an ideal of your youth long gone. You remember how large everything seemed as a child. Now it is all so small. Small indeed.
Connected but not in the ways that you imagine it would be — connected in discontent. With a jolt of the boat, you are suddenly reminded that you have come to the end of the ride. You were just passing through after all. You didn’t have control of where you went, and what you saw. You emerged thrust into the light and unforgiving heat. You looked around — the place of your youth is long gone.
What remains is in decline. A place that no longer connects with the youth of today. The characters all unfamiliar their stories untold. Replaced by meaningless distractions from what’s really going on behind the veil. Teenagers sit on the bench is the shade, scrolling and withdrawn. For they are quite aware that this fantasy is long gone.