Subject: Re: Disney...museums & the 21st C


>According to Robert A. Baron:
>
>> rather difficult to understand how anyone could think that these
marvelous
>> institutions have museum-like functions. The missions of museums and
theme
>> parks are quite distinct, even when they seem to use the same materials
and
>> subjects. In short, museums (with varying degrees of success) profess to
>> some kind of scientific purpose, that is, to present the world of
>> observations and creations as they are, and to represent what they mean
for
>> better or worse.


The line can be blurry though.  A designer friend of mine was doing some
work for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation some years ago, and walking up
Duke of Gloucester Street. A frustrated woman stopped her and asked if she
was from Williamsburg.  My friend said no, but maybe she could help. The
woman said she was at wit's end, because she kept walking around and and
around and couldn't find the German part.  She was referring, of course, to
the Bavarian Village at nearby  Busch Gardens. True story.