Maybe this isn't the right place for this, but I feel the need to go rant for a little and this is my platform. If this kind of thing isn't your speed go ahead and scroll down to the Genie or whoever. No hard feelings. But when you feel the need to shout, well, you tend to choose the place you can shout the loudest and this is the best I've got. Sorry folks. This is gonna get a little involved...
There is a rumor out there that Walt Disney was an anti-semite. It's been passed around enough at this point that I'm pretty sure it's accepted as fact now.
It's not true.
I'm not sure how this happened. I've often ascribed this to a case of mistaken identity--the person I think the public is thinking about is Henry Ford. Ford was a contemporary of Disney's and Ford was a RABID anti-semite and nazi supporter. Just an awful human being. So maybe people get them confused?
But the current media seems to go beyond that. Family Guy, in particular has made it a leitmotif (to whip out a big word) that Disney (and by association, the entire corporation) hated Jews, supported Nazi Germany, et al. and I find it hard to believe that the creators of that show are really thinking of Henry Ford. Rather, they must be misinformed some other way, or they're just doing it because they think it's funny to smear people. Tough to say really.
So here's the reality. Evidence that Disney was an anti-semite is slim to none. At the same time Ford was decrying Roosevelt for attacking our Nazi superiors, Disney shut down his whole studio to make animated educational films for the US Armed Forces. Training people to fight Nazis is not the M.O. of a swastica-saluting-semite-hater.
He never said anything anti-semitic that we can find. He was a member of a club that did have some anti-semitic members, but it's unclear if he agreed with them or even knew them. At the time, it was rather gauche to hate Jews. Frankly it's hard to find anyone on Earth who didn't associate with anti-semites in one way or another (even the Japanese joined in, which is pretty funny since it's fairly clear they didn't even know what a Jew was). Many people point to Disney's idea of an "ideal commune" (what eventually led to the creation of EPCOT and later, Independence, FL). But this was more 70s idealism (thus the association with the pristine-in-hindsight 1950s) than facist elitism.
So, no, Disney was almost certainly not anti-semitic. But....
OK, so I was in Disney World last week for a vacation with Mrs. Yakov. A good time was had by all. Really. I genuinely like the place. And if you can go to the Magic Kingdom and not get goosebumps then you're not just a downer, you're a corpse.
Still, I couldn't help but notice how GOYISHE it was. Actually, that's not even accurate. How CHRISTIAN it was. Ever theme park has a Mickey's Christmas store. You can get any character dressed as Santa. As a Christmas tree ornament. Singing a jaunty Christmas tune. Can we got one MF-ing Mickey with a yarmulke?! That would be a negatory.
Here's my thing--I happen to see religion as a personal thing. Your relationship with G-d is between you and G-d, and I'd like to think that the Almighty isn't really into all the PDA. I don't care what you celebrate, just don't celebrate it on my yard. Christmas lights that you can see from the highway, bumper stickers that tell me how much Jesus loves me, any of that stuff I find to be in poor taste. Goyim, don't feel like I'm picking on you. I hate the giant menorahs and chanukah bushes just as much.
So, yeah, if I had my way, Disney World wouldn't have any of that stuff. But they do. If you're Hindu, Islamic, or Jewish you are out of luck my friend. No Mickey with a chai. No Israel in the World Showcase.
One of the things that Disney World does so well is it transports you to another place. You never think of yourself in Florida. You're in a magical land with castles and characters and honest-to-goodness magic. And for some reason, it is also a magical land with no Jews.
And that bothers me. A lot.
