The Most Profound Moment in History

Or rather, “the most profound moment in the history of Degrassi Junior High.”

I imagine the Zit Remedy song playing in slow motion as the cassette case shatters: “Ev-ery bo-dy waaaaaants sooooome-thiiiiiing / they’ll taaake yoooour moooo-neeeeey …,” and then there’s a kaleidoscopic swirl of colors as Caitlin huffs diesel fumes and murkily slides into oblivion.

I know a lot of you — particularly younger readers — will be a little baffled re: the raw animal charisma of Degrassi favorite Joey Jeremiah. Really, it’s quite simple: it’s all about the wide-brimmed fedora, known as a powerful aphrodisiac since ancient times. Actually, I’m pretty sure the fact that Caitlin fell so hard for Joey Jeremiah is closely tied to the crack epidemic that was then sweeping through North America’s inner cities.

P.S. rortybomb brought another excellent television moment to my attention.

I’m assuming you are in your late 20s, and given some of your tastes, I’m surprised My So-Called Life isn’t doing the cultural milestone work that Degrassi is doing here.

Remember when Angela dances to Blister in the Sun?

I wasn’t as devoted a fan of_MSCL_ — I remember thinking it was more of a girl’s thing, though admittedly that doesn’t account for my fanatical Degrassi fandom. Part of the appeal of Degrassi was that, even as an adolescent, it appealed to my sense of nostalgia, as the show was in its heyday when I was in elementary school, and I think the series only made it to PBS later on. I did, however, watch MSCL as a kid and I found Brian Krakow pretty distasteful. Note that we were supposed to sympathize with the kid. It was by no means obvious to me that Angela should choose the self-righteous Krakow over the illiterate Catalano. Yes, Catalano’s human capital issues would make life as an upper-middle-class professional difficult for him. But we all know he was destined for the rock and roll lifestyle, which requires some reading, to be sure, but not necessarily a whole lot, provided you’re naturally shrewd and you have literate groupies.

But then I saw the clip, which is pretty remarkable.

I’m pretty sure I’ve done very nearly that exact same dance to the same song under roughly the same emotional circumstances. Perhaps you have too. I really like my generation, even as we grow old and insufferable.