First episode date: August 25, 1994. Final episode date: January 26, 1995. I know what you're thinking, not even a year, right? Sadly, that is correct. The short-lived, 19 episode mid-1990's television show "My So Called Life" was cut abruptly short, but nevertheless it is an accumulation of the deepest and darkest teen angst starring a young Claire Danes and Jared Leto. Realistically, what more could you ask for? In this case, the answer is nothing. Claire Danes stars as Angela Chase, a angst-filled high-schooler continually over-thinking, over-judging, and over-obsessing about life, friends, drugs, sex, and of course her maybe more than crush Jordan Catalano, played by a very young (and very good looking) Jared Leto.
There is more plaid, floral, patchwork patterned, acid washed denim, and Doc Marten boots in this series than every Urban Outfitters store across the world combined. Yet, those particular costume design choices just aid in encapsulating this series with the benchmark angst of the 90's. The grunge is felt not only in the clothing, but in the narration by the elusive main character Angela. A particularly favorite quote/scene of mine from this outstanding series has to be Angela's narration as she is looking at (casually stalking) Jordan in the hallway of school. As he is resting his head on a locker, Claire Dane's teen longing filled voice filters through to remark to Reyanne, her very edgy and hip best-friend, that "I just like how he's always leaning. Against stuff. He leans great." Now, this may seem like very sub-par dialogue, yet it is anything but that. It is dialogue that places emphasis on the seemingly mundane details that are really the important ones, the thoughts that we all have and sometimes are too afraid to speak out loud.
Watching this show first as an eighth grade 14 year-old girl I was enchanted by this extremely emotional, overly dramatic about everyday suburban issues girl who just wanted to be "understood" by her piers but she couldn't even understand herself. Or really she didn't even know who she was. And that is what made and makes this series truly great to this day, it's ability to understand the difficulty of character development at such a tender time in people's life. There is no straight arrow of a character doing something bad or wrong and then blandly saying "yes, I now understand the importance of doing the right thing" or even a certain character becoming a better person just to teach the audience a lesson. There is no adult "told you so" moment waiting in the cracks of this series, it is simply a television show that strives to connect with it's audiences based on the faults of all it's characters that, when reflecting on the series, are really the merits of the characters.
That ability to deeply connect with characters from a time so different from the age we are living in now, even though it is not even 25 years ago, is what keeps this cult classic relevant in the modern day. A young, handsome, and edgy Jared Leto (before the Thirty Seconds to Mars days) doesn't hurt either. So, if you haven't done it yet I strongly urge you to watch a forgotten angst-filled gem of mid-90's television, no matter how old, young, or dramatic you are. Because this short-lived 19 episode series is not something that should be tossed away and forgotten, it is something that should be kept alive.
