Question 8. Political Economy and Cultural Studies

After watching Mouse Trapped 2010 and Mickey Mouse Monopoly I was able to make a few connections with political economy and cultural studies. I found the Mouse Trapped 2010 video took more of a political economy approach when discussing the economic issues of Disney and its cast members. Political economy is the study of how politics and economics relate. This is evident throughout the video as the unhappy cast members complain about the poor wages and economic mistreatment they receive, while they mention that even though the cast members are considered an important part of Disney, it is the Share holders that receive the money. They also mention all the so-called “market research” Disney does to justify the way they pay their workers. Mickey Mouse Monopoly approaches their argument more through cultural studies, by focusing on an individual agency and studies how culture defines a society. The film discusses how Disney has been so engrained in our culture how it has created a “spectacle of innocence” which it hides behind. These two films support the arguments Grosserg made in his article to an extent. He basically argues that political economist criticisms that cultural studies should be more like political economy are foolish because the two are supposed to be different approaches of study. These videos show that it is possible to look at similar subject matter through both approaches and come up with individual conclusions and ideas.