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earlyandalone's review against another edition
I had fun reading this, reliving one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Roberts does a great job of weaving lines and scenes from the show with feminist theory and other information about pop culture. Def worth the read if you're a fan.
cinn48's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
I managed to read up to page 75 of this book before I caved and turned on my box set of the show. I was determined to wait until I finished it... but I just couldn't handle it any more. All the descriptions of Jordan Catalano leaning pushed me over the edge.
If this television series feels like reading your own teen diary, you will enjoy this book and feel way smarter about loving the show.
If this television series feels like reading your own teen diary, you will enjoy this book and feel way smarter about loving the show.
acouplereadss's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
In the 90s a smart, engaging show about real teens aired from 1994 to 1995 - My So Called Life (MSCL). This shows realistic representation of adolescence was groundbreaking - without Angela Chase you wouldn’t have had Buffy/Felicity/Veronica Mars/Rory Gilmore. MSCL explored gender, race, identity, sexuality, class, body image and other issues vital to the feminist movement. To this day passionate fans dissect teenagehood, what Rickie Vasquez did for gay representation and Jordan Catalano’s lean. From serious topics to girl crush moments Roberts dives into MSCL.
These Pop Classics have become such a fun dive into consuming non fiction pop culture phenomena in a bite sized piece. In this edition we dive into MSCL and how it affected a wide audience even though it only lasted one season. I remember finding a dvd of the show at my local library in the early 2000s when I myself was a teen. It was exactly what I needed and stuck with me all these years. There wasn’t another show that went into such depths that resonated with me - except maybe Freaks and Geeks but even so, Angela’s angst reached me on another level.
This was written well and did in depth recaps for episodes 1-8 and how each episode spoke to race, gender, sexism, class and sexuality through a feminist lens. This was a fairly succinct textual analysis of the show that included interviews, quotes from the show itself and third sources. I enjoyed this nostalgic trip down memory lane and am still sad this show ended so abruptly, 3.5✨.
heypretty52's review
5.0
When you are a fan of a book/band/movie/show, critical writing on the subject in question is typically either going to enrage you or push you down a rabbithole of wistful memories. Roberts, however, achieves something altogether apart from that standard experience through the careful observation and diligent study of a prized piece of my adolescence, My So-Called Life. "In My Humble Opinion" is a slender collection of topical essays all wrapped around the cultural impact of My So-Called Life. We readers pass through every felt emotion, every flash of anger, every pang of envy experienced when having first watched the primetime drama, but Roberts also pushes us to look closer. Through previous interviews with the show's writers, the cast, and other articles on the subject, Roberts reminds us that Angela Chase was the first of her kind- a female teen main character allowed to be flawed and given agency- Rickie Vasquez was the first of his kind- a queer Latino teen character allowed to be portrayed without stereotypes while discovering himself- and Jordan Catalano was the first of his kind- a male teen character designed solely to be subject of the female gaze.
"The avatar of male objectification, Jordan Catalano exists to be looked at."
I have always known the importance of Danes's Angela and her journey on my life and growth as a young woman, but Roberts helped me explore its global importance. I have and will continue to recommend this book to pretty much everyone. And I can't wait to read more Pop Classics.
"The avatar of male objectification, Jordan Catalano exists to be looked at."
I have always known the importance of Danes's Angela and her journey on my life and growth as a young woman, but Roberts helped me explore its global importance. I have and will continue to recommend this book to pretty much everyone. And I can't wait to read more Pop Classics.
glyptodonsneeze's review
3.0
Eh. This book could have been more academic, or more poppy. Maybe it was too short, and it could have gone farther if the author had more space. But, at the end of the day, it was a disappointing, if quick and semi-enjoyable read. It's fun to geek out with someone about MSCL, even when you disagree with their interpretations, but, being unable to disagree with Soraya Roberts to her face and being puzzled by some of her interpretations was frustrating. For example, in Chapter 2: It Hurts to Look at You, Ms. Roberts goes in-depth about representation and experimentation with different identities as a subtext in MSCL. Reading that left me baffled as to why we weren't talking about representation and imitation in the text of the show ("Why are you crying like Angela?"), as it's clearly one of the themes of the show ("She wants to be Angela.") and while it's sometimes less blatantly expressed it could be dealt with more broadly, especially the scene where Angela does her hair like Rayanne and asks Corey for a drink. Also, Ms. Roberts says Corey has a thing for Rayanne. I always thought Corey had a thing for Rickie. What kind of straight man paints girls' shoes? (And why does anyone have a thing for Corey? He has no face.)
Another odd interpretation of Ms. Roberts was in the pilot, when Brian says, "What, like sexual harassment?" and Angela says, "No, like guys." Ms. Roberts takes that to mean that guys and sexual harassment are interchangeable. I always understood that conversation to mean that Angela was negating her own fear from that night and turning the situation from a potential assault to an adventure, following Rayanne's lead. Angela knows Brian is picturing a black and white "That's sexual harassment and I don't have to take it" commercial situation and she saw it as something more real than that: She was in no specific danger because she was never going to get in that car, her best friend was drunk and flirting, the man's friend was a decent adult on some level and she saw that, meanwhile there was danger but not as clear-cut as being attacked in an alley. She reclaimed agency in the story of that night by saying, "No, guys." Ms. Roberts interpretation is also valid, but I found it striking to see the scene read so differently.
Ms. Roberts was also wrong at times. She says Rickie was kicked out of his uncle's house for coming out, but he wasn't. He didn't come out for another half dozen episodes and when he did, he came out to Delia. He was simply kicked out of his uncle's house for being Ricky. Ms. Roberts also repeatedly refers to Angela as suburban. She isn't. If Angela was suburban, she would go to a better school. My parents, and millions of other middle class white people, stayed in the cities despite crime and white flight and we are committed to our cities. Angela, in her turn-of-the-century house in a neighborhood with sidewalks on a bus route, appears to live in an affluent area of Pittsburgh proper. Being fictional, MSCL is only somewhat rooted in place, but America has an urban middle class and we are proud to be that.
That said, I didn't dislike reading this book. It was fun to get a third wave reading of MSCL, even if I disagreed with the way things were presented. I liked Ms. Roberts' interpretation of Graham and Patty and especially her reading on Patty as a martyr mom, a woman with second wave roots unable to reconcile her beliefs with her own life. Patty's relationship with Rickie and the idea of Rickie was brief, but provided good context for that part of queer history and hetero response.
Three stars.
Another odd interpretation of Ms. Roberts was in the pilot, when Brian says, "What, like sexual harassment?" and Angela says, "No, like guys." Ms. Roberts takes that to mean that guys and sexual harassment are interchangeable. I always understood that conversation to mean that Angela was negating her own fear from that night and turning the situation from a potential assault to an adventure, following Rayanne's lead. Angela knows Brian is picturing a black and white "That's sexual harassment and I don't have to take it" commercial situation and she saw it as something more real than that: She was in no specific danger because she was never going to get in that car, her best friend was drunk and flirting, the man's friend was a decent adult on some level and she saw that, meanwhile there was danger but not as clear-cut as being attacked in an alley. She reclaimed agency in the story of that night by saying, "No, guys." Ms. Roberts interpretation is also valid, but I found it striking to see the scene read so differently.
Ms. Roberts was also wrong at times. She says Rickie was kicked out of his uncle's house for coming out, but he wasn't. He didn't come out for another half dozen episodes and when he did, he came out to Delia. He was simply kicked out of his uncle's house for being Ricky. Ms. Roberts also repeatedly refers to Angela as suburban. She isn't. If Angela was suburban, she would go to a better school. My parents, and millions of other middle class white people, stayed in the cities despite crime and white flight and we are committed to our cities. Angela, in her turn-of-the-century house in a neighborhood with sidewalks on a bus route, appears to live in an affluent area of Pittsburgh proper. Being fictional, MSCL is only somewhat rooted in place, but America has an urban middle class and we are proud to be that.
That said, I didn't dislike reading this book. It was fun to get a third wave reading of MSCL, even if I disagreed with the way things were presented. I liked Ms. Roberts' interpretation of Graham and Patty and especially her reading on Patty as a martyr mom, a woman with second wave roots unable to reconcile her beliefs with her own life. Patty's relationship with Rickie and the idea of Rickie was brief, but provided good context for that part of queer history and hetero response.
Three stars.
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