World Happiness Dance

General discussion about the nineteen episodes of "My So-Called Life". Note: Our episode guide can be found here.
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Natasha (candygirl)
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World Happiness Dance

Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Nov 16th 2002, 5:09 am

After watching Life of Brian, I wondered why Angela felt compelled to go to the dance. Was is simply because it would be fun in an obvious sort of way? Knowing that Rickie, Rayanne, and Corey were doing their weird menage a trois, who did she think she would hang out with? Even though she and Sharon had declared their truce by then, we see that Sharon gives Angela a welcoming smile and nod at the dance, not the "hey come hang out with me!" that Delia receives.

Did Angela want to go because she was clinging to the hope that Jordan might be there? You know, whatever happens, happens. :wink: Or was she simply trying to escape yet another night at home with Danielle and her parents?

Whatever her reason for going, why did she feel compelled to ask Brian for a ride? Was she jealous of his burgeoning romance with Delia? Or did she really just want a ride? Why didn't she just have her own parents drop her off at the dance?

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Post by Calhoun07 » Nov 16th 2002, 9:51 am

I think that some where, maybe even on a subconscience level, Angela wanted to keep Brian in the "available" stage. While she likes Jordan, I do think that she also likes the attention she gets from Brian, even though she never really acts on it.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Nov 16th 2002, 4:09 pm

Well that "and I'm really happy for you" speech that she gives Brian about Delia - how much does she remind you of Patty? It's the same smile she gives Sharon when she says "congratulations" in The Zit.

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Post by Neptin » Nov 17th 2002, 10:51 am

I thought she assumed that she would be hanging out with Rickie, Rayanne, and Corey.. as long as she didn't go with them.. she woudld just meet them there. Because like Rickie said if she went with them it would seem like a double date.. so if she just bumped into them there it wouldn't be as confusing for Corey. That's the impression I got.
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Post by JodyK » Nov 17th 2002, 11:35 am

I think the #1 reason that she went to the dance was because Jordan might be there. I don't think she wanted to hang with Brian at all - she said the ride was just to get her there. I'm not sure who she thought she'd hang with once she got there--just so she was there if Jordan was.

Don't you just love how Jordan pins her up against the fence like that? I remember when the next episode (Self Esteem--my favorite!!) first aired and they were making out in the boiler room I kept thinking somehow I missed something. I felt so cheated because I wanted to see how they first came about going to the boiler room. Did you? I mean they had once good kiss, then he pins her against the fence and doesn't kiss--then they are making out every day?

When he walks down the hall with her holding her hand at the end--that is my #1 all-time favorite second of any television show, any movie. Hands down! I made my friend watch it and she cried too. I saw on one of E!'s websites it was one of the top ten TV movies of all time.

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Post by Megs » Nov 17th 2002, 2:35 pm

My favorite part of the series is the little dance she does after Jordan kisses her in his car after drops her off (after she went to listen to Frozen Embryos and she heard him sing "Red"). The music is perfect, the camera angle is perfect, and you see how happy she is. Everyone had a moment like that. It was so perfect, and the perfect example of why I love this show so much!!

I thought that she went to the dance b/c she thought that Jordan might be there; and that she can hang out with Rayanne, Rickie and Corey. I think that she asked Brian for a ride b/c she was subconciously jealous that his attention had turned on Delia, and she was no longer the mafor object of his affections. I don't think that it was consicous at all.
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Post by Calhoun07 » Nov 17th 2002, 4:34 pm

The reason I think she subcosiously wanted to wedge her self between Brian and Delia is because of the look she gave Brian when she walked past him and Delia in that class room together. I don't think she was jealous because she liked him, per se, but she enjoyed the attention on some level that he gave her, and saw it going to somebody else. It was rooted in insecurity, obviously.

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Post by JodyK » Nov 17th 2002, 9:57 pm

[color=blue][quote="Megs"]My favorite part of the series is the little dance she does after Jordan kisses her in his car after drops her off (after she went to listen to Frozen Embryos and she heard him sing "Red"). The music is perfect, the camera angle is perfect, and you see how happy she is. Everyone had a moment like that. It was so perfect, and the perfect example of why I love this show so much!![/color]


I completely agree--that is also one of my favorite parts!! I did something similar to that when I was in high school after this guy I liked for a couple years drove by me on my way out of the library (which I left the library to see if his car was nearby), he stopped, asked if I wanted a ride somewhere, took me to McD's and dropped me back off after we did a couple of errands together. I was so thrilled - I know exactly how she felt.

This show is just so dead-on about everything. The acting is so great it's not like they are even acting--it's so believable. Every character is so real.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Nov 29th 2002, 7:42 pm

Another question about Life of Brian - Angela insists that this is NOT a date and that she just needs Brian (or more accurately Brian's dad) to give her a ride to the dance, but when she gets there she doesn't ditch him. Instead, she asks him to get her a drink which seems like a very date-y thing to do. Now this IS in line with Angela just being demanding with Brian in general, but Angela usually asks Brian to do things when she derives some sort of benefit from his actions. Using this logic, I assumed that Angela only asked for punch out of habit and because she was thirsty. When Brian comes back with her drink, she immediately sets it down without taking a sip. So why did she ask for it in the first place?!

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Post by sine » Nov 29th 2002, 9:16 pm

candygirl wrote:When Brian comes back with her drink, she immediately sets it down without taking a sip. So why did she ask for it in the first place?!
This is what the original shooting script has to say about the scene (oh, and I removed some of the line breaks)
GYMNASIUM ENTRANCE

Brian and Angela walk in

BRIAN: A lot of people.
ANGELA: Yeah.
BRIAN'S VOICE: Okay. This is the simplest thing in the world. People do
it every day. Just start a conversation.
BRIAN: Wow.
ANGELA: Yeah. So... Do you think, you could get me something to drink?
BRIAN (gut reaction): Get it yourself. (recovering) Oh. Okay. What do
you want?
ANGELA: Just, you know, whatever.

Brian leaves. Angela scans the room: Corey awkwardly walks away from
Rickie; Sharon plays the bubbly hostess holding Kyle attached to her arm;
no sign of Jordan.
It seems that the script -- especially the remark "Angela scans the room: [...] no sign of Jordan" -- supports the interpretation that Angela went to WHD in chance of getting some interaction with Jordan. And she told Brian to fetch the drink probably to have an "excuse" of going to Jordan if he happens to be around.
JodyK wrote:I remember when the next episode (Self Esteem--my favorite!!) first aired and they were making out in the boiler room I kept thinking somehow I missed something. I felt so cheated because I wanted to see how they first came about going to the boiler room. Did you?
Yes, certainly! Hey, does anyone feel like writing some fanfic on this topic?
With all those time warps between the aired (or: "real") episodes there must be endless possibilities of filling the gaps with our own material.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Nov 29th 2002, 10:23 pm

sine wrote:It seems that the script -- especially the remark "Angela scans the room: [...] no sign of Jordan" -- supports the interpretation that Angela went to WHD in chance of getting some interaction with Jordan. And she told Brian to fetch the drink probably to have an "excuse" of going to Jordan if he happens to be around.
I agree that Angela hoped Jordan would be at the dance, but what I meant was why didn't she just ditch Brian once she got to the dance? Why ask him to fetch her a drink which would, yes, gets rid of him temporarily, but will also bring him back? What if Jordan appeared AFTER Brian returned with her punch? Know what I mean? I thought she would want Brian out of sight as soon as possible, especially since their post-punch conversation seemed to indicate that she wasn't thrilled to be talking to him (the first thing she said was, "Thanks. What did Rickie want?").

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Re: World Happiness Dance

Post by NIGHTJESSI » Nov 30th 2002, 12:31 am

I think it was Angela's way of covering her bases. Asking Brian to get her a drink gave her a chance to look around and assess the dance. If she had found Jordan or even one of her other friends available, she would have ditched Brian. But when she surveys the room, she sees that everyone else is otherwise occupied so she decides to stick with Brian so she doesn't have to be alone. Brian is like her comfort blanket until something better comes along.
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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Nov 30th 2002, 12:49 am

That makes sense - I don't understand why she didn't approach Rickie when she arrived. I mean, he did look uncomfortable and walk away, but at this point in their friendship they were pretty close so the first time I saw this episode, I thought she would interpret his look as something being wrong and that she would follow him and ask what happened. It seemed weird to me that she didn't do that until after Brian later told her about his conversation with Rickie at the punch bowl.

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Re: World Happiness Dance

Post by NIGHTJESSI » Nov 30th 2002, 2:49 am

My guess is Angela was still a bit hurt that the usually accessible Rickie wanted to go to the dance with just Rayanne and Cory. And when she looked around and saw something was transpiring between Rickie and Cory, even if it did look a bit uncomfortable, she wanted to wait a while before honing in on what was going on.
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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Dec 9th 2002, 1:16 am

Just watched the end of this episode again (I just had to see Rickie and Delia dancing again) so my question is who did Corey want to go to the dance with - Rickie or Rayanne?

The reason I ask is that as soon as he finds out Rayanne isn't coming, he leaves. Is this because he really wanted to hang out with Rayanne? Or because he was attracted to Rickie and felt the situation was "too obvious" if it was just the two of them?
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