Marizza, Mía and more: analyzing representation in Rebelde Way Characters.

 Rebelde way is a very popular argentine Telenovela that was aired from 2002 to 2003 produced by Cris Morena. The show followed the lives of teenagers with different backgrounds who lived in the 'ELITE boarding school'. It had a tremendous impact on Latin America, Israel, Greece, Germany, Russia, Italy and the Philippines, specially due to their band called ''Erreway''. It made a lasting cultural impact both within Argentina and across Latin america. In this blog, i'm going to analyze the aspects of representation such as; social class, gender, body sizes, age, cultures and religion, in this specific TV show. 

Social class

The main theme of this Tv show is the difference of economic statues of the main characters. Elite way school is a private boarding school with international prestige where high-class students receive a high level of education, most of the students are related to important or famous people in Argentina such as the son of the Mayor of Buenos Aires and the daughter of a very famous designer.  The school did offer a scholarship program for people with low financial resources, which one of the main characters needed since he was not wealthy. The wealth of the students can also be depicted through costuming, there was people with designer clothes like the iconic character of Mía Colucci versus the basic wardrobes of students like Luna Fernández.  We can also see this contrast in their houses and how some people had mansions and other lived in modest neighborhoods. I believe this Tv show represents social class well since they show from kids who were adopted, orphans and low or middle class people to the most rich families of argentina. 

Mia Colucci gifting her designer clothes she used                  Wealthy student, Felicitas, living with her                                                                                                    poor boyfriend in a one room house once 

to the students with a lower income. 

While the portrayal relies on the stereotypes of rich and poor people, throughout the show they reveal the inner lives of the working-class characters. 

Gender representation

In the show, gender representation is showed by diverse personalities, it helps to reveal how teenagers navigate their own evolving. The female main characters Mía Colucci  and Marizza Spirito  have very contrasting characteristics, Marizza Spirito has a rebellious style, she dyes her hair different colors, wears colorful clothes, and has a strong attitude. In contrast,  Mía Colucci  embodies a girly "princess" identity, obsessed with fashion, looks and popularity.

Portrayal of age.

While the tv show is centered on the young teenagers, most teachers at Elite Way school struggled understanding the kids. We also can see the kids parents struggling through life, and both the teachers and parents were from the ages of 30 to 60. Representing adult life and how their presence affects the teenagers. A controversial thing about this show is how there were some forbids relationships between students and administrators or relationships with big age gaps. 

Religious representation
 Religion does not play a major role in Rebelde Way, Catholic imagery occasionally appeared.  The only character that speaks about his religion was Nicolas Huber. At first he kept his religion as a secret and denied being jew because he was scared he would be discriminated by it. He falls in love with her classmate Luna Fernandez, they had to fight for their relationship due to their different religions. At the end of the season, they marry despite being 16 and having different cultural beliefs, leaving the elite way school.

Body size representation 

The cast of Rebelde Way exemplifies thin-ideal media imagery. The only student who represented a more realistic body image was Felicitas, she had an binge eating disorder, and was bullied with insulting nicknames for being ''fat'', her best friend Mía was always pressuring her to do diets and working out. What was controversial of this was that Felicitas wasn't even fat, creating a perspective of what "fat" looks like and giving body dysmorphia problems to some of the young people who watched the show.  The complete lack of body diversity fails to reflect realistic adolescent appearances, they definitely missed the opportunity for inclusive representation across body sizes.

While some representations fit stereotypical archetypes, gender, social classes and age I believe they should've represented religion and body sizes better and in a more realistic way.