Reflection on Popular Media Presentations

For one of my last blog posts, I wanted to be sure to hit on a topic I have not had many chances to discuss in my previous posts: the phenomenal media presentations I have had the pleasure of seeing throughout the semester. These projects (both those I worked on and those I viewed) opened my eyes to the massive presence of the supernatural in films today. The historical implications of magic and witchcraft have had a profound impact on movies and TV shows, and these presentations brought that to light. This was one of my favorite parts of the class!

Throughout the presentations, one theme I found notable was the dramatization of historical events in many of the films themselves. One of the most memorable examples of this was a clip from WandaVision depicting events in 1692 Salem. While this obviously was fictionalized (since the witches in the clip utilize extensive magical powers), it also is far from what the Salem trials truly looked like in terms of behavior, demeanor, and events in general. While the execution of this scene likely was more entertaining and relevant to the fictional story, it provides an example of how historical events related to the supernatural are often dramatized across films.

Speaking of WandaVision, that was among my favorite media presentations from the semester. I thought the group did a phenomenal job, and as a Marvel fan myself, I was already beating myself up for not having seen the show. I loved the connection with Salem and the supernatural in the show. After the presentation, I was sure to add WandaVision to my TV show bucket list!

The popular media presentations made this class even more engaging and caused each class period to be quite different. I enjoyed the flexibility in what films we were able to choose and learned so much about the films, magic, witchcraft, and how they all tie together.