The George We Forgot (Cont.)
Mount Vernon raises a larger issue about historic sites. Are bells and whistles the wave of the future? Brown’s response to that term, which she’s often heard, is, “It’s not bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles. It’s technology that helps tell a story. Our theater that has snow—those technologies immerse you in the battles of the Revolution, with a story that’s fairly complex and detailed. The feedback from visitors suggests this is something that will be the wave of the future. I hope that wave is being propelled by substantive story lines.”
When the estate originally announced its plans, some critics feared that “Washington [was] being transformed into a ‘G.I. George’ and Mount Vernon into ‘MTV Vernon,’” according to a 2002 article in the New York Times. But in the opinion of Senior Curator Carol Cadou, “What we’re seeing across the museum industry is a real change in visitor expectation. While you and I may not need anything more than a historic home to draw us to a site, studies are showing the average American expects and wants more and that children in particular need more technology to engage them in this very technological world.” Rees has been misquoted as saying the target audience of the new facilities is an eighth-grade boy. His point was that their toughest audience is an eighth-grade boy, and if they can get his interest, they’ll do well with most other visitors.
According to historian Ellis, “Some scholars don’t understand museums and the attempt to deal with the larger public. They came up with words like ‘Disneyfication’ to stigmatize the direction Mount Vernon was going in. I disagree with that. I think the big museums—Mount Vernon, Monticello, etc.—understand the needs of dealing with the public more than scholars dealing in the groves of academe. With so many young Americans, their level of understanding of American history is almost nonexistent. We have to generate a passion for it. Having some graphics and interactive videos shouldn’t be seen as kowtowing to a video-game culture but as what people expect.”
Preservation Director Pogue said of historic sites and museums, “The reason these places are changing is, the audiences are changing. Is this good or not? We’re in a classic transitional period, where older generations don’t know what’s going to happen and are a little testy about it. People writing those negative reviews [about institutions such as the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum] are in their 40s, 50s, 60s. Their view is: ‘I’m interested in traditional history; I don’t know if the younger generation will like it, too.’
“‘Bells and whistles’ is used to suggest it’s a bad thing. We’ve gotten almost totally positive reviews, but some say we’re ‘Disneyfying’—debasing it, dumbing it down, for folks who need entertainment. Well, what’s wrong with entertainment? We’re trying to maintain high levels of research and interpretation while entertaining. If folks don’t come to see it, you’re not doing your job.”
Leah Arroyo is senior editor of Museum News.
