Article
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as Postcolonial Fantasy: Disney, Labor, and the Renegotiation of Border Discourses.
International Journal of Communication
(2021)
Abstract
In the summer of 2019, Disneyland opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, an immersive
experience where visitors imagine themselves as members of a resistance army fighting
against a colonizing power. As Disney’s theme parks have increasingly become conduits of
global flows, the company’s original brand of U.S. exceptionalism has become incompatible
with the company’s strategic needs. In this article, we argue that Disney’s newest themed
land, Galaxy’s Edge, functions as a reworking of Disney’s colonial discourse and borderland
narrative, where postracial borderland fantasies coincide with the conglomerate’s evolution
from a national project to a global enterprise. Within this intergalactic borderland, racialized
bodies play an important role in creating an authentic experience, but in doing so, perform
various forms of labor on behalf of Disney. Through an analysis of the labor that racialized
bodies perform at Galaxy’s Edge, we examine how Disney’s modern-day articulation of the
borderland obscures the realities of the borderlands beyond the park.
Keywords
- Latinx,
- critical political economy,
- Disney,
- labor,
- borderland
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring May 13, 2021
Citation Information
Diana Leon-Boys. "Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as Postcolonial Fantasy: Disney, Labor, and the Renegotiation of Border Discourses." International Journal of Communication Vol. 15 (2021) p. 2378 - 2396 ISSN: 1932–8036/20210005 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/diana-leon-boys/7/