My So Called Life
Okay, Okay, if you were anyone during the 90's (and I know I was) you partook in the wonderfulness that is My So Called Life. This evening after kickin' it with Poot (for his B-day) I went over to Drew's abode and watched said Prime Time program.
I believe it was made by the same folks that did 30 Something. In all honesty it was a good thing to do. I loved My So Called Life not only because I identified with the whole youth culture thing, but also because it captured the American family.
This leads me on to a further point: where is the American family today? What is it? Most parents these days get a divorce, and in all honesty if the show went on any further I believe the parents (Angela's) would have gotten a divorce. But that is beside the point.
The point is that My So Called Life was a show that tapped into the Zeitgeist of a generation. But not only did it tap into that it touched the parental culture as well. How do I know this? The shows my family would watch together were "The Wonder Years", "Real World" (specifically San Fransisco{Pedro, saddness!}), and "My So Called Life."
All these shows tapped into something. It tapped into the joys and fears of all of us. It tapped into the fears and joys of our parents; it tapped into the fears and joys of ourselves as kids. It grabbed you by the guts.
I was young for the show. I think I must have been 11 or maybe 13 when the first (and last) season of "My So Called Life" aired, but it touched me. As a "fringe" person my whole life I needed something like this show that said "Hey, its okay to be the weird kid on campus. Its okay to be confused about sex and life because that is what is actually normal." It helped form my opinions of being young and about girls (I totally would have hooked up with Rayanne.)
But, in the end, it was just another T.V. show, right? Or was it? I believe that the show "failed" because it was too real. It hit to close to home. And all the "flyover state, middle American peeps (idiots) could not handle the truth of the world." Life is hard and fucked up. People get fucked up, kids do drugs, kids are gay, and nothing is as you want it to be. So, that's life, right? Take it or leave it. And that is what is fucked up America in the first place. Americans can't take life.
I was lucky because I had hippies for parents. They wanted me to learn about life. They wanted me to watch the right films and shows. I watched "The Graduate," and "Easy Rider," I watched "Jaws" with my father and "When Harry Met Sally" with my mom; I was exposed to what film and art should be. Maybe I'm wrong, but whatever. My So Called Life was still a great show.