A Love Letter to Degrassi, Specifically Degrassi: The Next Generation

Aug 26

Aug 26 A Love Letter to Degrassi, Specifically Degrassi: The Next Generation

Dear Degrassi: The Next Generation*,

You shaped me into who I am as a person. I frequently credit my love of television to Grey’s Anatomy, which is partially true. Grey’s Anatomy was the first show that I binge watched and caught up on, but you were the first show that I saw every episode of before binge-watching was even a thing. I would be up at like 2am watching your reruns on The N and recording them when I could. I loved you. So much so that I was like “I NEED MORE” which led me to go back, way back before you, to “the first generation” if you will. I took it all the way back to Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. I was watching young Spike and young Snake make their young and dumb choices. (Side note: Smoking cigarettes was so casual back then but it was the 80s so I don't know if the surgeon general was cautioning against it yet. Whole 13-year-olds were smoking cigarettes and it had 13-year-old me shook.)

Thank you for teaching me how to become obsessed with a show and for basically turning me into a completionist. (I don’t quit shows. I just take breaks. Sometimes the breaks last for years, but I find my way back)

You changed my life and I’m not even being dramatic. I don’t know if my young impressionable mind was ready for you, but that did not stop me. You definitely had some wild and reckless times, but those weren’t necessarily the moments that shaped me ( just ask anyone that knows me, I was and still am a very tame and boring individual). It was all the different people you introduced me to. Marco was the first gay character I had seen on television and Hazel the first Muslim character. Craig was one of the first depictions of mental illness I’d seen on television. I must also mention how great it was to see Liberty Van Zandt be a super-intelligent woman of color. You may not have been perfect, but nothing is. I loved every moment of your imperfection. From a young age, my eyes were being opened to different types of people which shaped me into the tolerant person I am today.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t highlight how some of the wilder times did impact me and some of my choices. You showed these kids making frequent mistakes and not just little ones, I’m talking BIG MISS STEAKS. You essentially taught me what not to do. In the first episode when Emma got catfished and met up with a grown man that could have killed her, I vowed to never make that mistake (and so far so good). Also, even though I didn’t know what a ravine was I knew nothing good ever happened there so I avoided those too. You had me thinking high school was going to be the wildest time of my life. You had me prepared for everything and basically, none of it happened, but that’s okay. I was still entertained and exposed.

Thank you for helping make me a tolerant, accepting, and patient person and thank you for showing me what choices not to make.

You were the first show I can recall falling in love with (The Big Comfy Couch was definitely my true first love, but I don't remember falling in love with it). You had all these moments that I will never forget and frequently come to mind at the most random times. I’ll never forget when Emma started her period while wearing a white skirt, the time Manny wore that thong that came up above her velour sweatpants, or that time Manny took her top off on camera talking about how she was going to be famous. I’ll never forget Craig and Ashley as a couple or that time Craig smashed a tv. I’ll never forget that time Rick put Tori in the hospital. I’ll never forget that time Rick shot Jimmy (Drake) when really Spinner should have been the target of his aggression. I’ll never forget JT's penis pump, nor will I forget JT (R.I.P. JT). I’ll never forget Ellie and Marco (possibly my original brotp) and Ellie’s beautiful character development given the circumstances she came from. (Side note I recently saw Stacey Farber in an episode of Schitt’s Creek and I got very nostalgic about you and my love for her character). I’ll never forget fully sobbing when Emma and the rest of the crew graduated (in hindsight that may have been the start of my sentimental ways). I could go on and on because there are so many other memorable moments, just another reason why I love you.

I would just like to take a special moment to talk about Paige Michalchuk. You really put her THROUGH it on multiple occasions. Yes, everyone else was also going THROUGH it at all times honestly, but some of those Paige storylines really were brutal. From her pedophile of a teacher to the trauma of that sexual assault and then the following trauma of the whole court experience, Paige really had it rough. She started off as a heinous and borderline unbearable character, but she didn’t deserve that. Despite all the trauma she did have some pretty good development and ended up becoming one of my favorites (Ellie still holds the top spot though).

Also, can we just take a pause to remember your movie? Like your actual movie when all the originals went to Hollywood, not Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian Eh (we can also pause for that too though because it was pretty iconic). I remember being so excited because it was like a mini reunion of some of the characters that had not been together on screen for a while. I may not remember exactly what happened, but I remember how it made me feel and that’s the important part.

This love letter is specifically for you, Degrassi: The Next Generation. There were iterations before you and also iterations after you, but my heart will always belong to TNG. Just to be clear, I’m talking about before the Claire and Eli chronicles, though I did watch (and enjoy) most of those episodes too. Clearly, others love you as much as I do as your image lived on in the Netflix series: Degrassi: Next Class, which I have never seen but maybe one day.

Anyway, if it has not been clear throughout this letter I love you, you will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I thank you for everything that you gave me.

Sincerely,

*I literally just found out that they dropped “the Next Generation” for seasons 10-14 which were the Claire and Eli chronicles so that was basically a different show anyway

Full discourse: It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen the episodes so there’s a chance that they aren’t as great as I remember them to be (but that seems unlikely).

If you haven’t seen Degrassi: The Next Generation and have no idea what it is, I might be judging your character. Degrassi: The Next Generation, created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore is a Canadian (shoutout to Canada for having some great shows: Workin’ Moms, Wynonna Earp, Schitt’s Creek, and more) teen drama set in a high school named Degrassi.