Why do guys love MSCL?

General discussion about the nineteen episodes of "My So-Called Life". Note: Our episode guide can be found here.
User avatar
K-man
Liberty High Graduate
Posts: 597
Joined: Jun 29th 2001, 12:44 am
Location: Missouri, U.S. of A.

Post by K-man » Aug 6th 2002, 2:26 pm

I just liked watching the show every night on MTV. Not sure what one thing it was I just really loved/love it. Unlike most of the folks around here who list that they identify with a particular character I find that if anything I identify with bits and pieces of each of them. Unfortunately I could relate mostly to their shortcomings or problems. Like Angela I was usually obsessed with a stunning member of the opposite sex I could never have. (Unlike Angela with Jordan they never knew I existed.) I had Brian's ineptitude in social situations but certainly not his intellect. I had Rickie's train-wreck of a home life. So like people have listed time after time around here, I 'spose it was the fact that this show was closer to reality than anything I have seen before or since.
Daddy sold the farm and they've killed my trees. K-man

bluemonster
Tino
Posts: 5
Joined: Aug 7th 2002, 10:37 pm
Location: here and there, USA

Re: What no gay guys here?

Post by bluemonster » Aug 7th 2002, 11:10 pm

kenickie wrote:The show hid nothing about growing up gay. It tackled the subject up front and didn't shy away from the fact that Ricky was gay. It was like "Here's a show about some kids growing up, and one of them just happens to be gay".
in response to that, i totally agree that the character of Rickie is a big part of what makes MSCL so amazing. it was one of the reasons i got so hooked on the show, and i didn't even know it at the time... i started watching when i was a sophomore in high school and at the time was just a straight girl with a little secret. i'm not saying that MSCL completely outed me, but seeing the way Rickie's gay-ness was treated on the show did help me come to terms with my own bi-ness and realize that it was ok... it was great to be able to say, "hey, here's this cool kid on TV, and he's just like me." one of the reasons i wish the show had gone longer is that i want to see poor Rickie find his man! :wink:
i wish that there was a button somewhere that i could just push to force me to stop talking...

tony
Nicky Driscoll
Posts: 15
Joined: Aug 14th 2002, 7:00 am
Location: aberdeen, scotland
Contact:

Post by tony » Aug 14th 2002, 7:29 am

I'd have to agree with most of what's been said here, to clarify in my own words my feelings on the matter I'd have to say that I could relate to all of the characters in different ways.

Angela was a bit like me (even though she was a girl and I was a boy, teenage issues are quite universal), Brain...well, Brain was probably the person I was most like during High/Secondary school (not out of choice however, my school years were quite boring and empty) and Jordan represented who I wanted to be...I could relate to their stories and their issues and the whole thing had a quality about it which is lacking in most if not all of other teenage dramas.

The stories also hit a chord and the writing was amazing...

To lower the intellectual level that I'm displaying here I also liked Angela because she was, as Jordan was to find out, a real person ;)

mooneyguy
Tino
Posts: 8
Joined: Aug 15th 2002, 12:41 am

Post by mooneyguy » Aug 15th 2002, 1:09 am

Why did I, a guy, enjoy MSCL so much? Because it is so good, that's why.

I see MSCL as being one of those rare occurences on TV where many elements converged in just the right way to make something wholly greater than the sum of its parts. Everything about the show excelled: the writing, acting, directing, camera work, production, etc. It was brash and subtle. It was fresh and well worn. It was topical and timeless. It was a teen drama for adults and an adult drama for teens. It was, IMHO, the best thing to come across TV in a very long time.

I have never seen anything like it before on TV and I doubt that I ever will again. I dearly wish it had had a second season. But I doubt the show would have been able to maintain its level of excellence past a third season. Interestingly enough, it wouldn't have had to, as the third season would have been Angela's senior year (assuming she kept to her studies).

Unlike so many other teen dramas, the characters were real and could be easily identified with. I could easily put myself in the shoes of any of the main characters. And as a parent of a pre-teen I could relate to Angela's parents as well. I shared many of their fears and concerns. And unlike so much that's on TV these days, I can watch MSCL episodes many times and still see things (figuratively as well as literally) I didn't know were there before.

The show is a masterpiece. It is something that reaches well beyond its genre. Anyone who appreciates such things is sure to fall in love with it.
Bill the Mooneyguy.

The Matrix DVD
Tino
Posts: 6
Joined: Sep 17th 2002, 6:20 pm
Location: Spring Hill Florida
Contact:

Post by The Matrix DVD » Sep 17th 2002, 6:37 pm

A simple reply would be that guys love it because it is just a good show. And well, that is true. It really is a good show and that is why guys love it. But I think it's more then that.

We get to see life through the eyes of a girl. Experience what she is feeling and thinking.

Plus I think alot of guys have a crush on ANGELA! I know I do!

mooneyguy
Tino
Posts: 8
Joined: Aug 15th 2002, 12:41 am

Post by mooneyguy » Sep 18th 2002, 12:31 pm

The Matrix DVD wrote:Plus I think alot of guys have a crush on ANGELA! I know I do!
Well, yeah, there's that too. ;-)
Bill the Mooneyguy.

The Matrix DVD
Tino
Posts: 6
Joined: Sep 17th 2002, 6:20 pm
Location: Spring Hill Florida
Contact:

Post by The Matrix DVD » Sep 18th 2002, 6:57 pm

yeah

mooneyguy
Tino
Posts: 8
Joined: Aug 15th 2002, 12:41 am

Another reason

Post by mooneyguy » Sep 19th 2002, 11:13 am

Another reason why I like MSCL occurred to me on the way to work this morning after seeing an ad for Everwood prominently displayed on top of a taxicab. MSCL is one of a very few dramas (teen or otherwise) that actually depicted a typical family. Most dramas (and quite a few family-oriented sitcoms for that matter) are about families have the parents divorced, separated, widowed, unmarried etc. Because (I presume) otherwise it wouldn't be very dramatic. MSCL depicted a rather typical and in-tact suburban family. I just don't see that all that often.

"Ignore Angela, she can't help herself. She's the product of a two-parent household."
Bill the Mooneyguy.

The Matrix DVD
Tino
Posts: 6
Joined: Sep 17th 2002, 6:20 pm
Location: Spring Hill Florida
Contact:

Post by The Matrix DVD » Sep 19th 2002, 12:01 pm

OH YEP, very true.

She had a typical family and that was a good part of the show.

User avatar
So-Called Loon
Angela's best friend
Posts: 234
Joined: Oct 4th 2002, 10:00 pm
Location: SLC, UT

Post by So-Called Loon » Oct 13th 2002, 4:42 am

The casting was perfect. The writing was great. The editing was phenomenal. It was so much more realistic than 99% of the BS on TV.

But most importantly, IT SPOKE.


Hasn't been a show to match it since.
Been a member since sometime BR (before Ross)

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests