Keep your Arms inside the Rides!

I wrote a whole blog-post about how stupidity was the new 'smart', but decided not to get bogged down in political shenanigans, so I withdrew it, and wrote this instead, as I'm sure that you would rather indulge in a little escapism from the realm of news media with its slant on war and mindless violence...

So - theme parks !
Mindless fun - or - how about one that comments on our disfunctional society ?
Yes ! You can indulge yourself whilst gaining a social conscience if you visit Dismaland! 
On a site in Weston-super-Mare, the infamous Banksy has decided to bring art out of the gallery and onto the street.
Of course, this street is a derelict two - acre site , which allows Banksy to reclaim his own childhood memories of the 'Tropicana', as it then was:
"You can stand ankle deep in stagnant water eating cold chips to the sound of children crying"
With that, he has certainly evoked my own memories of rain - lashed British seaside 'funfairs', which always struggled in their attempts to emulate the likes of Disneyland.
As a child in Scotland, the sky over Portobello always seemed grey and threatening.  There was always Ayr, but that was further west, and a wee bit too posh.

Portobello    pic ©by Lee Kindness

The unreliable British weather has always put paid to the lie of sunkissed paradise, with grumbling youngsters and adults shuffling through dreary amusement arcades, telling themselves that this time they would hook a big prize with the grab - arm machine, which, after all, looked ridiculously easy.
Even if such a thing happened and despite all the odds you won that two foot high Gonk on the shooting stall, how were you getting it home, and more to the point where would it go ?
There was always at least one sensible voice.
All petty concerns were vanquished, however, as you strode through the faceless throng, proud bearer of the trophy Gonk.

But I have strayed already, lost in my own nostalgia, where two - pence coins were a thing, and candy floss was immense.
Where rubber skulls with acrylic hair provided feeble amusement during enforced indoors play due to weather.
In fairness, I can't remember a truly jolly seaside theme park: there always seemed to be some inevitable disappointment.

Many years later, I rode the old rickety wooden rollercoaster of 'Dreamland ' in Margate before it closed down.
My only abiding memory was a sense of sadness - the park was huge, but - empty.
And, yes, it rained .
I loved my ironic yellow rain-mac, emblazoned with the legend, 'I escaped from Dreamland ' (now re-opened!)

Which brings me full circle - to Dismaland!, Britains first bemusement park.
I think it has been undermined by its own reality.
U.K. seaside funfairs tend to be lacklustre and drab anyway.

I was excited by the thought of 'Dismaland!' but now, I'm ambivalent.
I'm actually afraid that I'm missing the point.
I feel that the experience has been laid bare by the media, and frankly, the early hype made the mistake of focussing on 'Banksy'.
In fairness, he himself has emphasised the collaborative nature of the project, but...
Banksy! 
Cue website crashing, massive global interest, media frenzy.
Irony, much?
Even the poor ticketing in the early days was held up as an ironic example of the true british funfair experience.
Consumerism embraced in the form of anti-consumerism...
I can go with that, but the 'fairytale' princess is not exactly topical now, and the revelation by Julie Burchill that 'Punch and Judy' was sexist is not news.
Boatride of migrants ?
Death riding a dodgem car ?
Even the idea of exiting through the gift shop has no irony left.
Don't get me wrong, I'd still go.
Kicking and screaming.
Crying for an ice cream.
Which promptly drops as a seagull attacks.

Gravitas amidst the tomfoolery ?            pic ©Juxtapose

This was supposed to be a carefree look at theme parks.
Sorry about that.




                            Creative Commons as per usual, i.e., this is not a commercial venture