Disney, childhood innocence and infantilism
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2025 1:51 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXjofFqN5TY
I think it might be relevant to us for, although the video is about Disney from the POV of someone who didn't grow up consuming Disney products, it does touch upon pertinent tidbits, such as how economic uncertainty is driving the current rush towards entertainment and, be default, nostalgia as adults seek shelter into what is their beloved pieces of media (chiefly, Disney movies).
There are interesting parallels to be made with the modern isekai genre, whose outsized popularity in Japan is a notable shift from older isekai works that emphasised character development and returning home, as today's isekais, particularly the narou-isekai genre, are heavily escapist and show little to no development from the MC as they're ultimately first and foremost power fantasies indulging in the fantasies of the otakus and hikikomoris who watch them. But this is no mystery, for Japan's economic insecurity due to economic stagnation has led to many Japanese anime, light novel, and manga fans to seek out escapist fantasies that don't challenge their preconceptions.
I think the Covid lockdowns + this economic insecurity is leading to the infantilisation of adults, as life is becoming commodified and sanitised to avoid confronting the harshness of reality, and both isekai and Disney are perfect refuges.
As this infantilisation continues whilst disposable income is still present, the lines between childhood and adulthood will blur to the extent that the concept of adulthood will be put into question.
The Disney renaissance of the 1990s was a product unique to America's 1990s culture of VCRs and blockbuster, where millions of people watched, talked, and bonded over the same select media, something which may never come back due to the internet largely displacing IRL as the "public square" for young people.
But, as both millenials and zoomers are largely in the same online space, and as the trend remains largely the same with gen alpha, we may see even more generational blurring, which will be good for us as the lack of generational rigidity means that the basis on which to keep MAPs away from AAMs will be gone.
I think it might be relevant to us for, although the video is about Disney from the POV of someone who didn't grow up consuming Disney products, it does touch upon pertinent tidbits, such as how economic uncertainty is driving the current rush towards entertainment and, be default, nostalgia as adults seek shelter into what is their beloved pieces of media (chiefly, Disney movies).
There are interesting parallels to be made with the modern isekai genre, whose outsized popularity in Japan is a notable shift from older isekai works that emphasised character development and returning home, as today's isekais, particularly the narou-isekai genre, are heavily escapist and show little to no development from the MC as they're ultimately first and foremost power fantasies indulging in the fantasies of the otakus and hikikomoris who watch them. But this is no mystery, for Japan's economic insecurity due to economic stagnation has led to many Japanese anime, light novel, and manga fans to seek out escapist fantasies that don't challenge their preconceptions.
I think the Covid lockdowns + this economic insecurity is leading to the infantilisation of adults, as life is becoming commodified and sanitised to avoid confronting the harshness of reality, and both isekai and Disney are perfect refuges.
As this infantilisation continues whilst disposable income is still present, the lines between childhood and adulthood will blur to the extent that the concept of adulthood will be put into question.
The Disney renaissance of the 1990s was a product unique to America's 1990s culture of VCRs and blockbuster, where millions of people watched, talked, and bonded over the same select media, something which may never come back due to the internet largely displacing IRL as the "public square" for young people.
But, as both millenials and zoomers are largely in the same online space, and as the trend remains largely the same with gen alpha, we may see even more generational blurring, which will be good for us as the lack of generational rigidity means that the basis on which to keep MAPs away from AAMs will be gone.