My So Called Rewatch

It's all over hipster blogs by now, but My So Called Life is available on Hulu.

Oddly enough, one of my house guests happened to be carrying his DVD box set of this very same series a few weeks back, before I knew about the Hulu thing, and I begged to borrow it. I loved this show when I was in high school. I wanted to be Angela Chase. I wanted to make out with Jared Leto. I wanted to live in a suburban home with two "normal" parents and "normal" neighbors. I did not want to be getting up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for school, thence waiting on the crack vile strewn corner for the first of the 3 bus routes that I had to take to acquire my education. Hail Northeast! (Follow up note: I did not, however, wish to make the move to the suburbs between my Junior and Senior year. I actually wanted to live in one house/neighborhood from birth, so as to ensure that I had established friendships and social circles. Funny, I'm going off on a tangent that might require another post...short message to parents--DO NOT MOVE YOUR KIDS WHILE THEY ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL, THEY WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. EVER.)

Back to MYSCL. Magically, I loaded the series onto my computer for transference to my 32GB iPhone 3GS. (Thank you HandBrake and Apple for being awesome.) I've been watching episodes during my almost daily lunch break gym visits. And you know what? Sometimes, while watching, I want to pop Angela upside the head for her vapid stupidity. I also get pissed at the "happy family" dynamic and convenient plot resolutions contained in every episode. Yes, there is tension and teen angst, just not enough to make it "real," whatever that means. And finally, the way those kids speak...ugh. That was not my adolescent reality in the 90s. Honestly, it gets me through the workout, but I can't recapture that "loving the show" feeling that I know I had when I originally viewed it. I'm not sure if I'm upset about this or not. Maybe I've changed more than I thought I had.

One show that does hold up for me is Buffy. That show will rule for all time and eternity. The end.