Is Phantasialand racist?

[SaiyanHajime]

I'm not going to elaborate too much yet for fear of contaminating your opinion. What I will say is that I think there is questionable stereotyping of cultures at a lot of theme parks and that misrepresentation contributes to peoples perceptions, negatively affecting the represented culture. I think that's a fact. This is very similar to the argument made against the Asylum scare maze at Thorpe Park - that portraying the mentally ill as dangerous is contributing to a stereotype and negatively affecting the mentally ill. What I don't know is whether that means attractions operators and designers have a responsibility to stop using those established clichés.

PLEASE don't dismiss other peoples opinions, especially if they are their own personal feelings regarding a subject that doesn't actually affect you personally. Phantasialand is a great park and as fans we inherently want to defend it because its so good, but if someone finds an element personally offensive or questionably problematic, accept that.

Theme parks do not enjoy the same social critique that other entertainments do, so can we please show we can have an intelligent discussion here.

Don't stop at Phantasialand, please highlight other examples. But I've noted Phantasialand in particular for its depiction of Africa, where they mix elements from the entire continent together in one clichéd mass. Imagine doing that with Europe, seems absurd doesn't it? And then we have the staff issue - is it an issue? The park seems to place staff in themed lands where their visual ethnicity is closest fitting. And I noticed that around Chiapas, there are figurines of the Virgin Mary. Details, or offensive misuse of important meaningful symbols?

 

[Pink Cadillac]

I love stuff like this. I was going to write why I think some popular disney attractions are racist, but I can't remember why and I don't have time. I'll come back.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I think that's racist enough.

Djurs Sommerland, for anyone interested.

 

[Smithy]

I think you're greatly over thinking things.

At an absolute worst, it's sub-vert preconditioned thinking

 

[spicy]

The thing is if that gets labelled as racist then where is the line?

The World showcase at Epcot is nothing more than lands of stereotyping? Epcot also does this:

And then we have the staff issue - is it an issue? The park seems to place staff in themed lands where their visual ethnicity is closest fitting

Which personally I think is great and contributes massively to the immersion. Everyone that I have spoken to that works in their own "Land" of where they are from also enjoys working there?

It's not racist in my opinion- that's a very strong term. Is it stereotyping? Yes. But why should that be offensive? A pub and a fish and chip shop in England - Acrobats in China - A moose in Canada etc etc.. Its all just harmless fun which is in fact stereotyping and that's how it should be viewed should never be offensive?

 

[Gavin]

^Edit - I was typing right as you posted that, and was thinking pretty much the same.

Stereotyping and misrepresentation? Almost certainly. Racist? No.

Racism implies a degree of malice, or at the very least an attempt to position someone as culturally "above" someone else, and I don't think theme park environments are implying that at all. Certainly not intentionally at any rate, and I think there needs to be a degree of intention before you can start throwing the term "racism" around.

Every themed environment, whether based on a real place or not, has an element of misrepresentation. They're based around fantasy, or a fantasised version of something real. Yes, there are some questionable examples out there, but I don't think Phantasialand is really one of them.

If you really want to discuss stereotyping, then Disney are way more guilty. Showcasing different elements of Africa within one small area is really no different to Epcot condensing entire countries, including famous landmarks which in reality are nowhere near each other, into an acre or so of space.

Chinese acrobats in China, a lumberjack show in Canada, taiko drumming in Japan or a mariachi band in Mexico can be labelled as "cultural" or "stereotypical" depending on how you want to view it.

I also don't see a problem with using staff of various ethnicities to suit a theme. Again, Disney are more than guilty of it because it suits theme and characterisation. This is purely speculation on my part, but I'd be willing to bet that a lot of the "Chinese" and "Japanese" staff, to give just two examples, were born in the USA. There's probably a smattering of ethnically Korean or Taiwanese in there as well.

One example I've seen for definite was a clearly mixed-race, Asian-American kid playing Hiro from Big Hero 6 in Hollywood Studios, and being completely unable to mutter a single word of Japanese to the giggling Japanese school girls. Did it matter? No. Is it racist to give a Japanese role to an American kid because he's got Asian features? No.

The worst example I've seen was on a "Jungle Cruise" type boat ride in Thailand. It's definitely questionable, and wouldn't happen in Europe or the USA, but I wouldn't label it as racist. Ignorant? Probably...

 

[SimonSays99]

and wouldn't happen in Europe or the USA

Don't say that too loud - now defunct Sommerland Syd in Denmark near the German border had a Chute-The-Chute with a smiliar African-Cannibalistic theming including animatronics of "black wilds" gnawing on the cut off extremities of "white victims". I found it quite awkward but Danish kids seemd to have a big laugh.

Efteling also has also been attacked by liberal groups for their teacup ride "Monsieur Cannibale".

 

[Dar]

^I thought Efteling got more stick for Carneval Festival, with its caricatures of Asian people and its depiction of black people in the jungles of Africa as monkeys?

 

[mouse]

None of these parks seem to claim to be accurately representing the countries/races, so I don't think its too bad.
I think there is a difference between Africa as a continent and 'Africa' as a theme. The latter is common in theme parks and is an instantly recognisable stereotype - but I think the majority of guests recognise that it is hardly an accurate representation and isn't intended to be.
I think this is similar to the Dismaland argument? In that theme parks are all about escapism and don't need to reflect or represent the real world. So for example a Mexican themed area would generally contain cacti and sombreros. This is by no means an accurate representation of Mexico, however it is an instantly recognised theme - albeit the theme is based on a stereotype, but it is by no means a negative stereotype and is hardly claiming to reflect Mexico as a country.
Basically I think there is a difference between the actual countries and the themes that are based on them, and this is generally recognised by most of the GP?

 

[SaiyanHajime]

The thing is if that gets labelled as racist then where is the line?

The World showcase at Epcot is nothing more than lands of stereotyping? Epcot also does this:

And then we have the staff issue - is it an issue? The park seems to place staff in themed lands where their visual ethnicity is closest fitting

Which personally I think is great and contributes massively to the immersion. Everyone that I have spoken to that works in their own "Land" of where they are from also enjoys working there?

It's not racist in my opinion- that's a very strong term. Is it stereotyping? Yes. But why should that be offensive? A pub and a fish and chip shop in England - Acrobats in China - A moose in Canada etc etc.. Its all just harmless fun which is in fact stereotyping and that's how it should be viewed should never be offensive?

The difference here IMO is that those individuals who work at Epcot are actually nationals from the represented countries in the USA on work placements. At Phatasialand, that is not the case.

 

[TilenB]

They could just take the ride operators from Wuze Town give them some ''African clothing'' (pictured above in gavin's post) and let them operate Black Mamba.








Then they would definitely be racist.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

For some reason I cant remember the examples I was thinking about, but they were no were nowhere near as bad as what's already been posted. Using other cultures as a "theme" is always going to offend some people, especially as they are very often misrepresented by stereotyping, inaccuracy and using sacred objects as props. I think "Africa" is a good example to use as so many people lump Africa as one thing. Also, in the "African land" at Animal Kingdom, they used to sell sweets in the shape of animal dung which isn't dehumanizing at all. https://goo.gl/yHJDqk
I also personally don't think intent is needed for something to fall under the racism umbrella as ignorance often causes offense and be very harmful. Whether people meant it or not, the damage is done.