In Boudrillard's piece, "The Precession of Simulacra," a major theme is hyperreality. He discusses Disney as a "simulacrum," or a copy without an original. He argues that Disney is a hyperreal model of what the United States should be like. It is a synthetic representation of a utopia; a replica of something that doesn't exist in real life. When you first walk into the Magic Kingdom, you are strolling through "Main Street USA," where all the store fronts give visitors a nostalgic sense of what America should be like: a happy community, with pedestrian-friendly walk ways and attractions, shops and restaurants all within walking distance, and an overall controlled, safe-feeling environment. This is considered hyperreal because Disney does a better job in creating the "real" than any other original could do. The same is true with Epcot. It creates a hyperreal synthetic community where several different cultures are reconstructed, only in a hyperreal manner: cleaner, safer, better. It is very interesting that we as consumers are so drawn to these fabricated, hyperreal worlds.
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