What I love about the short-lived series My So-Called Life (1993) is that it understands me more than I understand myself. My life isn’t exactly the same as Angela Chase’s, but I see the same feelings and conversations manifested in her character, almost frighteningly. I just listen to her voice over during scenes thinking, “That’s so me.”
Gracias to www.boston.com
The show is about Angela, an awkward 15-year-old living in the Pittsburgh suburbs. She’s in a transitional stage, moving away from her innocent childhood best friend toward the edgier club hopping, hip flask-swilling, class-ditching Rayanne and bisexual Ricky. They convince her to dye her hair “crimson glow” to mark the dawn of her new life.
Angela is in love with a boy at school: Jordan Catalano. She loves the way he is always closing his eyes and leaning against stuff. He’s the quintessential bad boy with a secret learning disability. Then there’s Brian, her neighbor. He’s the dorky guy with big curly hair who answers every question in class. It is often said that whether you rooted for Jordan or Brian is very telling of your personality.
Gracias to guardian.co.uk
My So-Called Life is famously known as a show canceled way before its time. It was pulled after one short season. What a shame. The show is very true-to-life; it almost seems like the screenwriters are transcribing real life moments they had in high school. Instead of dealing with teen issues in “A Very Special Episode of…” style, things like school violence, same-sex parenting, teenage alcoholism, drug use, and the pressure to have sex are woven into the plot naturally. Seriously, shows that proclaim to uncover the Secret Life of the American Teenager can gtfo, because they are completely far fetched.
Where was I? Ah, yes. All the characters are sympathetic and often misunderstood souls, each given his or her due character development. From Angela’s schoolmates to her parents, the creators really took the time to let the characters exist in their own skin, as real people with real problems. Even though it came out over 15 years ago, the show is just as fresh, honest, and relevant today as it ever was.
Here are Angela’s thoughts on sex:
Angela: [narrating] I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The, like, fact that – that people – had sex. That they just *had* it, like sex was this thing people – *had*, like a rash. Or a – a Rottweiler. Everything started to seem like, pornographic or something. Like, Mrs. Krysanowski has sex. So does Mr. Katimsky. They both have sex. They could – have sex together. Like right now.
[groans]
The DVD set came out in 2007, if you want to check it out. There are also full episodes on YouTube.
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So who’d YOU root for?
How’d you find this series!?
I think you need some “these movies and shows suck” posts, otherwise my list is going to be incredibly long by the time break starts and I won’t get to watch it all =[