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ROBERT

Pop Culture vs. Conformity


The concept of **non-conformity** is found in many shows and songs. Such is the case in one of my favorite Disney Channel shows, // Sofia the First //. In the show, a commoner-turned-royal kid named Sofia is learning about the world she’s living in, including her home kingdom Enchancia, and the friends she meets. She became a princess after her mom Miranda married King Roland II. While Sofia has th e typical princess dress and appearance, her character steers away from societal norms and stereotypes associated with fairytale royalty.

An example is in the Season 1 pilot episode, // Just One of the Princes //. In it, Sofia is trying out for the Flying Horse Derby, but the coach tells her that she can’t join because of her gender. Plus, her stepsister Princess Amber and her two princess friends, Hildegard and Clio, teach her (in the form of a musical number) that princesses do princess things and princes do princely things, and that nobody crosses in-between. But Sofia believes that “Anything can be a princess thing.” She ends up joining the Flying Horse Derby team and wins the race with the help of her pegasus friend, Minimus.

Furthermore, in the 2009 rock song // Uprising // by Muse, one of the stanzas in the lyrics say “They will not force us, they will stop degrading us/They will not control us/We will be victorious!” This song is about a rebellious army of so-called “freaks” and underdogs, waging war against society. Rebellion is typically seen as a perverted act of teenag e angst, but it’s actually a part of being yourself and standing up for what you believe in.

Keeping on the subject of music, Lady Gaga is the personification of non-conformity. She is famous for her weird and stylish costumes, along with her awesomely surreal music videos, which are filled with content that viewers wouldn’t expect from the typical bubble-gum pop music video. A major contribution to this subject is her music video for // Paparazzi //, where she kills her murderous boyfriend by poisoning his drink.