Dear Faith in Disney friends,
This week’s newsletter is more of—well— an actual letter, with a few short items—and some questions for you, dear readers.
As I write, it’s a bit gloomy and cold here in Pennsylvania, but there are also cherry blossoms outside my window, so there is hope for spring (I like to pretend I live on Cherry Tree Lane, but I don’t think Mary Poppins will be showing up anytime soon).
I did get to run in short sleeves on Tuesday during a brief warm spell, so that was swell.
In Disney news….
Disney labor news: On the one hand, unionized Walt Disney World service workers have reached a tentative deal for an $18 dollar minimum wage—a 37% increase— by the end of this year. This is big news 45,000 workers—over half of the Florida parks’ workforce. On the other hand, industry folks are expecting a large round of layoffs, mostly on the entertainment and corporate side of the company, in the coming weeks, with an investors’ meeting looming on April 3. It’s good to see things (slowly) improving for the park workers (the cost of living in central Florida rises MUCH more quickly than their wages)… but things are still not looking rosy on the Disney labor front.
Major LGBTQ+ Conference will be held in Disney World next fall: Next September, the Out & Equal Workplace Summit— “the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world”— will be held at the Walt Disney World resort, with a number of major corporate sponsors. This just broke yesterday and is widely being reported as Disney “trolling” Governor DeSantis for his targeting of LGBTQ+ citizens throughout the state—and Disney for its support for this community. A conference that large (5,000+ attendees) has probably had contracts in the works for years, but the timing of the announcement is certainly delightful.
Disney debuts “emotionally intelligent” AI-driven robot: Josh D’amaro, chair of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Resorts, demo-ed a new robot of Judy Hopps— the rabbit star of Zootopia— at the South by Southwest (SXSW) show last week. The robot performs on rollerblades in a way that is “capable of complex humanlike movements and designed to create an emotional connection with guests”—- which in some ways, is just an extension of the original mission of audio-animatronics— but in other ways, particularly in terms of recent discussions of AI—will be something to keep thinking about.
Components from the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” audio-animatronics exhibit at the 1964 World’s Fair, as displayed at the Disney100 exhibit, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, February 2023.
Disney succeeds precisely because of the corporation’s ability to create emotional connections and intimacy—going all the way back to Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks, and others who worked on their earliest cartoons. To do this, the company has always deployed a mix of humans and the technologies they use. “AI”— “artificial intelligence”—- refers to a host of different kinds of machine learning, and a lot it can yield results that are very, very Good for Society. But as a college instructor who is thinking about Chat GPT a lot, I am also deeply sad about some AI-driven tools and what they mean for the attenuation of human connection through writing and art—particularly when so many of us are already so lonely.
I don’t think this new Judy Hopps is going to build Skynet. But even brief social contact with other humans is vital for our well-being. I’d hate to see less of that in the Disney parks. I’ve taught Star Trek TNG’s “Measure of a Man” episode in classes on religion and sci-fi and I know some of my friends will now accuse me of anti-android racism, but in this pre-sentient android world I am finding myself surprisingly grumpy and essentialist about the power of “the human” (whatever that is).
In newsletter news….
I want to know more about you! I’m so grateful to all my recent new subscribers for joining the fun. Please reply to this newsletter—or comment on Substack— and tell me more about who you are and why you are reading (if I know you in “real life” I know that it’s just because I conned you into signing up <g>).
Some things that make me curious….
Where are you from?
How did you learn about “Faith in Disney”?
In terms of Disney content— are there particular films, parks, rides, songs, shows, foods, or other content areas you want to read about?
In terms of religion content— any particular religious traditions, ideas, foods, rituals, or regions of interest?
Would you like to see some more non-Disney content on other popular culture? More personal essays on Life and Its Mysteries? My pop culture obsessions include Broadway musicals (I even teach a course on this), comics, moody singer-songwriters, Bridgerton, Outlander, anything written by N.K. Jemison, Battlestar Galactica, The Hunger Games, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I know, I’m so dated) to name just a few. My areas of academic expertise include religion (obviously)—particularly Judaism and the study of religions in North America, as well as gender studies, children’s literature, and material culture— but like a lot of people with a Ph.D. in religion, I’m trained to teach World Religions and fascinated by, well, everything.
Things are about to get super busy! For me, the next six weeks include a sprint to the end of the semester, Passover, and a lot of events on campus and in the greater Lehigh Valley. I might not manage a real post every week but will at least share a fun picture :-). It’s already a big week for a lot of people in the world—if you are Muslim, Ramadan Mubarak! May it be a meaningful observance. If you are of central Asian ancestry, Nowruz Mobarak! To all in the northern hemisphere, Happy spring! And to all in the southern hemisphere. Happy fall!
Thanks for reading!