Pre- Class- Eco Reading 10/9

The opening of Umberto Eco's "the City of Robots" begins with him talking about about houses/parks or even cities of amusements. There is much tied here with the idea of many artificial architecture means of entertainment and a good example of this is the example of Vegas. The fact that Vegas is a city that was created and placed in the middle of nowhere Nevada with the intent of a large consumer driving force. Eco states that "the consumer finds himself participating in the fantasy because of his own authenticity as a consumer..he is the role of the cowboy or gold prospector who comes in town to be fleeced of all he has accumulated while out in the wilds." I like the tie into the consumer becoming apart of the fantasy. Eco speaks a great deal about the notion of these cities being illusions, interesting enough the reader moves from the notion of these cities as an illusion to an hallucination. Hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception. So once again we find ourselves questioning the real. But it is most important to notice that as consumers we are choosing to be apart of this world and fantasy. A toy world in which we can participate in. An example of this is Thorpe Park in London, a theme park which has a variety of different fantasies the public can partake it once they walk through the gates. One section is much like the cowboy town Eco talks of. The Wild West at Thorpe Park allows the consumer to become a cowboy, ride through the Wild Wild west and fall perfectly into the Utopia. Once the visitors are done you better believe you can pay for a picture for everlasting memories. This reminded me of Fantasyland and the comparisons here are so close.Most interestingly enough is the fixation around capital at Thorpe Park, every section of the parks is endorsed by a product. The picture of the Asian man with noodles in the Wild Wild west is so contradictory it is funny, but of course this is being portrayed to an absent minded public who are used to be driven by advertisements.