Why Degrassi?
Why make a webpage about Degrassi? So Patrick can play me a song, of course!
No, seriously. This page was initially intended to be part of a larger site entitled "Guilty Pleasures." But that site was taking me too long to put together, so I decided to neglect the rest of my guilty-pleasure shows for the time being, and focus on Degrassi.
Degrassi IS a guilty pleasure, but I mean that in the fondest possible way! The "guilty" part is due to the fact that I'm getting a little too old to watch a show about junior-high and high-schoolers. As for the "pleasure" aspect, do I really need to explain that? Degrassi is just so ... Degrassi! How do I love the show? Let me count thy ways.
It's Canadian: If Canadian Degrassi fans like the show for this reason, that's probably because they are proud of their country for producing such a cool series. Since I hail from the United States, my viewpoint isn't quite the same. Watching Degrassi has the same appeal as taking a trip up to Vancouver -- I'm visiting something "foreign", yet it's an accessible kind of foreign. Degrassi is simultaneously strange and familiar! The terms and pronunciations are different (i.e., "washroom", "grade eight", "aboat"), yet the language is still my own and the circumstances still ring true. Every time I finish watching an episode, I'm in the mood to take a trip up north!
It's retro: I have only the foggiest memories of watching Degrassi as a child. I know my siblings and I did so occasionally, on PBS, 'cause I remember Spike's name and hair! But that's about the only thing I remember (and when I turned it to my first CBC re-run, I expected ALL of the kids to be running around with Statue of Liberty heads. So maybe I obliviously remember "Mohawk" -- or Trish -- too.) Still, the show has a definite 1980's essence -- and, being a child of the '80s, I appreciate this. Spike and Lucy's layered outfits, Cindee's spandex, the lack of technology, even the music ... all spark memories of my ten-year-old days! For the most part, the show is still applicable to today (of course, some aspects come off as "dated", but not in a bad way ... and that's to be expected.) Plus, Degrassi happened to be in its peak between 1988 and 1990, and those were like the coolest years of my life. Even if I wasn't really a loyal fan back then.
It's low-budget: Hey, many of my favorite films are independents! I love low-budget stuff. Lack of money makes movies and shows intriguing, and gives them a more personal feel. Wasn't it almost charming, how they used the same houses for several of the characters? And the occasional "dreary" appearance of the episodes never bothered me. It made the show look older than it actually was, and gave it more of that retro feel!
It's geared toward teens: I know this contradicts what I said earlier about my being too old, but sue me ... I like to immerse myself in teen entertainment. (By teen entertainment, I mostly mean older stuff -- NOT stupid junk like those generic movies with Freddie Prinze, Jr. and ... people like that.) I'm not THAT far out of my teens. I think most of my attraction, however, is due to my longtime goal of someday writing novels for young adults. Degrassi provides good and worthy inspiration. It isn't silly or stereotyped or condescending. Where a show such as 90210 can be likened to, say, Sweet Valley High -- staggeringly melodramatic, occasionally ridiculous, yet entertaining in a BEYOND guilty pleasure way -- Degrassi is more on par with Stephanie S. Tolan's Plague Year, or Chris Crutcher's Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (a couple of genuinely absorbing YA novels for you kids to check out.) Sure, there might be touches of melodrama, but there's also a real element of warmth and ... again, genuine-ness! Believability, too. I read that the writers passed all the scripts by the kids so that they could remove all the "adultisms", and their work was very evident.
It's interesting!: Watching -- and learning about! -- Degrassi is simply interesting. The show leaves you hooked and everything ... but even more, I'm referring to the cast. I enjoy hearing about how most of them were regular kids, and how they had to provide their own clothes and do the dishes. It's fascinating! At the risk of sounding like a package of Velveeta, it somehow makes you feel like you're watching people you know. Friends, as opposed to celebrities! To repeat a word I used earlier, the cast has a very accessible appeal (and I'm by no means saying that in a creepy mindset.) The show almost comes off as a kind of reality TV, but since the cast members aren't really Joey and Caitlin and Scooter, it isn't dull like reality TV.
So -- now you know why I love Degrassi. So why did I make a page for it ... when I didn't technically grow up with it, and am no longer a teen? Actually, my MAIN inspiration for really getting this site going was the cancellation of "my" re-runs on CBC. Since one can only guess when myself -- or any of you -- will see it again, this is my own tiny way of keeping Degrassi alive (and channeling my frustration over my loss!) If any cast or crew member happens upon my page (several of them seem to be Internet users, which doesn't hurt) and interprets it as a thank-you ... that would be the whipped-cream icing on the chocolate cake! I hope they, and you, and anybody who sees this page enjoys it.
Thank YOU, Degrassi!!
Some information on Degrassi
Those nutty kids
And the people who played them
Episode guide
Degrassi and 90210
Degrassi stuff I'd like to experience
Lotsa links
This page courtesy of...
You can always go home, you just can't stay