Entry from June 12, 2005
Gothamland
"Gothamland" is "Gotham" + "Disneyland."
Author Tom Wolfe, in an opinion in the June 12, 2005 New York Times about New York City's future, wrote that New York has become "Gothamland," like Disneyland.
"Gothamland" has been used sparingly before, but Wolfe's use could spur an image/idea and catch on.
(GOOGLE GROUPS)
Hunchback Reopening?- RUMOR
... It's not meant to seem like NYC to anything but a camera lens. It's not Gothamland,it was built as a movie set. This is why it's thin on attractions.
rec.arts.disney.parks - Oct 9 2002, 3:25 pm by Jiromi - 36 messages - 19 authors
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/opinion/12intro.html
Pleasure Principles
By TOM WOLFE
(...)
"Of course, a city like New York is obsolete. People will no longer concentrate in great urban centers for the purpose of work. New York will become a Disneyland, a pleasure dome ..."
At that stage of his mutation from unknown Canadian English teacher to communications swami and international celebrity, cryptic, Delphic, baffling, preposterous predictions were McLuhan's trump suit. Intellectuals argued over whether he was a genius or a dingbat. If the case of New York is any proof, however, the man was a pure genius.
Twenty-first century New York is fast becoming what Marshall McLuhan saw as he looked up in that garden out back at Lutèce almost 40 years ago: a one-industry town, strictly in the pleasure dome business, with a single sales pitch, "You're Gonna Love Gothamland."
(...)
None of Gothamland's stocks in trade are tangible. Rather, all offer the sheer excitement, even euphoria, of being ... "where things are happening."
(...)
Which brings us to the fate of the West Side stadium proposal. In the short run, it may look like a foolish expenditure of billions desperately - it's inevitably desperate, government's "need" for money - desperately needed elsewhere. In the McLuhan-length run, however, a few billion might prove to be a bargain, especially if it led straight to holding an event the magnitude of the Olympics in New York. After all, what does our city now live on? Why, something about as solid as a sharp intake of breath: the world's impression that Gothamland and only Gothamland ...is where things are happening.
Author Tom Wolfe, in an opinion in the June 12, 2005 New York Times about New York City's future, wrote that New York has become "Gothamland," like Disneyland.
"Gothamland" has been used sparingly before, but Wolfe's use could spur an image/idea and catch on.
(GOOGLE GROUPS)
Hunchback Reopening?- RUMOR
... It's not meant to seem like NYC to anything but a camera lens. It's not Gothamland,it was built as a movie set. This is why it's thin on attractions.
rec.arts.disney.parks - Oct 9 2002, 3:25 pm by Jiromi - 36 messages - 19 authors
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/opinion/12intro.html
Pleasure Principles
By TOM WOLFE
(...)
"Of course, a city like New York is obsolete. People will no longer concentrate in great urban centers for the purpose of work. New York will become a Disneyland, a pleasure dome ..."
At that stage of his mutation from unknown Canadian English teacher to communications swami and international celebrity, cryptic, Delphic, baffling, preposterous predictions were McLuhan's trump suit. Intellectuals argued over whether he was a genius or a dingbat. If the case of New York is any proof, however, the man was a pure genius.
Twenty-first century New York is fast becoming what Marshall McLuhan saw as he looked up in that garden out back at Lutèce almost 40 years ago: a one-industry town, strictly in the pleasure dome business, with a single sales pitch, "You're Gonna Love Gothamland."
(...)
None of Gothamland's stocks in trade are tangible. Rather, all offer the sheer excitement, even euphoria, of being ... "where things are happening."
(...)
Which brings us to the fate of the West Side stadium proposal. In the short run, it may look like a foolish expenditure of billions desperately - it's inevitably desperate, government's "need" for money - desperately needed elsewhere. In the McLuhan-length run, however, a few billion might prove to be a bargain, especially if it led straight to holding an event the magnitude of the Olympics in New York. After all, what does our city now live on? Why, something about as solid as a sharp intake of breath: the world's impression that Gothamland and only Gothamland ...is where things are happening.
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