Recently, I discovered that every single episode of the incomparable 90's teen angst-o-rama My So-Called Life is available on Hulu. I didn't watch it the first time around, because I was graduating from high school and obviously too cool to watch a show about sophomores, but watching it now, I'm impressed. Here are real (albeit mostly white) kids in a real school facing real issues.
One episode, called "Pressure" really struck me. Unsurprisingly, it was about sex! The main character, Angela, is totally in love with Jordan Catalano (first and last name always, please) and makes out with him in the boiler room at school every day, but isn't ready to have sex with him. He's pressuring her and she's worried that she's somehow abnormal because she's not into it.
What I found so refreshing was that the show tells kids there are all kinds of 'normal' when it comes to sex and teenagers. There is:
the smart girl with opportunity who wants to wait,
the sexy boy who is unused to girls wanting to wait
the wild girl who screws everyone and likes it
the shy boy that would hop in bed in a second - if he had someone to hop with
the good girl who really only likes her boyfriend because they have great sex
and the sweet boy coming to grips with wanting to sleep with boys.
Unlike the CW, which would have kids believe they're some kind of prude if they don't want to have group sex in the VIP lounge of some NY nightclub, this show lets kids be KIDS, to be dorky and confused and sexy and even ugly. And I think kids today could, like, do with a little dorkification. Or whatever.
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