Merita NezajAssignment #3COM 410Professor HobbsSeptember 28th, 2012

The Young Boys vs The Powerful Girl

Growing up in a generation such as the one that I grew up in, it is almost

impossible to not notice the current trends going on. By having a computer implemented

into every piece of education that I have had, it is expected to know the ins and out’s of

technology. Each year trends change, this is the evolution of time, some things stay the

same and some things change. Looking back at the games that I grew up with and seeing

the games that is in present day technology there are both similarities as well as some

differences. Within this piece, “Boy Meets World” and Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly

Place” will both be compared with some similarities as well as some differences.

To start off with today’s current family show “Wizards of Waverly Place” is

something that has hit the nation by a storm. Selena Gomez is seen as one of the most

famous teenage celebrities of this decade. This show is extremely family oriented, and it

is about the hard of a family together. Through out this show, someone will see the main

theme of this show is a family coming together. Although they have extreme experiences

within a wizard world, they always try to come back to normalcy.

When it came to “Boy Meets World”, this was a show in my younger days that I

could not take my eyes off the TV. I was able to see an American Family have normal

but funny experiences. Corey had the typical crush of the girl next door, and they had

hilarious encounters in school. He would run from teachers in school, his dog would eat

his homework, and Mr. Feeney was the stereotypical teacher. To me, this was so much

more realistic, and something that I myself as a child could picture my life being. I

remember one episode of Corey’s older brother breaking something in the house and

trying to figure out a way to fix it before his parents came home. This type of episode

made a child relate to this, and imagine its own life actually being like this.

To compare the two one could say that both are extremely family oriented shows,

where in the end the family always comes together to create a unit again. Both shows

experience those stereotypical characters, the not so bright brother; the main character is

usually the most “normal” one with the worst of luck. What I mean by this is the main

character always has the worst luck, which sets up for each episode to pursue whatever

has happened in the beginning of the show. Another comparison that these two shows

share is the ability to portray the image of being “normal” not really existing. Each

family works in a dynamic in their own way, it does not have to match what the family

down the street is doing, which is great in helping the viewer understand morals. I know

for a fact that both shows always make me feel better about my family at the end of each

episode, even if I am not in a competition with my siblings to see who will receive all of

the families wizardly powers. I remember that at the end of each episode of Boy Meets

World I would think about certain scenes, and how my family has had those types of

nights. Seeing something like this as a child growing up in a world where image is

everything was extremely refreshing. I was able to watch TV without being insecure of

myself, having the pleasure to actually enjoy the story line in the show. Both of these

shows have similarities that are always consistent.

Having similarities is not always enough, of course there must be differences in

order for their to be some diversity. One of the first things I noticed when watching

Wizards of Waverly Place is how much imagination and creativity is applied to this TV

show. After watching one episode I felt more excited about the possibilities of actually

having super powers. It allowed for my imagination to run wild, and this is at the age of

twenty-one, imagine what I could have done with my mind at the young age of eleven.

Shows such as Wizards are allowing for so many children to express themselves in a way

that they found themselves comfortable. Where as Boy Meets World was more about a

generic family in America, and the funny, crazy instances that would occur to them. I

know after watching an Episode of Boy Meets World I definitely did not feel the same

way I did when watching an episode of Wizards of Waverly place. This is the biggest

difference between two decades, one show is just about a funny family, where as the

other is about a family trying to engage the imaginative minds of young children.

Overall, both of these shows play large impacts in similar and different ways,

allowing for them to be interpreted in different aspects. If one were to have access to the

research that is out their today ten years ago, I think students would be more ambitious

with the idea of chasing their actual dreams.