Celebrate Teen Angst!

On October 30, Shout! Factory will release the long awaited My So Called Life DVD collection. All 19 episodes of the series, an entire DVD of bonus features and archival footage, and a 40-page, full-color companion book make this the definitive collector's item for fans of the ABC television series. I must confess that the collection tops my holiday wish list.

"Lately I can't even look at my mother without wanting to stab her repeatedly," admits Angela Chase in the series pilot. What fifteen year old has not felt exactly the same way? Such was the appeal of My So Called Life to viewers when it aired for its only season in 1994. Capturing the bittersweet essence of teen angst, My So Called Life paved the way for the teen dramas that would come after. Before shows like Dawson's Creek and Party of Five became television hits, an entire generation of teens and twenty-something youth were captivated by Claire Danes and her portrayal of awkwardly beautiful, Angela Chase. Each week, the TV lives of Angela, Rickie, Rayanne, Jordan and Brian resounded with those of us who were desperately trying to find our way in the complex world of the 90's.

My So Called Life offered something that shows like Beverly Hills 90210 did not. I think, for me, I was drawn in by a sense of realism and honesty. The writing was brilliant, and I often felt that the characters were speaking for me, saying the things I needed to say but wasn't sure how to express. "It just seems like, you agree to have a certain personality or something. For no reason. Just to make things easier for everyone. But when you think about it, I mean, how do you know it's even you? And, I mean, this whole thing with yearbook -- it's like, everybody's in this big hurry to make this book, to supposedly remember what happened. Because if you made a book of what really happened, it'd be a really upsetting book." Words like those, spoken so naturally by Danes that they didn't even seem scripted, made me feel less like I was watching the lives of fictional characters and more like I was overhearing the conversation of friends. I'm sure I was not alone in my feelings of despair when the show was not renewed for a second season. And while, I refrained from writing hate mail to the "powers that be" at ABC, I do feel somewhat vindicated by the fact that the show has retained quite a following some thirteen years after the final episode aired.

Ms. Danes has gone on to bigger and better things from portraying Juliet in Baz Luhrman's screen adaptation of Shakespeare's most well-known work to her recent starring role in Evening. Even so, I will always love her best for her work on a television show that was cancelled before its time. I often wonder what would have become of Angela Chase as she completed her education at Liberty High. I guess we'll never truly know. Somehow I think she would have ended up very much the same as we all have in our own so called lives.

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Celebrate Teen Angst!