My So-Called Nostalgia
In the interest of living New Years Resolution #1, stuffing my head full of stories, I've been slowly making my way through all the old episodes of My So-Called Life.
Talk about a can of worms.
It's pretty easy to find, out there on the Internets, that a lot of people my age took that show to heart in much the same way that people took Harry Potter to heart.
When they canceled My So-Called Life, it was a clear signal that television wasn't meant for people like me.
Remember the sometimes useless, sometimes fascist Principal Foster? Did you ever notice that he had a framed photo of Bill Clinton on the wall behind his desk, and an old-fashioned paddle on the opposite wall?
Remember The Substitute? Didn't we all want to have a teacher like that?
Remember when we all dyed our hair that color? Remember when we used to wear plaid flannel shorts over tights? Remember the long flowered rayon dresses with combat boots and denim jackets? (God, I've got to stop. I'm going all young Dick Feagler on you.)
But what I loved best about MSCL was that the interior of Angela's high school was so depressing. The bathrooms were filthy, broken-down, garbage- and graffiti-strewn. It wasn't the cheery, sparkly, whitewashed suburban high school of today. It could've been my high school. My high school must have been designed specifically to suck the cheer out of you. It was dark and shabby. It was grimy. But it wasn't like normal grime, either. Remember Ghostbusters II? Where there's that goo underneath the streets that feeding on all the bad feelings of unhappy New Yorkers? That's what that grime was -- it was psychic grime, the residue of generations of adolescent misery.
Sheesh. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I need to go have a smoke.
Talk about a can of worms.
It's pretty easy to find, out there on the Internets, that a lot of people my age took that show to heart in much the same way that people took Harry Potter to heart.
When they canceled My So-Called Life, it was a clear signal that television wasn't meant for people like me.
Remember the sometimes useless, sometimes fascist Principal Foster? Did you ever notice that he had a framed photo of Bill Clinton on the wall behind his desk, and an old-fashioned paddle on the opposite wall?
Remember The Substitute? Didn't we all want to have a teacher like that?
Remember when we all dyed our hair that color? Remember when we used to wear plaid flannel shorts over tights? Remember the long flowered rayon dresses with combat boots and denim jackets? (God, I've got to stop. I'm going all young Dick Feagler on you.)
But what I loved best about MSCL was that the interior of Angela's high school was so depressing. The bathrooms were filthy, broken-down, garbage- and graffiti-strewn. It wasn't the cheery, sparkly, whitewashed suburban high school of today. It could've been my high school. My high school must have been designed specifically to suck the cheer out of you. It was dark and shabby. It was grimy. But it wasn't like normal grime, either. Remember Ghostbusters II? Where there's that goo underneath the streets that feeding on all the bad feelings of unhappy New Yorkers? That's what that grime was -- it was psychic grime, the residue of generations of adolescent misery.
Sheesh. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I need to go have a smoke.
posted by Christine at 12:40 PM
4 Comments:
Really nice work. Especially the psychic grime description. How do we overcome ourselves. Don't worry--you will never go all Feagler, unless you move to Bay Village. And then, I will hate you :)
I remember how upset my friends and I were that it was cancelled. It was such a great show.
Why doesn's CCPL or CPL have a copy for me to borrow????
You can suggest an item for purchase through the CPL site. CCPL probably doesn't have a copy b/c their collection is turning into McLibrary.
I'm just getting mine through Netflix, although you know what, I'm probably just going to buy the set.
People--call me 216-623-6920, if you need something. I hate to sound all haughty and all, but Clevnet/CPL system has 7 copies available to request and Cuyahoga County Public Library can order through MORE--albeit from Cuyahoga Falls or Westerville Ohio...don't assume your library doesn't carry something...
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