# data[].attributes.body
Mulan is another one of the first Disney films I remember watching in my early childhood. The animated movie came out in 1998 but being born in 2001, I probably watched it around 2005. Based on a Chinese legend that is likely to have originated in “The Norther Wei Period (386-535 CE)” (Mulan: The Legend Through History, 2021), the film is about a girl who goes out to war to honour her father as he is too weak from injuries to fight in battle himself. She fears for his life, should he have gone instead of her. During the time Mulan is set, a woman in China much like the rest of the world, was expected to bring honour to her family by marrying into wealth. It would not have been appropriate for a woman to go into battle as this would have been deemed ‘a man’s job’. Mulan is a story close to my heart as it was one of the first media representations of feminism that I can recall. I admired that the plot didn’t follow many of the other Disney movies that revolved around a woman relying on a man in order to have a happy ending.

World History Encyclopaedia. 2021. Mulan: The Legend Through History. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1596/mulan-the-legend-through-history/> [Accessed 6 December 2021].

# data[].attributes.body
High school musical came out in 2006 and I remember it was extremely popular when I was in school. The American musical television film focuses on the love story of two high school students. Troy is an outgoing, popular basketballer. His father is the teams coach which pressures him to be the best player and carry the team as captain. Gabriella is a shy, intelligent new student at the school and joins maths and science clubs as she excels in these subjects. Despite the stereotypical cliques Troy and Gabriella have fallen into, they both take interest in musical theatre and audition together for the schools show. This creates tension between them and their friends as they can’t fathom why the pair want to try something new outside of their cliques. I liked this film as it encouraged a younger audience to have the confidence to go against stereotypes and not give in to peer pressure. I especially thought it was important that the film portrays a boy wanting to take interest in musical theatre instead of just sports as in today’s society a lot of men find it harder to escape that ‘lad’ culture in fear of judgement.

# data[].attributes.body
Gossip girl came out in 2007 and is a teen drama television series. It follows the lives of affluent teens living in the Upper East Side, Manhattan.  The series is narrated by a blogger known as ‘Gossip Girl’ who exposes the teens secrets throughout the series causing endless drama. Gossip Girl was my transition from watching Disney movies with portrayals of fictional fairy-tale relationships, to still fictional but more realistic ones and the problems they come with. Whilst always engrossed in the drama of the series, it encourages characters such as Chuck Bass to be romanticised for his toxic and destructive behaviours by young viewers which could be harmful as they get older. I also noticed the lack of diversity within the series. For instance, the main protagonists Chuck, Blair, Nate and Serena are all white, stereotypically good-looking, wealthy teens. The only thing that sets the other main protagonists Jenny and Dan apart is their socioeconomic status. This relates to my future essay as it is another example of media that portrays a huge lack of diversity, and I will later discuss within the essay how this is damaging to viewers and society as a whole.

# data[].attributes.body
Similarly, to Gossip Girl, Made in Chelsea is a series that I enjoyed watching as a young teenager for the drama when it was aired. Despite the entertaining side of it, I noticed a major lack of diversity throughout the years watching the show amongst other issues. However, unlike Gossip Girl, a fictional drama, Made in Chelsea is a reality show which is even more concerning. Granted, as an audience we may not know how much of reality television is scripted or real, but in each case, I will be focusing on the issues within this show in my essay.

# data[].attributes.body
In 2013 I got my first iPhone. Despite being introduced to social media using BBM on my Blackberry previously, this was a whole different ball game. I was now using apps such as Snapchat and Instagram to communicate rather than texting and calling as much. Facetime was also new to me and so the camera feature was starting to be used constantly. Everything was available to me 24/7 now with a smartphone. Having an iPhone is convenient to say the least. You can talk to whomever you choose to at any time, purchase online, stream movies and so much more. It also provides security as the app ‘find my iPhone’ allows people to share their locations. My parents were fond of this feature as they could feel at ease knowing where I was in case of an emergency as a young teenager out in the world.

Whilst having an iPhone is handy in many ways, it also gave me and my entire generation a very different childhood to my parents. Due to social media, there was now a pressure to look a certain way and show that you were always having fun as social media tends to mainly portray the good times. However, as time progresses people are beginning to share the bad times too so that others don’t feel so alone with their struggles. Personally, I felt as if people couldn’t go anywhere without posting it on social media. It’s almost as if you were never there if something wasn’t posted to prove it. This certainly affected living in the moment for me and likely many others. What was once crowds of people singing along at festivals is now seas of smartphone torches recording acts instead of enjoying the moment. For these and many more reasons smartphones can be a curse and a blessing.