What’s all the fuss about Disney? : narcissistic and nostalgic tendencies in popular Disney storyworlds

Abstract

This paper seeks to study the narcissistic and nostalgic desires cultivated in cinematic audiences by modern Disney story franchises. Through its storyworlds, the Disney conglomerate is a key player in the cultural formation and consciousness of global audiences, young and old. The research demonstrates how narcissism and nostalgia are used as a means for personal development and amelioration of the present condition as well as a means of control over the viewers’ self-understanding and knowledge of past and present realities. The paper explores Baudrillard’s concept of controlled narcissism which illustrates how a subject’s self-development is hampered by media conglomerates that disseminate a fixed formula which becomes their means of exercising control over time, space and identity formation. This paper also considers the use of nostalgia by media and entertainment industries. Using the works of Fredric Jameson, Linda Hutcheon and Svetlana Boym, this study investigates the commodification of nostalgia which promotes a recyclable and romanticized view of the past as well as the prospective use of nostalgia which allows the viewer to critically reflect on past and present times. These theories are applied to two contemporary case studies to understand better how narcissistic and nostalgic tendencies are manifested in the complex and transformative journeys of the flawed protagonists in contemporary popular Disney storyworlds.