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Pop Classics #6
In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life
A smart, engaging investigation of the show that brought real teens to TV
My So-Called Life lasted only 19 episodes from 1994 to 1995, but in that time it earned many devoted viewers, including the showrunners who would usher in the teen TV boom of the late ’90s and the new millennium. With its focus on 15-year-old Angela Chase’s search for her identity, MSCL’s realistic representation of adolescence on TV was groundbreaking; without her there would be no Buffy or Felicity, Rory Gilmore or Veronica Mars.
The series’ broadcast coincided with the arrival of third-wave feminism, the first feminist movement to make teen voices a priority, and Angela became their small-screen spokesperson. From her perspective, MSCL explored gender, identity, sexuality, race, class, body image, and other issues vital to the third wave (and the world).
To this day, passionate fans dissect everything from what Rickie Vasquez did for gay representation to what Jordan Catalano did for leaning, and Soraya Roberts makes an invaluable contribution to that conversation with In My Humble Opinion.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2016
4 people are currently reading
371 people want to read
About the author
Soraya Roberts
3 books17 followersI’m a Toronto-based writer who specializes in long-form culture. My first book is In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life (ECW Press) and I am currently working on a memoir (like everyone else). My writing has appeared in The New York Times, Hazlitt, and Vanity Fair, among others.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 6, 2016
"Red is the color of revolution."
(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review from ECW Press.)
"When I think about My So-Called Life," WB regular Greg Berlanti told Entertainment Weekly, "I think about that line in Star Wars, when Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Darth Vader, 'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.' That's exactly what happened here."
My So-Called Life hit the airwaves on August 25, 1994 - just weeks before I started my junior year of high school. From the first frame - "Go, now, go!" - I was hooked. I still remember the excitement of watching the pilot, on the ancient, staticky hand-me-down tv propped atop my sister's dresser. (We shared a room. It was literal hell.) It was like someone had scrabbled through my brain, gathered all the best bits, and stitched them into the unlikeliest script ever. I knew, without a doubt, that I couldn't be the only kid watching who felt this way. This was something new, something special. Something downright revolutionary. Like, what was ABC thinking?
I wanted to be wild like Rayanne, yet quiet and introspective like Angela. I dyed my hair red and took to toting around a ginormous purse stuffed with all sorts of ephemera and random clutter. I skipped school, drank liquor spiked with Kool-aid, and wore the most outlandish outfits I could come up with: forest green corduroy pants and a vintage mint green polyester top one day; a slip as a skirt or a camisole as a shirt the next. A weird mix of hippie chick and slutty goth. I lusted after Jordan, even though I had my own version (but not, like, really) IRL.
Though it only lasted one season, My So-Called Life stayed with me forever. It's one of a handful of shows from my childhood that's [strike]held up over time[/strike] gotten better with age. Now I'm thirty-eight - much closer in age to Patty than Angela - and I think I appreciate it more than ever. Or at least understand it on a different level. The opening credits still make my heart skip a beat, anyway.
Enter: In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life. Written by fellow fangirl Soraya Roberts, IMHO is one of just two (TWO!) academic books about MSCL. (The other being Dear Angela: Remembering My So-Called Life , edited by Michele Byers and David Lavery and, frustratingly, not currently available in an ebook format.)
Roberts turns a critical feminist lens on the show, exploring how it dealt with issues such as gender, sexism, class, race, and sexuality:
Chapter 1, "A Toaster or Something," places MSCL in its historical, third-wave feminist context; its emphasis on self-expression as activism makes the personal political, giving that oft-overlooked demographic - teenagers - a shiny new voice. (Remember, this was back in the olden days, before the Internet was commonplace. My family didn't get dial-up until 1996.)
Chapter 2, "It Hurts to Look at You," deals with the show's use of, challenge of, and exploration of beauty, fashion, and identity. "None of MSCL's central female characters are presented as ideals of beauty, because ideals of beauty don't exist here."
Rayanne takes center stage in Chapter 3, "That Rude Girl," which delves into Angela and Rayanne's complicated friendship (and the Chase's relation to Rayanne and her mom Amber) through the filter of class. As Roberts points out, real sisterhood means that you're equal - and Angela and Rayanne clearly aren't: "Even in her own life, Rayanne is less important than Angela." My mind itches to know what the writers might have had in store for them going forward.
Rickie gets his due in Chapter 4, "I Belong Nowhere," which asks the question: "who is Rickie?" To Angela and Patty, Rickie (and Rayanne) is often seen as a project - though one taken on with ambivalence (see: Patty's reaction to an abused and homeless Rickie in the Christmas episode). To the viewers, he's often invisible - just like he is to his friends and peers. To ABC's Standards & Practices department, he was simply too effeminate (and thus confusing) for mass consumption.
In Chapter 5, "How to be a Man," Roberts looks at how Brian and Jordon - seemingly polar opposites - both conform to and challenge male gender norms. Though he often comes off like a typical alpha male, there's more to pretty-boy Jordan Catalano than meets the eye; he's "more Edwards Scissorhands than Paul Bunyan." Meanwhile, Brian is more similar to Angela than she'd like to admit; perhaps this is why she loathes him so?
Chapter 6, "Sex or a Conversation," argues that sex is a conversation - and what it says is often dependent on gender and stereotypes. In Angela, Rayanne, and Sharon, MSCL presents us with three essentializing versions of female sexuality - the innocent, the slut, and the conformist - only to bust them wide open.
Angels' nuclear family - Patty, Graham, and Danielle - are the "Strangers in the House" in Chapter 7. Among other things, Roberts considers how Angela's breasts - a symbol of her womanhood - come between her and Graham; how the Patty-Graham dyad bucks traditional gender roles; and the ways in which Patty and Angela's relationship is a metaphor for the conflicts between second- and third-wave feminism.
Chapter 8, "Go, Now, Go" looks at MSCL's lasting effect on pop culture, from Daria (similar in tone to MSCL, but arguably more successful because its presentation is less threatening in animated form) to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which Joss Whedon described as My So-Called Life meets The X-Files).
Though it's a little shorter than I'd like (see: the dearth of similar books!), IMHO is a thoughtful, engaging look at MSCL. While it definitely has an academic bent, it's still suitable for lay readers (but a working knowledge of feminist theory is a big plus. Also, if you haven't seen the show in awhile, you may want to brush up with an episode guide.) I'm not sure I agree with everything - sometimes I think Roberts is a little too lenient re: the show's more problematic aspects (see, e.g. Rickie's marginalization; of course, we don't know how this might have played out in later seasons!) - it still got me thinking.
It's been years since I watched the entire series in order, and I was pleasantly surprised by all the new-to-me information and avenues of exploration I found here. As I said, I wasn't on the internet when the show first aired. By the time my parents finally made the plunge, I was in college and didn't have time to read fansites or participate on message boards. Though I adored the show, I missed out on the fan-participation angle that we all take for granted now.
I learned that Claire Danes was just thirteen when she shot the pilot (!), and that the actors' ages and experiences heavily influenced the direction of the show. For example, due to her juvenile schedule, Danes wasn't always available; this led the writers to feature the adults, including Patty and Graham, more heavily in the plot. Though I didn't consciously process it at the time, MSCL uses fashion, internal monologues, and voice-overs in interesting and meaningful ways; for instance, Roberts points out that our narrator often doesn't see Rickie, even when his experiences glaringly mirror her own (e.g., Rickie's crush on Jordan). Angela's biases force us to confront our own.
Along with Freaks & Geeks and Firefly, My So-Called Life's early death is one I continue to mourn. IMHO is an exciting and introspective celebration of its short life and lasting legacy.
Read with: the My So-Called Life box set in arm's reach, because you'll want to binge watch it the second you're done!
http://www.easyvegan.info/2016/08/05/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review from ECW Press.)
"When I think about My So-Called Life," WB regular Greg Berlanti told Entertainment Weekly, "I think about that line in Star Wars, when Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Darth Vader, 'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.' That's exactly what happened here."
My So-Called Life hit the airwaves on August 25, 1994 - just weeks before I started my junior year of high school. From the first frame - "Go, now, go!" - I was hooked. I still remember the excitement of watching the pilot, on the ancient, staticky hand-me-down tv propped atop my sister's dresser. (We shared a room. It was literal hell.) It was like someone had scrabbled through my brain, gathered all the best bits, and stitched them into the unlikeliest script ever. I knew, without a doubt, that I couldn't be the only kid watching who felt this way. This was something new, something special. Something downright revolutionary. Like, what was ABC thinking?
I wanted to be wild like Rayanne, yet quiet and introspective like Angela. I dyed my hair red and took to toting around a ginormous purse stuffed with all sorts of ephemera and random clutter. I skipped school, drank liquor spiked with Kool-aid, and wore the most outlandish outfits I could come up with: forest green corduroy pants and a vintage mint green polyester top one day; a slip as a skirt or a camisole as a shirt the next. A weird mix of hippie chick and slutty goth. I lusted after Jordan, even though I had my own version (but not, like, really) IRL.
Though it only lasted one season, My So-Called Life stayed with me forever. It's one of a handful of shows from my childhood that's [strike]held up over time[/strike] gotten better with age. Now I'm thirty-eight - much closer in age to Patty than Angela - and I think I appreciate it more than ever. Or at least understand it on a different level. The opening credits still make my heart skip a beat, anyway.
Enter: In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life. Written by fellow fangirl Soraya Roberts, IMHO is one of just two (TWO!) academic books about MSCL. (The other being Dear Angela: Remembering My So-Called Life , edited by Michele Byers and David Lavery and, frustratingly, not currently available in an ebook format.)
Roberts turns a critical feminist lens on the show, exploring how it dealt with issues such as gender, sexism, class, race, and sexuality:
Chapter 1, "A Toaster or Something," places MSCL in its historical, third-wave feminist context; its emphasis on self-expression as activism makes the personal political, giving that oft-overlooked demographic - teenagers - a shiny new voice. (Remember, this was back in the olden days, before the Internet was commonplace. My family didn't get dial-up until 1996.)
Chapter 2, "It Hurts to Look at You," deals with the show's use of, challenge of, and exploration of beauty, fashion, and identity. "None of MSCL's central female characters are presented as ideals of beauty, because ideals of beauty don't exist here."
Rayanne takes center stage in Chapter 3, "That Rude Girl," which delves into Angela and Rayanne's complicated friendship (and the Chase's relation to Rayanne and her mom Amber) through the filter of class. As Roberts points out, real sisterhood means that you're equal - and Angela and Rayanne clearly aren't: "Even in her own life, Rayanne is less important than Angela." My mind itches to know what the writers might have had in store for them going forward.
Rickie gets his due in Chapter 4, "I Belong Nowhere," which asks the question: "who is Rickie?" To Angela and Patty, Rickie (and Rayanne) is often seen as a project - though one taken on with ambivalence (see: Patty's reaction to an abused and homeless Rickie in the Christmas episode). To the viewers, he's often invisible - just like he is to his friends and peers. To ABC's Standards & Practices department, he was simply too effeminate (and thus confusing) for mass consumption.
In Chapter 5, "How to be a Man," Roberts looks at how Brian and Jordon - seemingly polar opposites - both conform to and challenge male gender norms. Though he often comes off like a typical alpha male, there's more to pretty-boy Jordan Catalano than meets the eye; he's "more Edwards Scissorhands than Paul Bunyan." Meanwhile, Brian is more similar to Angela than she'd like to admit; perhaps this is why she loathes him so?
Chapter 6, "Sex or a Conversation," argues that sex is a conversation - and what it says is often dependent on gender and stereotypes. In Angela, Rayanne, and Sharon, MSCL presents us with three essentializing versions of female sexuality - the innocent, the slut, and the conformist - only to bust them wide open.
Angels' nuclear family - Patty, Graham, and Danielle - are the "Strangers in the House" in Chapter 7. Among other things, Roberts considers how Angela's breasts - a symbol of her womanhood - come between her and Graham; how the Patty-Graham dyad bucks traditional gender roles; and the ways in which Patty and Angela's relationship is a metaphor for the conflicts between second- and third-wave feminism.
Chapter 8, "Go, Now, Go" looks at MSCL's lasting effect on pop culture, from Daria (similar in tone to MSCL, but arguably more successful because its presentation is less threatening in animated form) to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which Joss Whedon described as My So-Called Life meets The X-Files).
Though it's a little shorter than I'd like (see: the dearth of similar books!), IMHO is a thoughtful, engaging look at MSCL. While it definitely has an academic bent, it's still suitable for lay readers (but a working knowledge of feminist theory is a big plus. Also, if you haven't seen the show in awhile, you may want to brush up with an episode guide.) I'm not sure I agree with everything - sometimes I think Roberts is a little too lenient re: the show's more problematic aspects (see, e.g. Rickie's marginalization; of course, we don't know how this might have played out in later seasons!) - it still got me thinking.
It's been years since I watched the entire series in order, and I was pleasantly surprised by all the new-to-me information and avenues of exploration I found here. As I said, I wasn't on the internet when the show first aired. By the time my parents finally made the plunge, I was in college and didn't have time to read fansites or participate on message boards. Though I adored the show, I missed out on the fan-participation angle that we all take for granted now.
I learned that Claire Danes was just thirteen when she shot the pilot (!), and that the actors' ages and experiences heavily influenced the direction of the show. For example, due to her juvenile schedule, Danes wasn't always available; this led the writers to feature the adults, including Patty and Graham, more heavily in the plot. Though I didn't consciously process it at the time, MSCL uses fashion, internal monologues, and voice-overs in interesting and meaningful ways; for instance, Roberts points out that our narrator often doesn't see Rickie, even when his experiences glaringly mirror her own (e.g., Rickie's crush on Jordan). Angela's biases force us to confront our own.
Along with Freaks & Geeks and Firefly, My So-Called Life's early death is one I continue to mourn. IMHO is an exciting and introspective celebration of its short life and lasting legacy.
Read with: the My So-Called Life box set in arm's reach, because you'll want to binge watch it the second you're done!
http://www.easyvegan.info/2016/08/05/...
Read
February 26, 2017I became acquainted with Soraya Roberts at a panel for The Secret Loves of Geek Girls and was thrilled to learn she was writing this book about a show that premiered the same week I began high school in a strange town. It felt like serendipity as each episode unfolded in time to my home life and privilege changing dramatically. My social (and romantic) status non-existent, my economic status poor, I rode the line between Angela and Rayanne. Before long, my well-worn VHS recordings of MSCL were one of few places I could find solace.
Twenty-plus years later, I have lost count of the number of times I've returned to MSCL like a security blanket. I never fail to notice things I hadn't before, honing insight into why this particular show resonated so much with me. This includes my most recent binge (which I began immediately after ordering this book) where I saw myself ageing out of identifying with Angela and into solidarity with Patty. As I watched the final episode, my heart still ached over the wasted potential of a longer series, but simultaneously relished the fact that nothing will ever ruin it for me - it will never jump the shark.
The book arrived today (fittingly on the anniversary of the the show's premiere) and was devoured in an afternoon. The author's insights are woven with commentary from "the" feminist voices of the last four decades and interviews from the very people who made MSCL a phenomenon, which gave me a new appreciation for the barriers broken by the show's creators, writers, cast and crew to beget some of my favourite teen-centric series and female heroines of all time. It is also a wonderful antidote for anyone who, like myself, is over 21st century "celebrity feminism" that uses trendy buzz-words to enhance personal status without actually doing or saying anything to advance the actual movement for a new generation. Instead of driving me further away from the F Word, it has driven me closer. And THAT, let me tell you, is a feat in and of itself.
Twenty-plus years later, I have lost count of the number of times I've returned to MSCL like a security blanket. I never fail to notice things I hadn't before, honing insight into why this particular show resonated so much with me. This includes my most recent binge (which I began immediately after ordering this book) where I saw myself ageing out of identifying with Angela and into solidarity with Patty. As I watched the final episode, my heart still ached over the wasted potential of a longer series, but simultaneously relished the fact that nothing will ever ruin it for me - it will never jump the shark.
The book arrived today (fittingly on the anniversary of the the show's premiere) and was devoured in an afternoon. The author's insights are woven with commentary from "the" feminist voices of the last four decades and interviews from the very people who made MSCL a phenomenon, which gave me a new appreciation for the barriers broken by the show's creators, writers, cast and crew to beget some of my favourite teen-centric series and female heroines of all time. It is also a wonderful antidote for anyone who, like myself, is over 21st century "celebrity feminism" that uses trendy buzz-words to enhance personal status without actually doing or saying anything to advance the actual movement for a new generation. Instead of driving me further away from the F Word, it has driven me closer. And THAT, let me tell you, is a feat in and of itself.
May 31, 2022
In the 90s a smart, engaging show about real teens aired from 1994 to 1995 - My So Called Life (MSCL). This shows realistic representation of adolescence was groundbreaking - without Angela Chase you wouldn’t have had Buffy/Felicity/Veronica Mars/Rory Gilmore. MSCL explored gender, race, identity, sexuality, class, body image and other issues vital to the feminist movement. To this day passionate fans dissect teenagehood, what Rickie Vasquez did for gay representation and Jordan Catalano’s lean. From serious topics to girl crush moments Roberts dives into MSCL.
These Pop Classics have become such a fun dive into consuming non fiction pop culture phenomena in a bite sized piece. In this edition we dive into MSCL and how it affected a wide audience even though it only lasted one season. I remember finding a dvd of the show at my local library in the early 2000s when I myself was a teen. It was exactly what I needed and stuck with me all these years. There wasn’t another show that went into such depths that resonated with me - except maybe Freaks and Geeks but even so, Angela’s angst reached me on another level.
This was written well and did in depth recaps for episodes 1-8 and how each episode spoke to race, gender, sexism, class and sexuality through a feminist lens. This was a fairly succinct textual analysis of the show that included interviews, quotes from the show itself and third sources. I enjoyed this nostalgic trip down memory lane and am still sad this show ended so abruptly, 3✨.
These Pop Classics have become such a fun dive into consuming non fiction pop culture phenomena in a bite sized piece. In this edition we dive into MSCL and how it affected a wide audience even though it only lasted one season. I remember finding a dvd of the show at my local library in the early 2000s when I myself was a teen. It was exactly what I needed and stuck with me all these years. There wasn’t another show that went into such depths that resonated with me - except maybe Freaks and Geeks but even so, Angela’s angst reached me on another level.
This was written well and did in depth recaps for episodes 1-8 and how each episode spoke to race, gender, sexism, class and sexuality through a feminist lens. This was a fairly succinct textual analysis of the show that included interviews, quotes from the show itself and third sources. I enjoyed this nostalgic trip down memory lane and am still sad this show ended so abruptly, 3✨.
November 15, 2016
Pretty straight forward textual analysis. There's nothing new here. All quotes from past interviews/sources, presented with minimal comment from author. It's a quick read.
ETA: Downgraded from 3 to 2 stars (debated giving a 1). I thought it was an okay read, nothing special, but not terrible. I usually don't write reviews on here, and unfortunately I decided to write a little blurb. I did not do this to get a passive aggressive reply or grief from the author. For the record, I don't think any GR author should respond to the reviews of their work they disagree with. I read the book. Unless stated otherwise, I understood the work, and gave an honest review. I'm not murdering your puppy, or bullying you in the schoolyard. It seems unprofessional and unnecessary to make a reply to my post, especially since it wasn't to truly engage with a reader, but to shame them for not loving your work.
ETA: Downgraded from 3 to 2 stars (debated giving a 1). I thought it was an okay read, nothing special, but not terrible. I usually don't write reviews on here, and unfortunately I decided to write a little blurb. I did not do this to get a passive aggressive reply or grief from the author. For the record, I don't think any GR author should respond to the reviews of their work they disagree with. I read the book. Unless stated otherwise, I understood the work, and gave an honest review. I'm not murdering your puppy, or bullying you in the schoolyard. It seems unprofessional and unnecessary to make a reply to my post, especially since it wasn't to truly engage with a reader, but to shame them for not loving your work.
November 5, 2018
This show was big in my life as I am the same age as Angela Chase (and Claire Danes). It was nice to reminisce about the show. Short and a lot of reliance on other sources, but definitely entertaining.
June 22, 2024
I AM ANGELA CHASE AND ANGELA CHASE IS ME
April 22, 2018
I'm loving this popclassics series by ECW, having just read the Borderlands one, because it gives me glimpses into such different pop classics in an extremely easy, very readable fashion. I grew up with an older sister obsessed with My So-Called Life and I would be the petulant younger brother who would try to watch the show with her and she would try to shoo me away. So having never really watched the show in full but just secondhand in glimpses or in conversation, this really provided an interesting analysis of the show and I can see start to understand why my sister adored it so much.
December 11, 2016
Eh. This book could have been more academic, or more poppy. Maybe it was too short, and it could have gone farther if the author had more space. But, at the end of the day, it was a disappointing, if quick and semi-enjoyable read. It's fun to geek out with someone about MSCL, even when you disagree with their interpretations, but, being unable to disagree with Soraya Roberts to her face and being puzzled by some of her interpretations was frustrating. For example, in Chapter 2: It Hurts to Look at You, Ms. Roberts goes in-depth about representation and experimentation with different identities as a subtext in MSCL. Reading that left me baffled as to why we weren't talking about representation and imitation in the text of the show ("Why are you crying like Angela?"), as it's clearly one of the themes of the show ("She wants to be Angela.") and while it's sometimes less blatantly expressed it could be dealt with more broadly, especially the scene where Angela does her hair like Rayanne and asks Corey for a drink. Also, Ms. Roberts says Corey has a thing for Rayanne. I always thought Corey had a thing for Rickie. What kind of straight man paints girls' shoes? (And why does anyone have a thing for Corey? He has no face.)
Another odd interpretation of Ms. Roberts was in the pilot, when Brian says, "What, like sexual harassment?" and Angela says, "No, like guys." Ms. Roberts takes that to mean that guys and sexual harassment are interchangeable. I always understood that conversation to mean that Angela was negating her own fear from that night and turning the situation from a potential assault to an adventure, following Rayanne's lead. Angela knows Brian is picturing a black and white "That's sexual harassment and I don't have to take it" commercial situation and she saw it as something more real than that: She was in no specific danger because she was never going to get in that car, her best friend was drunk and flirting, the man's friend was a decent adult on some level and she saw that, meanwhile there was danger but not as clear-cut as being attacked in an alley. She reclaimed agency in the story of that night by saying, "No, guys." Ms. Roberts interpretation is also valid, but I found it striking to see the scene read so differently.
Ms. Roberts was also wrong at times. She says Rickie was kicked out of his uncle's house for coming out, but he wasn't. He didn't come out for another half dozen episodes and when he did, he came out to Delia. He was simply kicked out of his uncle's house for being Ricky. Ms. Roberts also repeatedly refers to Angela as suburban. She isn't. If Angela was suburban, she would go to a better school. My parents, and millions of other middle class white people, stayed in the cities despite crime and white flight and we are committed to our cities. Angela, in her turn-of-the-century house in a neighborhood with sidewalks on a bus route, appears to live in an affluent area of Pittsburgh proper. Being fictional, MSCL is only somewhat rooted in place, but America has an urban middle class and we are proud to be that.
That said, I didn't dislike reading this book. It was fun to get a third wave reading of MSCL, even if I disagreed with the way things were presented. I liked Ms. Roberts' interpretation of Graham and Patty and especially her reading on Patty as a martyr mom, a woman with second wave roots unable to reconcile her beliefs with her own life. Patty's relationship with Rickie and the idea of Rickie was brief, but provided good context for that part of queer history and hetero response.
Three stars.
Another odd interpretation of Ms. Roberts was in the pilot, when Brian says, "What, like sexual harassment?" and Angela says, "No, like guys." Ms. Roberts takes that to mean that guys and sexual harassment are interchangeable. I always understood that conversation to mean that Angela was negating her own fear from that night and turning the situation from a potential assault to an adventure, following Rayanne's lead. Angela knows Brian is picturing a black and white "That's sexual harassment and I don't have to take it" commercial situation and she saw it as something more real than that: She was in no specific danger because she was never going to get in that car, her best friend was drunk and flirting, the man's friend was a decent adult on some level and she saw that, meanwhile there was danger but not as clear-cut as being attacked in an alley. She reclaimed agency in the story of that night by saying, "No, guys." Ms. Roberts interpretation is also valid, but I found it striking to see the scene read so differently.
Ms. Roberts was also wrong at times. She says Rickie was kicked out of his uncle's house for coming out, but he wasn't. He didn't come out for another half dozen episodes and when he did, he came out to Delia. He was simply kicked out of his uncle's house for being Ricky. Ms. Roberts also repeatedly refers to Angela as suburban. She isn't. If Angela was suburban, she would go to a better school. My parents, and millions of other middle class white people, stayed in the cities despite crime and white flight and we are committed to our cities. Angela, in her turn-of-the-century house in a neighborhood with sidewalks on a bus route, appears to live in an affluent area of Pittsburgh proper. Being fictional, MSCL is only somewhat rooted in place, but America has an urban middle class and we are proud to be that.
That said, I didn't dislike reading this book. It was fun to get a third wave reading of MSCL, even if I disagreed with the way things were presented. I liked Ms. Roberts' interpretation of Graham and Patty and especially her reading on Patty as a martyr mom, a woman with second wave roots unable to reconcile her beliefs with her own life. Patty's relationship with Rickie and the idea of Rickie was brief, but provided good context for that part of queer history and hetero response.
Three stars.
February 26, 2017
This was a good book. I liked how the chapters were divided. I thought the last chapter with My So Called Life's influence on other teen shows and basically all of the WB was interesting. It was cool seeing Greg Berlanti be a fan.
March 20, 2021
If you're still a fan of My So-Called Life like I am (even though it was canceled 26 years ago because ABC is stupid ) then this small but mighty book is worth your time! But be sure you have the DVD box set or you know where to go to watch the episodes because reading In My Humble Opinion will make you want to watch and fall in love with the show (and Jordan Catalano) all over again!
May 26, 2019
At times it was hard to tell if the writer, you know, actually liked Angela Chase or saw her as, like, a privileged primadonna. Or maybe it was both? But as someone else stated, it was fun to reminisce about a series that meant so much to me and my friends. I still have the soundtrack on CD.
Read
June 27, 2020I had fun reading this, reliving one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Roberts does a great job of weaving lines and scenes from the show with feminist theory and other information about pop culture. Def worth the read if you're a fan.
April 2, 2019
Finally some academic analysis for MSCL that I can find at my public library!
August 12, 2020
Thoughtful analysis of My So Called Life as it relates to feminism, gender roles, sexuality and more. If you were a fan of this too short lived show, you will for sure enjoy this book.
June 1, 2024
This book was ok, but I did not need something academic. I was was craving something more nostalgic.
September 15, 2017
This book was a good analysis of the power of My So Called Life, and the characters. I really enjoyed this, and it made me think about the show and how good it was. The analysis was quite good, and the author obviously did a lot of research. In fact, I'd like to write a book for the pop classics series, and the amount of research and analysis done here, intimidated me.
I think I need to do a My So Called Life re-watch at one point.
I think I need to do a My So Called Life re-watch at one point.
August 6, 2016
I am a feminist and the first show that I ever really loved was My So-Called Life. This book combines both of these things. I highly recommend! It was nice to reflect on My So-Called Life after all these years and see how unbeknownst to me this show probably strengthened my feminist ideals. It really made me think and I greatly appreciate when a book has that kind of impact.
August 28, 2017
For those of us that grew up watching the show,In my humble opinion. My so called life, this is a great read. A background on the history of the show and it's characters
June 24, 2017
Short and sweet, about 100 pages of delightful intellectualization of one of my favorite shows. It made me feel like an insider and made me look at the show in some surprising new ways.
August 31, 2018
Nice mix of academic exegesis and cultural history. I particularly enjoyed the placing of the show in the context of 1990s third wave feminism.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews