Rachel's Media Criticism Blog Posts

  Max is a young 12 year old boy from Salem, Massachusetts who is coming to spend the summer with his grandparents on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Very much used to his life on the mainland, Max does not know much about his Hawaiian heritage nor the culture of the island. He is very much into video games, skateboarding, making his own YouTube videos and going to theme parks, like any other boy on the mainland. Also being half native Hawaiian and Irish, he has not been that exposed to the cultural foods that his father ate growing up, nor was he forced to be exposed. Being a pre-teen, with the ability to have a bit more freedom than he used to when he was young, Max was looking forward to spending time with friends this summer.  Being disappointed but excited at the same time to see his grandparents for the first time in years, his parents had bought him a camera to document his trip.When arriving in Oahu, Max experiences culture shock first hand. Feeling like an outsider, Max t...

The documentary Life, Animated, follows the story of an autistic man named Owen and his struggles from childhood to adulthood. Throughout his life, one theme remains existent; his love for Disney films. The documentary showcases the various impacts that Disney movies can have on autistic people such as Owen and many others. From a young age, there was always a language barrier between Owen’s parents, older brother and himself. Desperately trying to find ways to communicate with Owen, his parents came across what seemed to be a miracle. His father shares an intimate moment with his son, where he learns that his son communicates through movie dialogue using a Iago puppet, popular from the movie, Aladdin . From then on, Owen’s Disney obsession truly blossomed. He was taken to Disney World, Disney Broadway shows, and even part of an adult Disney club. Throughout the film, his prized Disney merchandise and experiences have been showcased in many ways. Much like his mom said early on in th...

  Disney Channel is one of the most popular children’s television channels, well known for their shows such as Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, and That’s So Raven. With all shows being equally unique, Disney Channel is known for their brand in which they maintain through all their shows throughout the years. Although it may seem as if Disney Channel is diverse, they mainly include characters of different races and ethnicities as background characters,and do not seem to take the spotlight often. Although Disney Channel has included shows where the main characters are African American such as That’s So Raven, Corey in the House, and K.C undercover, they fail to often include other ethnicities as the main characters.  My suggestion to this would be to possibly create a new television show, which includes several different characters of different ethnicities and races. The place of the show could also be placed in a diverse environment such as a performing arts scho...

            In an article on usatoday.com , it explains Walmart’s gift list for Christmas 2020. This includes Walmart’s most popular sold toys broken down into categories such as popular character toys, high-tech toys, interactive toys, and more. One of the most popular character toys on the list was  Blue’s Clues & You Peek-A-Boo. Coming from the popular children’s television show, Blue’s Clues & You, the toy features the popular character, Blue, in a stuffed animal form with mechanics to make playful interaction between the toy and child.  Being one of the most popular children’s characters, Blue represents every preschooler’s best friend who is playful, imaginative, curious, and always willing to learn. Throughout the television show, Blue is always showing her curiosity and playfulness through her adventures with Josh. In the episode, “Happy Birthday Blue,” Blue sets up clues for Josh to findto figure out what Blue wants for ...

  Julie’s Greenroom is a children’s netflix series where legend Julie Andrews leads a workshop for children at a performing arts center. Here at the Wellspring Center for the Performing Arts, Miss Julie has a set agenda for her students, with different episodes focusing on different aspects of the performing arts, such as singing, acting and even stand up comedy. Not much like other children’s shows, Julie’s Greenroom showcases several different aspects of diversity and intersectionality that one may not see in other children’s shows. “Every part big or small is important” is Miss Julie’s number one saying throughout the series, explaining to her students that although one may want to be the star of the show, that without the small parts there also would not be a show at all. Miss Julie’s students are also a very diverse group of children, not often seen in one room in television shows. They are all of different races, ethnicities, and disabilities, almost always having a differen...

  Inspired by his nephew scrolling through pointless videos on YouTube, Stevin John had created an internet personality for his nephew to watch online. This of which has transformed into one of the most well known YouTube vlogs for kids, named Blippi. On this channel, Blippi goes on adventures and does activities that young children can follow through his videos and learn from experience.  The parasocial relationship between Blippi and viewers are not much different from Dora , or Blues Clues And You . Blippi is oftentimes asking children to do the activity he is doing with him, act like the animal he is learning about, or even asking them how to spell out his name. All of which he waits for them to answer the question or do the action before he himself does it. Blippi is also known for his positive attitude, his acts of kindness by sharing, recognizing how he feels and how his actions sometimes make people feel, and how to cope with situations as such. He also creates a po...