Disney money better spent on local culture
The Government is bringing the magic of Disney to Hong Kong, but at what cost? It will be paying more than $20 billion, 10 times the amount paid by the Walt Disney Company, for almost equal share of the theme park. That is a lot of money.
Although Disney films do well at the box office and its merchandise is still quite popular, is this a good investment? From a cultural point of view, the creativity at Disney theme parks seems to have stagnated. There is nothing much new in its parks worldwide. Are we buying into a declining cultural trend? Swiss watches, substitute Chinese lyrics in British pop songs, watch American films and then re-create local versions, and dub Japanese comics for local distribution. Copying is so widespread that we even produce pirate software and films.
What is the alternative to copying cultural products? It is to nurture a creative environment and to respect local arts and culture.
Nearly 1,000 years ago, Chinese poet So Tung Por was persecuted by his jealous contemporaries. They used his own writings as the medium to attack him. Our present culture is not so creative or imaginative.
A century ago, Dowager Empress Cixi declined to have any dealings with the outside world.
Although we should respect cultural diversity and the exchange of culture, we should also create a social environment that will nurture great culture.
Having the best performers from overseas for cultural exchanges is one thing, but paying more than $20 billion for a theme park is another.
We must invest in developing the culture of tomorrow. There is no short cut to creating a vibrant culture.
So much more could be done to nurture local talents with the money to be invested in the Disney park.
Media education is a discipline run by youth organisation Breakthrough in which students learn how to use and criticise the media through the teaching of media awareness, media analysis and media creation. This column will present interesting aspects of the subject with examples from daily life
