American Infantilization and the Age of Reason
Exploring the causes of infantilization in consumer culture
How ironic that the Western ideals of the Renaissance and the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions came to fruition in Europe’s conquering of the New World and in the power of American democracy, capitalism and technology, while American popular culture is glaringly infantile. Why is the serious business of honouring and preserving the ideals of the Age of Reason hindered by a relentlessly infantilizing culture in the country that’s supposed to be leading the revolution of modernity?
Daydreams of Superheroes
Here are three examples of American infantilism. First, there’s the monopoly of Walt Disney Company in the entertainment industry. The Disney brand was established decades ago by a series of animated cartoons and movies for families and children. Disney extended its reach by buying Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm. Superhero movies, in particular, have dominated the box office and pushed out more serious story-telling into the streaming television market. But the coverage of the entertainment industry gravitates to Disney and to superheroes, because the earnings of those movies have shattered records and the corporate media thrive on access to the biggest movie stars.
