I decided to reflect on the classic Disney Channel show, Wizards of Waverly Place, as my cultural artifact. The show aired in 2007 and ended in 2012. One if the main characters, Alex Russo (played by Selena Gomez), was someone I looked up to from the age of 8 to 13. The series was about a quirky family of Wizards (excluding their mom) who lived above their subway shop in New York. It followed the kids' human and magical lives. About a year before this show came out, I was smitten with Hannah Montana. I vividly remember replacing my posters of blonde wigged Miley Cyrus with wand bearing Selena Gomez. Despite being 8 and letting pop culture decide 99% of my life and taste in anything, handing my Hannah Montana fan phase over to Wizards of Waverly Place was pretty crucial to my adolescent years. At the time, I was sharing a room with my grandma so I was never able to deck my room out the way I wanted to beyond hanging up a couple posters on my side of the room. The main way I was ...
Prompt 1 How to be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds The cultural artifact I chose to show gender representation is the song "How to be a Heartbreaker" by Marina and the Diamonds. The song is generally about a girl who's been screwed over by men enough times to lose hope all together in trying to find a serious relationship with them. She's taken these defeats and turned a new attitude towards dating. These men have done her wrong countless times in similar way so now she's going to do the same thing back to them. A majority of the video is the singer dancing around in a locker room shower with wet half naked men dancing behind her. The music video is visualized through a montage; there are short clips of her with different men who appear to fall under various stereotypes. This song represents the female gender as capable of defying the over-emotional and helpless stereotype. The video represents the concept of reversing the male and female roles, the l...