Category B, Prompt D
After reading Ms. Marvel, one particular song came by Taylor
Swift came to mind. I immediately thought of Taylor Swift because her old songs
primarily deal with high school struggles with popularity and finding somewhere
that you belong, which seems to be a big theme in Ms. Marvel. Her song titled “The Outside” was popular when
I was Kamala’s age and the message behind the song can really resonate with
girls who do not feel that they fit in or have a group of friends that they
belong to in school. The particular passage that reminded me of this song is when Kamala's father says that she cannot attend the party and she is wondering why she is so different from other people at her school. Kamala says "Why am I the only one who gets signed out of health class? Why do I have to bring Pakoras to school for lunch? Why do I get stuck with the weird holidays? Everybody else gets to be normal. Why can't I?" The chorus of the song speaks about someone feeling very
lonely and as if they are on the outside looking in at everyone else:
So how can I ever try to be better?
Nobody ever lets me in
And I can still see you; this ain't the best view
On the outside, lookin' in
I've been a lot of lonely places
I've never been on the outside
Nobody ever lets me in
And I can still see you; this ain't the best view
On the outside, lookin' in
I've been a lot of lonely places
I've never been on the outside
I think that most people can relate to feeling left out of
lonely in some way when you’re sixteen, even if you had a lot of friends in
school. High school comes with the sense of not exactly knowing who you are and
it takes a while to create real friendships, and Ms. Marvel definitely illustrates
this common issue through Kamala feeling out of place and alone. Wilson
illustrates Kamala as unhappy with herself and her family because of their culture, and she feels that they are not “normal.”
After she briefly attends a party with some of classmates , she continues to
feel out of place and unwelcome and her issue with fitting in is not at all
resolved. Although the comic is fantasy, I really enjoyed that Wilson depicted
Kamala and her experiences in high school as so realistic. I think it both makes
the comic more entertaining and makes the young girl having superpowers aspect
more intriguing.
Hi Kylie,
ReplyDeleteI have been a Taylor Swift fan since her first album, so I am totally geeking out over your post. I think you made a great song choice because it does echo the same feeling of "otherness" that Kamala expresses throughout the narrative, especially in the beginning.
I think your choice of Taylor Swift is rather ironic, but the lyrics is quite fitting. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHi Kylie,
ReplyDeleteAs Kelena says, there is a fair amount of irony in Taylor Swift, a beautiful, blonde, white girl, talking about being on the outside as compared to Kamala's feeling of being on the outside. However, the irony also echoes Kamala's own idolization of women like Taylor Swift. She would certainly find comfort in sharing this experience with Taylor Swift.