My So-Called Life "Guns and Gossip" 1x3 Reaction
Added 2021-10-13 03:52:16 +0000 UTC
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mFxwKWcKnH9RLib8Ys3W6cI5d-y_azks/view?usp=sharing
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Comments
I graduated in 2000 and I loved this show! It definitely feels real and was very relatable back then which is why it did have such a following even with only one season. I remember being SO mad when it got canceled. I am glad you enjoyed the episode😃
Sherry Garcia
2021-10-14 06:13:30 +0000 UTC:-)
Christine
2021-10-13 23:21:39 +0000 UTCI'm laughing at myself right now because I kept having so many thoughts watching this reaction that I started taking notes. First a few random thoughts. One, there had been a few small incidents of shootings in schools at this time, but I would say most of the concern about guns was more individual crime related than mass shooter. This was four to five years before Columbine. Yes, AIDS was still scary, This was about the first year that a combination of drugs outside of AZT was first approved to treat HIV, so there was still a huge scary stigma. Seeing you groove to the Cranberries made me laugh because Brian is watching Derry Girls which has SO much Cranberries in its soundtrack. Watching this now, when Angela talks about the JFK assassination and not having a generational touchstone like that I winced because I had a conversation about that with a friend in the summer of 2001. Be careful what you wish for Angela. Character wise, while Rayanne is annoying and irresponsible, we did get a look into her in this one and learn that she is very protective and loyal towards her friends. She obviously was genuinely concerned for Ricky and even confronted Jordan about the rumor in defense of Angela. She and Jordan are definitely characters that are pretty unsympathetic before we get to know them better. As for Jordan, there were two issues that really stood out to me in this one. One, how sexual politics between guys and girls was so shockingly unevolved in the 90s in retrospect. Having been a teen then, it feels normal to see terrible behavior from male characters in media from the 70s and 80s, but the 90s, although better in some ways, was still pretty shit. Both this and Clueless came out at about the same time and while both Angela and Cher push off advances and pressure from Jordan and the rich douche in that movie, neither of them is conditioned to see those couple of follow up attempts beyond a rejection as objectionable and wrong. It's fucked up. But many girls were totally brought up to expect that kind of behavior and as long as it wasn't violent or they weren't touching a "zone" then it was supposed to be fine. I knew girls who were borderline date raped by guys they continued to be friends with. It's really sad, but Angela still having a crush on Jordan when he treats her that way is completely believable. And Jordan is like many guys of that generation who were brought up with a virgin/whore complex. Hence how suddenly every guy sees Angela as a new enigma when the seeming "nice girl" might be "easy". There's a moment when one of the cops smiles at her (probably innocently) and she clearly feels threatened by it because of the way that it seems all of the guys are now looking at her. That moment is so relatable. I would say that the vast majority of women have experienced totally normal behaviors from a random man seeming suspect after being shook by some asshole for some reason or another. The Jordan Catalano thing in pop culture is a combination of, yes, Jared Leto is a damn pretty man and also, I remember people just randomly joke quoting about having sex with Jordan Catalano as almost a weird catch phrase. It's also amazingly funny and accurate the way that he is almost always referred to by first and last name because that so happens to certain people IRL. The other big thing I noticed, which is particularly interesting because it, to my memory, is never directly addressed but is portrayed (consciously or otherwise) is race and privilege. As the show goes on it becomes quite clear that people like Angela, Brian, and Sharon have a degree of social privilege based on their race and socioeconomic status that characters like Rayanne, Jordan, and particularly Ricky, do not. And the various characters are so unaware of their privilege in a way that seems so relevant today (and was then). Angela can't fathom it not being best for Ricky to tell the truth about the gun. Rayanne doesn't realize that encounters with law enforcement for her cousin are likely very different than they are for her gay Latinx friend. And the biggest elephant in the room is that not one person, for a second considered the gun could have been Brian's even though he was the one that was found next to it. He's a "good kid", aka, white, good grades, comfortably middle class. I do like that despite his petty gossiping about Angela based on jealously that he does flex his inherent privilege at the end in order to protect Ricky. I cannot believe how much I'm finding I have to say about this more than quarter century old one season show. lol. And I'm not even the person who requested it.
Jojo77
2021-10-13 05:36:42 +0000 UTC
