#longcap | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aspoonofsugar · 9 months

Text

Wizards Of Waverly Place - Family Business

So, guess what favourite sit-com of my childhood I have rewatched together with @hamliet?

Wizards of Waverly Place has always had a special place in my heart, but by rewatching it I have realized it is better written than I thought...

Of course, it is unapologetically a kids' show + a parody, so there are not overly intricated plotlines nor incredibly deep psychological explorations. It is sometimes silly with no shame. Moreover, I think 1 specific plotline (Stevie's) and some character moments (Justin's) could have been better handled.

That said, it has a great thematic heart which offers many touching moments together with hilarious characterization and honestly brilliant worlbuilding ideas. I really really love the tongue in cheeck worldbuilding of this series. It takes all the most common fantasy tropes and re-frames them in the context of an American family drama. The feeling is that of a discounted fantasy world, which is perfect as the set of very mundane problems like... how can I cheat at school? Or how can I have a guy fall for me?

The result is a series which pokes fun at Harry Potter, Twilight, Monster Hunter, but also at Romeo And Juliet, The Addams Family, The Devil Wears Prada and much more.

Here are some thoughts on the main themes + characters.

FAMILY - THE MAIN THEME

Wizards of Waverly Place is a show about family. In particular:

It tells the story of a family of wizards

It's set in the Waverly Substation - the family sandwich shop

This premise and this set are used to drive home the theme. The Substation itself may be secondary to the main plot, but it is still key in several episodes. Thematically, it is the home of the Russos and it represents the family ideals of sticking together, despite it all.

All being mostly magic, which is both a blessing and a curse for the Russo family. On the one hand it is a secret that binds the 3 siblings, as it lets them go through exciting adventures together. On the other hand only one of them can keep their powers in the end, which makes them all competitors for the same prize.

With the Wizard Competition in the background, we go through several episodes and plotlines, which explore different family dynamics:

DJ who uses magic to mind control his parents and do what he wants

Hugh Normous, who is happily adopted in his family of Giants

Ronald Longcape Jr, who has a legacy of Evil to honor

Stevie who chooses her powers over her beloved brother and ruins their relationship

Felix, a delinquent who turns a new leaf and discovers himself the descendant of the greatest wizard of all times

Up until the family of our protagonists, which itself has been shattered by magic.

Jerry, the father and head of the family, is the winner of his generation's family competition. Still, he gives up magic to stay with his mortal wife Theresa and they have Justin, Alex and Max (the main characters). Jerry also chooses to give his powers to his brother Kelbo, which leaves their sister Meghan with a grudge. Jerry, Kelbo and Meghan are never able to repair their bond and the risk for Justin, Max and Alex is to repeat their story. After all:

Justin is the lawful star student who is expected to inherit the power (Jerry)

Alex is the artsy lazy delinquent who often acts selfishly (Meghan)

Max is the weird airhead, who is difficult to understand (Kelbo)

So, will the Russo siblings repeat the previous generation's mistakes or will they keep their family bond intact throughout the Wizard Competition?

ALEX AND JUSTIN - THE BEATING HEART OF THE STORY

Alex and Justin are respectively the protagonist and deuteragonist, with their bond being the most important one of the series. Superficially, they are opposites:

Alex is an underachiever, impulsive and a rule breaker. She often uses magic selfishly and ends up in trouble

Justin is a hard-worker, lawful and a stick in the mud. He studies hard for the wizard competition and likes following rules

And yet, they are deep down the same, as they are both jealous of the other:

Alex is jealous of Justin's academic successes and is tired of being compared to him. Initially, she thinks she can't compete with him and barely tries

Justin is jealous of Alex , who is loved by their parents, despite her flaws. He sees her as the family little girl and believes that if he were not perfect, others would love him less than her

Deep down, they are both unsure of who they are and crave recognition. Still, they really have to learn from the other:

Alex must grow more responsible and put in the effort, like Justin

Justin must try new things and even break the rules for others' sake, like Alex

This is why their relationship becomes key for both of their developments. On the one hand Alex keeps getting into trouble with magic. On the other hand Justin comes to her rescue and helps her out. In this way, Alex learns from her mistakes and Justin gets to gain life experiences. At the same time, they show each other they care. Alex can openly rely on Justin and Justin can step in as the protective big brother. They usually get on each other's nerves and bicker, but in these moments they know the other cares.

This is their initial dynamic, which slowly changes as they both grow. This growth happens also because of important romantic bonds.

Justin and Juliet - Moving on

Justin and Juliet's story is just Romeo and Juliet told in reverse, where Romeo gets the chance to overcome his flaw and Juliet is a vampire (queen).

Justin and Juliet's story starts with their love solving the feud between their 2 families' sandwich shops

It goes on with Juliet's (first) "death". The two lovers end up trapped and Justin (Romeo) convinces Juliet to have herself mind-controlled by an evil mummy to survive the rise of the sun. However, Alex arrives 5 minutes later to free Justin. Just like in the tragedy, if Justin had just waited nothing would have happened

Here it comes Justin and Juliet's reunion, which soon becomes a second and more final separation. Juliet loses her vampire powers and grows old, so she urges Justin to move on from her

Justin takes some time, but finally falls for another girl. He starts dating Rosie. Rosie is a twist on Rosaline, Romeo's first love interest (here she is the second), who is the archetype of the classical angelic woman. Well, Rosie is literally an angel, but an angel of darkness and she influences Justin to join the dark side :P. Eventually, though, Rosie and Justin's love redeems them. Still, Justin chooses to let Rosie go, as she needs to fulfill her role as an angel and to look over mortals

Finally, Justin meets Juliet again, as she is mind controlled by the demon Gorog (basically Satan). Juliet is once again possessed by a malicious creature and Justin is once again asked to join the dark side for love. Still, he is able to resist this time and together with his siblings he defeats Gorog and reunites with Juliet

Metaphorically, Justin's journey is clear. He needs to learn that sometimes no matter how much he tries, bad things happen and he isn't getting what he wants. He tries hard to be a hero, but only ends up losing Juliet. Later on, he is so scared to lose the girl he loves again that he gives up his morals. So, he has to accept sometimes loss can't be helped. That said, if he keeps on trying and is loyal to his principles and to others, life will find a way to reward him. He just has to make the right moral choice in the end.

Alex and Mason - Putting in the effort

Alex and Mason are an inversion of Beauty and Beast. In the Disney Fairy Tale, Beauty changes the Beast in a beautiful Prince. Here, Alex (Beauty) has to accept Mason (Beast) for who he is. A Werewolf.

Alex and Mason meet and fall in love. Still, Alex gets annoyed by Mason's drawings of dogs (an early hint to Mason's werewolf nature). She gets embarassed by them and charms Mason to become his new Muse. Things get awry as Mason can only think about drawing Alex, which results in their relationship getting compromised. Eventually, Alex accepts Mason's strange art and the two move forward in their relationship

Alex discovers Mason is a Werewolf, but the 2 break up over Mason's instinctual declaration of love to Juliet. Mason doesn't love Juliet and his words are once again the result of his werewolf nature Alex struggles to understand. The following confusion leads to Mason turning into a wolf and leaving

Alex finds Mason and saves him in what is a Beauty and Beast call back. Still, Mason is stuck as a half wolf and Alex is embarassed. Before she can have him back as fully human, she has to accept his beast part

Alex drops out from the wizard competition, which means she and Mason can't be together, as it would be too dangerous. Still, they love each other and Alex decides to give the competition another try to stay together with Mason

Alex gets back into the competition, but a beast tamer called Chase keeps flirting with her and symbolically brings out the Beast in Mason (jealousy). Alex dislikes this side of Mason and breaks up with him

Eventually, Alex and Mason meet again and realize they still have feelings for each other, so they choose to get back together despite their respective flaws

The point of Alex and Mason's story is that a perfect Prince Charming does not exist. If Alex wants to be in a real relationship, she should accept the other's flaws, find compromises and finally put in some effort. She can't turn the beast into a prince, but must become herself a wizard to stand beside the werewolf.

In other words, Justin and Alex's developments are opposite. Justin learns he can't always get what he wants through sheer effort and Alex discovers that a little effort is needed to reach a goal.

GIVE ME A MAX

Max's development is less fleshed out than his siblings', but it is still there. If Alex and Justin compete over the role of favourite child, Max is definately the family unfavourite. He is the odd one out. As he himself says, he is not as clever as Justin nor as devious as Alex. Everybody compares him to them and sets up a standard he can't reach.

His journey, then, has him find his own path through two opposite love interests:

The first one is a girl, who is exactly like him. Still, he lies to her and loses her

The second one (Talia) is his complete opposite. Once again, he lies out of fear of losing her.

Eventually, Max comes clean to Talia and they realize their complementarity is something that enriches them, rather than an obstacle.

At the same time, Max shows he can be just as smart as his siblings. He briefly takes the lead in the Wizard Competition and saves Alex and Justin in the final battle against Gorog. Even in the final Wizard Tournament, he performs rather well. He doesn't need to be someone else. He has his own set of talents that make him unique.

HARPER - THE FOUND SISTER

True, there are only 3 Wizards in the Russo family, but Harper clearly steps in as another sister to Alex, Justin and Max.

Harper is Alex's best friend and the first human who is revealed the Russos' secret. With time, she gets more and more involved in the family dynamics until Alex openly calls her a sister and Jerry and Theresa adopt her.

Harper is Alex's moral pet and she is the one who brings out the troublemaker's most selfless and heroic traits. She is also the one who trusts Alex the most among all the characters. Justin represents Alex's bond to the wizard world and her biological family. Harper instead represents Alex's bond to the human world and her found family.

Still, Harper is not a sister to only Alex, but also to Max and Justin. Her relationship with Justin, especially, is nicely fleshed out and developed. She initially crushes on him pretty hard and slowly starts to move on, as she grows close to Zeke (Justin's best friend). Eventually, she becomes Zeke's girlfriend and this development marks a substantial change in her and Justin's dynamic.

This shift is shown in Moving On, one of my favourite episodes. Justin is still fixed on Juliet and refuses to go out with other girls. Harper, then, asks Alex to transform her into Juliet, so that she can convince Justin to let go. The end result is that Harper ends up in a date with Justin, which is her childhood dream come true. Eventually, though, Harper reveals herself and convinces Justin to move on. The whole scene is framed as both Harper letting go of Justin and Justin accepting Harper's advice to meet new girls. By the end of it, their dynamic becomes that of a pair of siblings. There is love, but it is familial.

Finally, Harper's relationship with Zeke is what drives Justin to tell his best friend the family secret. This in itself is an important moment in Alex and Justin's foiling:

Alex reveals the truth to Harper pretty early on. She does so as proof of their friendship, even if it is an important violation of the wizard rules. Alex shows she is determined to do what is morally right pretty early on. No matter if it can be damaging for her

Justin reveals the truth to Zeke towards the end. He is initially strongly opposed to it, as he and Alex have fallen behind in the competition precisely for exposing wizardly. However, by seeing how the family secret is ruining both the relationship between Alex and Harper and that between Zeke and Harper, he chooses to bring Zeke into the loop

In short, Harper is a key character for both Alex and Justin's developments and becomes the second daughter of the Russo family.

GENERATION XEROX - THE BIGGEST TWIST OF THE SERIES

As the series goes on, Alex and Justin's dynamic starts to change:

Alex grows more responsible and becomes better at using magic for which she has a natural disposition. Not only that, but her heroic traits start to surface more and more, especially when her loved ones (Justin, Harper and Mason) are involved

Justin starts showing his jealousy and his selfish side more. He realizes Alex needs him less and that he is not always the best among his siblings. On the contrary, he too messes up and does so royally

So, Alex shows her positive traits, while Justin displays his flaws. The Final Wizard Competition is built on this.

Initially, the viewers are bound to believe the final round focuses on Alex's development. After all, the episode starts with Alex performing a selfless act for the family. Later on, she quickly falls behind in points and then she convinces Justin and Max to leave the competition to help Harper and Zeke, which results in them all losing their powers. So, it is apparently Alex's duty to fix things, so that she can prove she is good enough to be the family wizard. Except this is really not true.

It turns out the disqualification is really a test for Justin (and Max) to forgive Alex. That is because Alex has already finished her development by the end. She has proven she is selfless at heart, when it counts. Not only that but she has saved the world and her family multiple times already. The one falling behind is really Justin. He is the one struggling to accept his siblings may be better than him at magic. He is the one who risks to break the family.

This is the real twist of the series. Initially, viewers are tricked to believe Justin is Jerry and Alex is Meghan. However, it becomes clear by the end that everything is not what it seems:

Alex has her father's big heart. Jerry has to give up magic for Theresa, while Alex has to win the competition for Mason. Moreover, she always prioritizes her family, even if it goes against her interests or the rules

Justin can be selfish, like his aunt. Meghan resents Jerry because he chooses Kelbo over her. In her eyes, this means her hard work is never aknowledged by her siblings. Similarly, Justin is the one who puts in the most effort in magic and wants this investment to pay off

So, Justin is tested to see if he can take a different path from his aunt. He succeeds and after some struggle the competition is resumed. By this point, Alex and Justin's difference becomes clear:

Alex is bad at theory, but she is great at practical magic. Not only that, but she racks up points in the second part of the competition because it focuses on magic used in the second part of the series. By then, Alex has become better at magic and less dependent on Justin

Justin is great at theory, but falls behind Alex when it comes to applying magic. He takes the lead in the first part of the tournament because it covers magic in early episodes, where his help was asked by Alex more

In the end, Alex performs better than Justin, but goes back to help him, which results in Justin's technical win. Once again, the narrative asks Justin which kind of person he is gonna become. Will he choose the wizard power or his bond with his sister? This is the same choice Stevie had to make btw. She chooses the powers and leaves her brother behind. Justin instead chooses what's right. He admits Alex was better than him and gives her the powers, so that she can be with Mason.

Alex proves her talent and shows she has more than enough heart to be the family wizard. Justin recognizes his limits, but sticks to what's right and is rewarded with full wizardly and his dream job at Wiztech. All 3 siblings get what they want:

Alex becomes the family wizard. Still, differently from Kelbo she has gained the title through effort and talent. Moreover, she can be with the love of her life

Justin becomes the principal of Wiztech. He leaves the family, just like Meghan. However, his bonds with his siblings are stronger than ever

Max becomes the owner of the Waverly Substation, just like Jerry. He ends up with the most down to heart approach to life, despite being often considered as the most over the top among his siblings. He shows instead he can be practical and smart

HEART, MIND AND BODY

Alex, Justin and Max's endings mirror their roles as heart, mind and body characters.

Alex is the heart of the family. She fights to keep the family together and when push comes to shove she prioritizes her loved ones. This is why she inherits the family magic. She is the embodyment of the family spirit.

Justin is the mind of the family. His knowledge comes in handy multiple times and he is the one the family goes to when there is some kind of crisis. He becomes a professor, so he can spread his knowledge to other people.

Max is the body of the family. He is often associated with food and fittingly becomes the owner of the Family Business. Not only that, but the sandwich shop is where the Russos' lair is. As it is pointed out several times, the lair is key for wizards. So, Max is entrusted with the physical domain of the Russos' magic. He may not be a wizard, but he is still key for the family.

All together, the 3 siblings make a unit, which is why the most powerful magic in the series is the one they use to defeat Gorog. As professor Crumbs explains, it is a charm, which is possible to perform only by 3 wizards siblings. Given how often wizards families are shattered, it is poignant it is such a rare and powerful spell. The Russos are able to use it because they will always choose each other over magic.

#wizards of waverly place #alex russo #justin russo #max russo #harper finkle #my meta

50 notes · View notes