How Disney's Social Power Has Influenced the Vision of the American Dream - Essay Example

Research Proposal Topic Factors of Walt Disney’s social power that influenced the American Dream Introduction Walt Disney is a famous in the history of America who developed and tried to defend certain ideas throughout his childhood and youth until his death that he termed as the “American Dream”. This is a valid topic of research because Walt Disney’s popularity (Wantasen) would help obtain the data from a large population and also because the foundations of American Dream were built by Walt Disney.

ThemeThe focus of this research is to identify the factors related to the social power of Walt Disney that have influenced the vision of American Dream. This is an interesting theme because this would provide an insight on the power of digital media in bringing about a revolutionary change in the society on all levels. This research caters for the needs of the contemporary era which is primarily a digital age and will become even more so as a result of the continued technological advancement in the future.

Intended AudienceThe intended audience that would be interested in this research or who might benefit from the results of this research includes but is not limited to digital media owners and stakeholders, writers, cinematographers, actors, directors, producers, and the youth of America. Besides, this research would also produce valuable results for the policy-makers and law-making bodies. Literature Review Walt Disney’s contribution to the contemporary media has been widely recognized, acknowledged, and appreciated.

Walt Disney made a lot of contribution to the floursihment of entertainment world. Mickey Mouse, one of the cartoon characters introduced by Walt Disney provided a stereotypical image of the everyday American. Mickey Mouse was visualized as the alter-ego of Walt Disney (Mosley 148). The personality characteristics and traits idealized in the Americans including courage, bravery, persistence, and creativity were manifested in the character of Mickey Mouse. Subsequently, Minnie Mouse was introduced as the on-screen personification of the American Girl.

Major scholars and theorists from the Hebdige to the Frankfurt School have explored Disney’s imperialistic nature, most of them identifying the readers as passive uncritical consumers (Martins 2). Research Question This research would fill the gap in the literature by identifying the factors related to the social power of Walt Disney that have contributed to the contemporary visualization of the American Dream. The research question would thus be; How Disneys social power has influenced the vision of the "American Dream"?

Methodology A detailed literature review will be carried out to identify the possible factors of social power of celebrities. Factors would be listed on a questionnaire. Respondents would be required to rate those factors on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 representing ‘no influence’, 2 meaning ‘little influence’, 3 meaning ‘average influence’, 4 meaning ‘ good influence’ and 5 meaning ‘highest influence. Average of the scores would be calculated for each factor. Statistical analysis of the responses thus obtained would help the author identify the factors that have influenced the American Dream, and share the findings in a report.

Works Cited:Martins, Andre. “Tourism and the American Dream: Disney Culture and the Politics of Orlando.” 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. . Mosley, Leonard. Disney’s World. Scarborough House, 1990. Print. Wantasen, Isnawati L. “Walt Disney as the Icon of the American Popular Culture.” Sam Ratulangi University. N.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. .