Gibson GuitarTown, Orlando

[Dave W]

Gibson invades the home of Mickey Mouse: http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/004487.html

“The Gibson GuitarTown program will further Orlando as one of the great cultural hubs in the nation and yes, internationally,” said the Honorable Mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer.

Yeah right, when I think of the world's great centers of culture, I immediately think of Orlando.     

[uwe]

Ok, so maybe it isn't this here



but for better or worse Disneyland/Disneyworld is part not only of American culture, but of universal culture. Is it high culture? Most likely not, but that doesn't automatically say that it is not worth preserving and that - like any popular culture - it is not a messenger for its times. Perhaps later generations should decide whether Orlando has cultural value. The Coliseum in Rome was purely an entertainment center serving the lowest human sentiments, it certainly wasn't Roman high culture at the time, more sophisticated Romans were in fact aghast about it, but we view it today as a significant piece of Roman culture. And if anything like Orlando would have existed in ancient Rome, I'm sure it would have proved even more popular than the Coliseum.

Uwe 

[Dave W]

Disney is certainly part of popular culture, all right, whether or not you think it's a good thing. But when did tourist traps become great cultural hubs? There's a huge difference between Disney being part of pop culture and the mayor claiming Orlando is "one of the great cultural hubs in the nation and yes, internationally."