There’s actually far more to say about PAPER TOWNS and MSCL, and it will surprise none of you that I plan to say it. Look lively, y’all. It’s a-comin’.
From John Green’s PAPER TOWNS, a scene of drunken would-be revelry:
Ben turned away from us, and I watched him grab Cassie Hiney. His hands were on her shoulders, and she put her hands on his shoulders, and he said, “My prom date was almost prom queen,” and Cassie said, “I know. That’s great,” and Ben said, “I’ve wanted to kiss you every single day for the last three years,” and Cassie said, “I think you should,” and then Ben said, “YES! That’s awesome!” But he didn’t kiss Cassie. He just turned around to me and said, “Cassie wants to kiss me!” And I said, “Yeah,” and he said, “That’s so awesome.” And then he seemed to forget about Cassie and me both, as if the idea of kissing Cassie Hiney felt better than actually kissing her ever could.
From “Dancing in the Dark,” the second episode of MY SO-CALLED LIFE:
Rickie: She’s not saying that she…
Angela: I’m not saying…see there’s thinking about him, right? Which is what I do. All the time. Like this…
Rickie: Obsession.
Rayanne: Right. So?
Angela: So, it keeps me going or something. Like I need it just to get through the day. It…It’s just …
Rickie: It’s an obsession.
Angela: Right. And, and if you make it real, it’s it’s not the same. It’s not, it’s not yours anymore. I don’t know, maybe I’d rather have the fantasy than even him.
Rickie: I completely understand this.
Rayanne: I totally and completely disagree. You want Jordan Catalano in actuality because…there is no because. You just want him. Only you’re programmed to never admit it.
Rickie: That does have the ring of truth.
-->Feed me text
March 5, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Plus, the idea of Jordan Catalano (I love writing out everyone’s full name) is probably better than the actual Jordan. He WAS gorgeous, but ugh, I really hated how he treated Angela when they got together.
March 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Jordan is possibly my quintessential fantasy-boyfriend-whom-I-would-never-ever-date-in-real-life.
March 5, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I totally would have dated Jordan in high school (I’d like to think I’ve grown older and wiser, but I may be deluding myself), and it would have been an absolute disaster, and Elizabeth would have had to come to the rescue and snapped me out of it.
March 5, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I would have snapped you out of it? Heck, I probably would have set you two up in the first place.
March 6, 2009 at 9:50 am
Do you guys think that the reality would have worse for Brian if he’d ever been able to connect romantically with Angela? (oh and thanks for the comments over on my blog!)
March 7, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Oh, man, this is a great post. I love how Rickie always just GOT IT.
March 7, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Hey, thanks, Melissa!
Yeah, I must say, out of the many things I love about having a blog (and I should not admit to how obsessed I’ve become with checking our blog stats, because it is really, really pathetic), I think writing the “Shades of MSCL” series is my very favorite part. Which actually, now that I think about it, is not very surprising. It’s like my whole life has been leading up to this one endeavor.
Anyway, what I love about Rickie in this scene is how, as you say, he totally GETS IT — but he totally gets both sides! That was Early Rickie — seeing everyone’s point of view. Late in high school or early in college Emily and I were rewatching this episode and she pointed out to me how much Rickie’s character changes over the course of the show. By the end, I feel like he had more of his own side that he would definitively defend in an argument like this.
That starts kind of early, with him standing up to Angela on Rayanne’s behalf as early as “Father Figures” (episode 4), after Angela sells the Dead tickets — but even then, he’s emphathizing with everyone, and it’s still all geared toward others.
It’s not until later that he actually ever stands up for himself — but when he does, it hurts way more than any other character’s criticisms, I think. An obvious example is when he screams at Rayanne in “On the Wagon” because he thought she was dead.
Most painful for me to watch, though (and it must be because it’s Angela), is in “The Betrayal” (the 17th, and what should have been penultimate, episode — taking out the dreadful Weekend), when he criticizes Angela for “making this big play for Corey Helfrich when you know that I like him.” Ouch. Nothing makes you see Angela’s faults as much as hearing Rickie say them out loud. And she obviously thinks so, too.
Oh man. I was about to write even more about this and then I realized how COMPLETELY INSANE that would be. And on a comment, no less. Once I get started on MSCL…
March 7, 2009 at 9:04 pm
That should be another post, Elizabeth! I love it though. I’m going to keep coming back and as soon as I re-watch the episodes, I’ll offer whatever insights I can!
March 7, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Do it!!
March 8, 2009 at 12:26 am
Sadako: Interesting question. My initial reaction is, yes, the reality of Angela might have been a disappointment for Brian, just because with that deep a crush for that long, you always sort of idealize the person. On the other hand, Brian does know Angela’s faults, and calls her out on them from time to time, so maybe his is the rare crush without idealization. (and, I think your blog is great! I had been thinking about BSC a bit recently, but reading your summaries has made me want to read the books again for the first time since I was a kid.)
March 8, 2009 at 11:37 am
You know, the issue for me is just that I can’t picture Brian and Angela actually together well enough to think about what it would be like. I know she looks at him at the very end of the show like she’s seeing him with all new eyes, but… the whole idea just feels so rife with awkwardness to me.
I know there are people who feel very strongly that Brian and Angela should have wound up together; I’d like to hear more from them about how they think it would have… worked.
March 10, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Thanks, Emily! This blog is groovy, too–I love that I have a place where I can obsess over MSCL without people acting like I’m insane.
I like to think it would have worked…eventually, between Angela and Brian. He knows her flaws and he knows that she can be kind of manipulative when it suits her. Then again, so can he. I’m mainly thinking of the episode where she wants a fake ID as an excuse to talk to Jordan Catalano so she has him come to Brian’s house when they’re meant to be working on a science project for extra credit. But Brian does all the work.
Except that Brian’s the one who said he was doing the project w/ her when he was asked by his teacher–he could have just said he was doing it on his own. Then he pretty much tells her that she has to come over and help. Sort of sneaky but at the same time I can definitely relate to wanting to be close to the object of affection!
March 11, 2009 at 12:44 am
Very well put on Brian’s equal manipulativeness in that episode, Sadako. I tend to forget about that.
March 11, 2009 at 1:23 am
Thanks, Elizabeth. Sometimes I do, too, mainly b/c I actually really liked the Brian character.
I also remember him being a bit manipulative in the dance episode–when he asks out Delia but clearly still likes Angela the best. Ohh, man, that one was so painful!
March 11, 2009 at 9:27 am
Yeah, it’s a cool thing they did there, where they have Brian at his absolute worst in the episode that’s voiced over by him, so you’re in his head. You totally see how stupid and selfish he’s being, but don’t you really feel for him too? I do.
Poor dumb, naive Brian. He just wants something that the social laws of high school make unrealistic for him to have. And because he’s not the main character, he’s not going to get that thing like Angela is.
Brian at his best, in my opinion, is in all of his interactions with Principal Foster.
March 11, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Oh, I totally do. I loved Brian Krakow. Oh, I loved all of them. I’m so adding the DVDs to my Netflix queue. I have to have a MSCL a thon.
Are the Principal Foster interactions the ones where they are trying to get him to admit to witnessing the shooting and saying that Rickie did it? And Brian just eventually tells him to stop pressuring him and that he won’t be interrogated without a lawyer present? Oh he was all kinds of win there!
March 11, 2009 at 8:01 pm
That, and also when he helps Angela pass out the banned Liberty Lit (and as I recall, she basically tells him to stuff it — ‘This is MY rebellion, damn it!’)
March 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm
I loved that too. Actually, this blog has inspired me to start watching MSCL again. I remember reading in another post that I can’t find now that someone thought that Patty was more sympathetic than a lot of ppl thought, and now that I’m seeing it again, I kind of see that. Like, I don’t like the way she handles both Graham and Angela a lot, but when I see the way people react to her…I don’t know, sometimes I feel bad. And her family…her father, it’s like I can see where she’s coming from.
Sorry…I didn’t mean to hijack this with my mini obsession but I needed some place to express my love of this show.
March 19, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Dude, seriously: MSCL is never a hijack. MSCL is always the point.
And, the discussion you’re thinking of was here.
And, I feel sorry for Patty a lot. It really sucks to know that you’re the unfun one!
April 8, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I feel dreadful about this, but I just can’t stop sniggering about a character whose last name is “Hiney.” (Hee hee.)
April 8, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I know… I feel certain John Green did that on purpose.
April 13, 2009 at 9:36 am
[...] Paper Boys April 13, 2009 — Elizabeth If we’re going to talk about John Green’s PAPER TOWNS, we’d better get the obligatory MY SO-CALLED LIFE comparison out of the way first. (I mean, besides the MSCL comparison I already made.) [...]
April 28, 2009 at 11:41 am
Yup, love this post too. And the excessive commentary that follows. You guys rock!