baerbelleksa

For people who were in high school during the time MTV’s My So-Called Life aired, for people who were adults and parents, and people who were too young to be allowed to watch MTV and only happened upon the show through word-of-mouth recommendations years later, it’s a significant piece of work.  The acting is top-notch, the casting is excellent.  The writing is great as well.Claire Danes is actually 15 years old in the pilot of this excellent show, and this is only the first of many choices the show’s writers and producers made that resulted in a spot-on, true life depiction of what it meant to be a teenager in the mid-nineties. Jared Leto also made a striking debut as Danes’s character Angela Chase’s love interest, and he was as beautiful and dreamy then as he’s ever been.Overall, I would argue that the integrity of My So-Called Life takes root in its veracity, in the attention to detail it displays. The series was not afraid to address issues of homosexuality in a high school format when it was much more taboo to do so than it is today, and it did so in an empathetic way. This show was on before Ellen was mainstream, and it made bold choices for its time.  Issues like gun use in schools, and teenage alcohol and drug use were also brought to the fore, and during a time when most television programs were afraid to touch them.It’s interesting, too, in that the show’s meaning tends to evolve for people as they age.  I remember watching the show when I was younger and being completely disinterested in the parents’ story lines, but as I’ve gotten a bit older, I’ve become more engaged with those parts of the show.  As an adult, I’m better able to identify with the adults.  And I still find that Claire Danes’s depiction of Angela is very like I was at that age - very like many of us.The show was cancelled prematurely, after only one season, despite critical acclaim.  It was the victim of low ratings and frequently shifting broadcasting time slots.  But even still, the people who know the show tend to really love it.  The quality of My So-Called Life was so high because of its honesty about the human experience, and for that reason it spoke to people of many ages, and it continues to do so today.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS