This week, I chose to watch a show my kids always watch on Disney Channel. I have never paid attention before but thought it would be fun to check it out since it is something they enjoy!
Watching without sound
The episode begins with two teenage boys jumping around playing pretend basketball inside of some sort of music store. A young girl, appearing to be maybe their big sister, comes in to reprimand them. She seems to want them to stop jumping around in the store and behave themselves. Then, a girl all dressed up in some sort of party dress comes in and begins explaining her dilemma. She has her hands on her hips, a concerned look on her face, and continues shrugging her shoulders and pacing. The four of them begin discussing something and it appears they are trying to help her.
The next clip shows the girl in the party dress and the two boys hanging out in a game room discussing things. It seems they are designing some type of flyer for her on their big screen monitor. Next, she and the other girl are shopping and have invitations in buckets. They both seem happy and determined. They run in to a boy who the girls obviously think is very cute. They begin blushing and laughing and acting silly. The girl who seems to be throwing a party gives the boy an invitation and the other girl seems to be upset by this. Her eyebrows are raised and she is concerned, but the other girl begins asking her to picture something and they both look up to the air and smile. It seems the two of them are good friends.
Next, one of the girls brings a boy into the game room and she watches him do some dance moves. She tries some and they dance together. They seem to be planning a routine for the party. The boy falls and seems to sprain his ankle. The other boys from the beginning try to bring ice and he tries to put ice on it, but he rejects it, acts as if he is ok, and tries to walk. He cannot walk and realizes he will not be able to perform for the party. The girl comes in and it seems they are trying to make arrangements for an alternative solution.
Next, the girl and boy with the sprained ankle arrive at the party and it appears to be a 15th birthday party because there are signs up. They seem to be boyfriend and girlfriend. The girl who was in the party dress in the beginning comes out on stage and begins speaking. Everyone begins dancing but the girl with the boy who had the sprained ankle is just sitting at the table with him. The boy who was supposed to dance with her us wearing a silly costume goofing off. She seems to be very upset with him for not dancing with her. Finally, she gets up and asks the boy they saw at the mall to dance with her. She begins dancing by herself in front of him and he is just standing there looking awkward. She tries to talk him into dancing but he walks away. Her friend comes over and tries to make her feel better. Then the boy who was goofing off swings from some sort of vine and ruins the party knocking things over.
Next shot is the mess of a party; all gifts are on the floor, food spilled, and the friends are trying to figure out what to do. The girl who was upset and embarrassed was is missing and her friends are concerned. Later they find her hiding under the table. The boy with the sprained ankle crawls under to try to make her feel better. She begins to smile a little.and then feels better. They clean up the party and in the end the band performs; the boy with the ankle sits in a chair. The cute boy returns and the girl is bothered again. The boy with the sprained ankle sees this, leaves the stage, and dances with the girl with his ankle brace on. She falls, is horrified, but then they continue to dance. The crowd leaves and the two of them are alone. She appears to be thanking him.
All the friends leave and the girl is left alone in the party. The cute boy comes back and they are talking. She laughs and he laughs, and they appear to be making fun of each other's dancing styles. It seems he told her he didn't dance with her because he wasn't good at dancing. It seems she was also afraid of dancing and they begin dancing goofy together and that ends the show.
Watching with sound
I was truly amazed at how accurate my predictions were based on the characters body language. A few things were unclear at first, but by the end of the episode, I pretty much was able to piece together the entire story. The four teens were only friends, and the boy from the mall was someone she had a long time crush on. Since they invited the boy to her friends birthday party, her friend agreed to give her dancing lessons so she could possible dance with the boy she liked. However, during the lesson her clumsiness caused him to fall and sprain his ankle. He was unable to give her lessons. At the party, she decided to ask the boy to dance anyway, but he got flustered, said no and left. When he came back later he admitted he didn't know how to dance either.
I enjoyed this episode and realized it was actually regarding a girls insecurities regarding her ability to dance. Her friends pulled together to do all they could to try and help her learn how to dance so she could impress the boy of her dreams. My "aha" moment was at the end when the boy came and admitted that when he saw her fall down, he realized she could not dance. He came back to tell her the reason he left as because he was also ashamed. I think this show provided a valuable lesson for young people. Sometimes we try to so hard to impress others and we are afraid of what they will think because we build them up in our mind to be perfect. The truth is, everyone has problems and it's ok to be yourself!
After this exercise I am amazed at how much body language and surrounding really say to others. I will be more aware of my own actions in the future, and more perceptive of the actions of those around me!