Here is the link to a picture that the 12 year old I work with was trying to put as a wallpaper on the family computer.
http://www.teenhollywood.com/wallpaper/400x300/405/hannah-montana-wallpaper.jpg
When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of our discussions in class and about the readings we had done for last week. What first comes to my mind in this picture is how white (or orange with the fake tanning) it is. Granted, I think that they are family, but it is very reflective of the whole show. Having token characters of color in a show, or talking about racism as individual acts rather than a systemic issue in our society only helps to perpetuate racism and the hegemonic view of what it is to be “American”. The picture also made me very conscience of my own appearance, because the young ladies in it look older than I do. Also, the dad looks nothing like any dad I have ever seen, and more like a teen surfer. I think that I would have noticed that something was off with this picture/show, and that I didn’t like the message it portrayed, but if it weren’t for this class I would not have known exactly why.