1. Merita Nezaj
Assignment #3
COM 410
Professor Hobbs
September 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

2. 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.