Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DEFENDING HANNAH MONTANA


While many of my fellow classmates believed Hannah Montana to be a bad example of “Girl Power” I firmly believe otherwise. I actually love Hannah Montana and was a frequent viewer of the show, so I know a lot about the ins and outs and messages of the show. It may seem as if by Hannah living a dual life she is promoting the idea of being secretive and hiding things from her friends. People also believe that the main focus of Hannah Montana is to promote glam and beauty instead of exemplifying a female of power. All of these can be arguable statements, but there are many positive messages portrayed in Hannah Montana that people don’t seem to notice. Hannah Montana promotes the idea that there are many pros to not being a celebrity. Most children aspire to be famous or in the spotlight, but in Hannah Montana we get a first-hand look at the life of a star and how she just wants to live a regular life. This can help children learn to appreciate what they have more and realize that while it seems like celebrity’s have it all, us “normal” people have some things they could never have. I also can’t name a single episode that goes by where some type of positive lesson isn’t learned. For example, on one episode Hannah is to be featured on a billboard with a huge zit on her face to promote acne cream. At first she wants to hide it, and goes out of her way to make sure no one sees this ad, but in the end Hannah accepts the ad and makes it known that no one is perfect and it is ok to have flaws! So although Hannah Montana may be more glamorous than Clarissa Explains It All, or even a more recent show like Lizzie McGuire, I don’t feel that it is a bad example of girl power programming. It just displays it in a different way, relative to our ever-changing culture.

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