Superfandom by Zoe Fraade-Blanar

Author:Zoe Fraade-Blanar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Profile

There’s a Whole Lot of Hugging Going On

Disneyland doesn’t seem to mind the social clubs. It’s not unusual to see cast members going out of their way to interact with them (“Why did Anakin Skywalker cross the road?” shouted an official park photographer at a gathering of Sons of Anakin members earlier. “To get to the dark side!” Everyone groaned on cue). Online, cast members sometimes complain of line jumping, intimidation, and raucous behavior, and Disney fan forums have their share of outraged season-pass holders, but even the most indignant often acknowledge that plenty of other park visitors do much worse. For the moment, anyway, the social clubs seem to be safe.

The Mad T Party kicks off every Sunday evening next to the Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride in Disney California Adventure. It is the subject of much interclub discussion each week: “Are you going to T?” “There’ll be girls there!” “I’ll be at T later.” Of course, there are show times on other days of the week as well, but Sunday is the day when the social clubs all congregate.

On stage, a performer dressed in a punk-inflected Alice in Wonderland outfit is belting out a medley of classic hits. It’s a different singer from the woman who portrayed Alice yesterday, but the crowd screams as though they have been following her career for years. Some of them have been camped out, waiting for a spot near the stage, for hours. The performer dances up and down the platform in a careful sequence of punk-style moves. It feels heavily scripted, like a Broadway musical’s depiction of a raunchy rock show.

It’s easy to feel cynical about Mad T—the faux edginess and carefully choreographed musical theater. But cynicism misses the point: it’s not meant to feel real. This is Disney. It’s no more ridiculous to cheer for an actor pretending to be a punk singer than it is for an actor pretending to be a princess, and adults need someone to cheer for too. “Real” would be relatively easy, compared to the task of appealing to such a broad audience night after night.

Over by the second dance floor, a member of Mickey’s Raiders social club is trading buttons with a member of Tron City Guardians. Members from Live by the Code are mixing and clasping hands over by the backbenches. A Mickey’s Raider member is hugging a Mickey’s Empire member. A Son of Anakin is hugging another Son of Anakin. There’s a whole lot of hugging going on. Across the square, “Just What I Needed” segues into “Spiderwebs.”

The White Rabbits have colonized the smoking area over behind the partition at the air hockey tables. They’re perched on the planters and blanketing the curbside, meeting up in tight little groups with their back patches turned outward against the night. There are a lot of them. A lot of them. And it’s dark back here.

“People say, ‘They’re probably in a gang. They’re probably going to be really rude.’ They just see a vest,” says one White Rabbit.

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