'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet





As did so many millennials, I grew up on Disney. The first time I went to the cinema as a child was a rerelease of Lady and the Tramp (1955). The second was to see Hercules (1997). I have spent my life consuming their films, whether through Pixar, or Marvel, or LucasFilm - and now through Fox. Does any other production company know so perfectly how to make a product that sits so snugly inside you while still leaving you craving more?





For this reason, I have always been in support of projects such as Disney's live-action remakes, or the extension of the Star Wars franchise ad infinitum and beyond, even projects such as Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). They don't all need to be gourmet meals. Sometimes it's a welcome break to chow down on some junk. Besides, whether it's Toy Story 2 (1999) or Cars 2 (2011), that inner craving is still there at the end. I need more. I always need more.





I'm glad to see that Disney reflects its own consumers. Witness their beautiful devouring of the film industry - currently owning 27%, so teasingly close to a full third. Witness the way they consume entire franchises, universes, digesting their essence and producing something cleaner, more efficient, removed of its own waste into which we can then sink our teeth. Disney understands not only the driving need to consume of its own audience, but that that urge is itself the foundation of our society. Before long, perhaps, we can dream of an endlessly autocannibalistic monoculture, an ouroboros with Mickey Mouse ears.





The question is, is this enough? Disney controls the cinemas, it's true. What's not theirs will be in time. Cinemas, though, are starting to become obsolete. Just as it becomes more and more expensive to eat out, and ever easier to consume at home, audiences are choosing to consume media from the comfort of our sofas. When I think of the future, I think of the utopia presented in WALL-E (2008) - a life of luxurious ease, consumption on a platter, spectacle beamed directly into our minds. We're not there yet, of course - there's still a couple decades to endure. Still, there are ways in which the industry should be shifting to represent my needs, and the needs of my generation.





The biggest one for me is Virtual Reality. Whilst there has been some groundbreaking developments within this field in my two other core interests - porn and gaming - film is struggling to catch up. There is, of course, one significant way in which this medium presents an issue to producers, directors, and screenwriters. Where VR porn, generally POV, and VR games intersect is the inherent level of consumer participation. In both, I am the subject, the protagonist. Film has long shied away from this, instead writing a protagonist into the script, following like sheep the old-fashioned 'rules of writing'. When I come out of a Disney film feeling that old pit in my stomach that has not yet been sated, I have to wonder if a part of it comes from me not being a direct part of the experience itself. In making consumer-focused films for individual consumption, we could all be our own princesses, our own superheroes, even our own sentient toys. Not to mention the money the studio could save on an A-list star. For me, it's a concept that is both intriguing and exciting, and yet still it feels like there is something missing.





So I come back to that hunger. I come back to that drive to consume. I know that if I do not, it will not just be me who suffers - the world will come crashing down around me. The drive to consume is the force that drives everything around us. We grow, and the economy grows, and Disney grows, forever. To consume is our imperative. It is our purpose. And yet this purpose has so far failed to fulfil me. What am I missing? The answer hits with stark clarity. It is not enough to consume. If I want to become a vital part of this larger whole, and to finally sate my urge to feed, I must be consumed. Like the ouroboros, the perfect form of consumption is a circle. Only by becoming a part of that infinite digestive tract can I transcend, and become a true Disney fan.





What, then, is the answer? It can only be this - not only do I need Disney to make a VR film for me to consume by myself in the darkness of my own home, I need it to star a princess who will vore me, who will take me into the warmth of her belly where I can finally find peace. Until that moment, I know I will watch every piece of media they put out; but as a junkie, chasing after a high I know to be impossible, hooked on nothing more than the repetitive need to try regardless.