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HA! Nice one.
Keas and Gabe, I tend to separate cultures that are far older than ours from the misdeeds that certain rulers perpetrated under their flag.
Japan is a wonderful country, and so are their people. That's what the Japanese pavilion represents.
It could be, I have not spent anytime in Japan.
My "Oh Disney!" is more the particular date, Pearl Harbor Day Disney picked to launch a new Restaurant in the Japan Pavilion. To me, a day of reverence and never forget those who lost their life's. Others, maybe not so much, obviously not Disney. If Disney had a grand opening at any other pavilion on Pearl Harbor Day I would not have the same reaction. Nor would I have the day after.
I do understand your point though. Many young children born after 9/11 that now visit Disney might share the same sentiment of forgetting about the misdeeds of 9/11 etc. Me, not so much.
Holding an entire country/culture/people responsible for the actions of a few is misguided, IMO.
How many Americans support our current wars, for example? 50%? Maybe not even? So would Pakistanis who had friends and family killed in drones attacks be right to blame America as a whole for their pain and loss? No, it's our government who makes those decisions. Some of which the American people whole-heartedly disagree with.
What if they opened up a new Restaurant in the American pavilion on July Fourth? Would people in Great Britain be right to feel offended?
But as you said in an earlier post, WWII is nearly ancient history at this point, and the average American (and then some) would barely have recognized the date if it wasn't pointed out to them. The connection has been lost as many/most of our WWII vets are slipping away. Today, it's more about 9/11 and our current history. Does anyone even know/remember the date of the Viet Nam war starting? And that's more "recent" than WWII. Shame, really.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mo Noyz
That is a poor example. Celebrating an American Holiday, in America at an American Pavilion would be very appropriate. Now, if there was a Disneyland London and Disney had a Grand Opening in Liberty Square on the 4th of July, that would be as tacky as Japan Grand Opening on Pearl Harbor day.Quote:
. I didn't say that, that was your opinion. I have reverence and respect for a very somber day for our country. Like I stated day before or day after would have been appropriate, just not a grand opening in that pavilion on that date.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mo Noyz
The vast majority of the World does not delineate individual Americans, they believed we are one United country and either like America as a whole or hate Americans as a whole.Quote:
How many Americans support our current wars, for example? 50%? Maybe not even? So would Pakistanis who had friends and family killed in drones attacks be right to blame America as a whole for their pain and loss? No, it's our government who makes those decisions. Some of which the American people wholeheartedly disagree with.
Quote:
What if they opened up a new Restaurant in the American pavilion on July Fourth? Would people in Great Britain be right to feel offended?
Or even a better argument for you would be a Celebration or Grand Opening in Liberty Square in Disneyland Tokyo on V-Day, August 15th or the bombing dates of Hiroshima earlier in August. I would expect Disney to be cognisant and respectful in turn.
I am bummed, if what you say is true, that children 10 and younger will not be cognisant of 9/11 because that is only history to them. I am one generation away from Pearl Harbor with my Dad and Uncles serving our country during that time frame. My kids are old enough to remember 9/11. To even think that my niece wouldn't have a connection to our country on that date just breaks my heart.
Indeed it is a shame. And I still have my POW bracelet that my folks got for me when I was small. I was very small but they taught patriotism. It is in a velvet box in my treasure box. My POW GI never came home. My sisters did. She turned hers over to him. It is another war like the current, not everyone agreed with but you have a margin of respect for those who served and those who lost their life.Quote:
Originally Posted by supernova
My overall point was there is a time and a place, just don't think Pearl Harbor Day was it. Thus my "Oh Disney."
And? Do you see anything problematic with such a blanket assessment?Quote:
Originally Posted by HGabe
I sure do.
I guess what I'm trying to get at, albeit unsuccessfully, is that government actions are not a fair measuring stick of the people they supposedly represent.
It's somewhat similar to labeling all Muslims as America-hating terrorists due to the radical actions of a few.
I love Japanese cuisine. And had I been at EPCOT on December 7th and the grill had not been opened with the Pearl Harbor anniversary as the reason, I'd have been both upset and amused.
Jack Spence had a nice post about this yesterday for All Ears:
Katsura Grill Opens in Japan Pavilion (The ?World? According to Jack)
HauntedGabe, I'm not sure why they would pick Dec 7th of all days. I'm hoping it's not just because management didn't even realize it was Pearl Harbor Day. I can't say I'm upset personally, but why do something that's bound to antagonize some folks?
And to those people who would feel antagonized I'd say we dropped nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities killing in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million innocent men, women, and children.
A QUARTER OF A MILLION...
If you can't call things even-steven after such an asymmetrical retaliation...
And Japan has been a vital ally of the U.S. as long, or longer, than most of us have been alive.
Time to move on, folks.
Disney opening the restaurant on Pearl Harbor Day got some folks discussing the signifigance of the date in their lives. Job well done. Why would it be a bad thing? Wouldn't it actually be a sign that time heals all wounds and that both countries are now able to move on and share with each other on a date that has been a perpetual reminder of how different the world was back in 1941? I say good on them. Now let's EAT!