Unravelling My So-Called Life

My So-Called Life cast

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the amazing cult TV show, My So-Called Life, you are missing out.  It first aired on screens in 1994 (when I was in Kindergarten) but it was only in 2006 (and in Year Twelve) did I actually discover the show.  What made me watch a show which had been filmed 14 years earlier? Probably my adoration of Claire Danes, who plays 15 year-old Angela Chase in the series and who also narrates most the episodes. But it's the perfectly captured the raw emotion and the brilliantly truthful dialogue that keeps the series real and although the show only lasted one season, this is what makes you want to watch that one season over and over again.

The series doesn't just focus on the being a teen as other dramas do (the pains of being in high school, boy drama and the like), it goes deeper. It explores family dynamics - the different types of families and also inter-generational family dynamics.  It addresses and brings awareness to a number of social issues, homelessness; teenage alcohol and drug abuse and censorship, just to name a few.

What a well-rounded show, you say, that sounds like my kind of show, despite how old it is.  Yep, and that's even before I mention the eye candy. A young Jared Leto plays dreamy Jordan Catalano, the show's heart throb, dim-witted bad boy and object of Angela's affections. It's through the ups-and-downs of their relationship does the series best show off it's ability to evoke emotion and take you back to your teens.  And years later, when you should know better, you can't help but be in love with Jordan. Even when he breaks Angela's heart and stomps on it, or should I say romps on it (with her bestie)?

He's just so pretty...