The theming of America : American dreams, media fantasies, and themed environments

This second edition of Theming of America is an analysis of American society in which the author, Mark Gottdiener explores the nature of social change since the 1960s as reflected in the "theming" of America--from Graceland to Dollywood, from Las Vegas to Disneyworld, from the Mall of America to your local mall. Nowhere can modern Americans escape the profusion of recognizable symbols and signs attached to virtually all aspects of our culture, constantly reminding us that we are on familiar and comforting ground."Just come in, friend, and buy; make yourself at home," these symbols seem to say, thus tying our media culture and the seductions of consumerism to the production of ingeniously designed symbolic spaces. Mark Gottdiener's book is the first to explore the origins, nature, and future of themed environments in our information-overloaded world. This second edition has been revised and updated.Gottdiener begins with a brief historical account of the shifting importance of themes in the construction of built space. He then evaluates the economic basis for the increasing reliance on symbols in the marketing of commercial enterprises and analyzes contemporary trends in themed restaurants, malls, airports, theme parks, museums, and war memorials. Final chapters are devoted to examining such critical issues as the disappearance of public space, the relation between themes and mass media industries, and the future of symbolic spaces. "The second edition of The Theming of America explores the nature of social change in America since the 1960s - from Graceland to Dollywood, from Las Vegas to Disneyworld, from the Mall of America to your local mall. Mark Gottdiener's book explores the origins, nature and future of themed environments in our information-overloaded world. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to include material on resistance to themed environments, such as worldwide protests against franchising and Disneyfication. Modern Americans cannot escape the profusion of recognizable symbols and signs attached to virtually all aspects of our culture, tying our media culture and the seductions of consumerism to the production of ingeniously designed spaces."--BOOK JACKET. The Theming of America explores the nature of social and cultural change in America since the 1960s -- from Graceland to Dollywood, from Las Vegas to Disneyworld, from the Mall of America to your local mall. Modern Americans cannot escape the profusion of recognizable symbols and signs attached to virtually all aspects of our culture, tying our media culture and the seductions of consumerism to the production of ingeniously designed spaces. This accessible second edition has been revised and updated. During the summer month of July 2000, a French sheep farmer, Jose Bove, descended to the site of the McDonald's fast-food outlet in his hometown of Millau and, with the help of some friends, demolished the building.