Disneyland's Simulation Reinforces the Myth of the Real

Thus, everywhere in Disneyland the objective profile of America, down to the morphology of individuals and of the crowd, is drawn. All its values are exalted by the miniature and the comic strip. Embalmed and pacified. Whence the possibility of an ideological analysis of Disneyland (L. Marin did it very well in Utopiques, jeux d'espace [Utopias, play of space]): digest of the American way of life, panegyric of American values, idealized transposition of a contradictory reality. Certainly. But...

 Humans Are Shmoo's to Bacteria

Remember the shmoo? The shmoo w^as invented by Al Capp in the comic strip "Li'l Abner": a wobbly, tenpin-with legs sort of creature with the misfortune (or good fortune) of being almost totally consumable. Broiled shmoo tasted like steak; fried, like chicken. Shmoos gave eggs, butter, and Grade A milk. The shmoo's skin was a versatile fabric, the eyes made perfect buttons, and even the whiskers served as toothpicks. Most important, shmoos reproduced in prodigious numbers and delivered themsel...