Revisiting Jordan Catalano

It was a lethal combination of insomnia and an unusually steady wireless Internet signal that led me to rewatch the entirety of My So-Called Life (now on Hulu!) a few nights ago. In 1994, Jordan Catalano, the soulful, musician-type bad boy who woos Angela under the staircase was everything I wanted in a television heartthrob. Namely, because their union so easily played into the delightful romantic trope of the late '80s and early '90s, wherein members of different social cliques intermingled for matters of the heart. The bad boy fell for the cheerleader, the working class redhead scored the trust-fundy Ivy League-bound chick (Some Kind of Wonderful), or the jock found himself falling for a dandruff-prone kleptomaniac (Breakfast Club). In My So-Called Life, Jordan took the bookish, painfully shy (albeit hot) Angela Chase to the school basement at least once an episode to touch her lips and utter sweet nothings like, “Your cuticles look like little moons.” It was wish-fulfillment for every nerdy, under-kissed girl watching. (Ahem, me.)

But rewatching their courtship at the older, wiser age of 27 completely destroyed all the residual fondness I had been lugging around for Jordan Catalano when I simply remembered him as that mysterious puppy dog-eyed Jared Leto character. To begin with: “Your cuticles look like little moons” is stupid. And even the best imploring puppy-dog eyes don’t make up for illiteracy. In fact, Catalano was not particularly gifted in anything, even wooing. He made Angela keep their trysts under wraps and sang in a ridiculously bad and unfortunately-named band, Frozen Embryos. (How did I manage to forget about the song “Red,” which, as it turned out, was not for Angela, but his red car?) I only realize now his character was less teenage heartthrob and more a cautionary tale of emo-caddery. Close to a decade of dating has taught me that characteristics like “mysterious” and “damaged” are code for “functionally retarded: STAY AWAY.” What’s most incredible about the show is that Angela realizes that she’s over Jordan in Episode 17 (apparently long before I did) and his larger-than-life persona is almost instantly deflated. How often does a nerdy teenage girl get to do that to the popular boy on television?

Tags: angela chase, emo-caddery, jordan catalano, my so called life

Lauren Bans is a Brooklyn-based writer and Internet addict.

Comments

In 1994, I was 22 so as

By: TamiTaylor | Wed, 11/18/2009 - 19:28

In 1994, I was 22 so as someone beyond the high school experience it was obvious that Angela should choose Brian, but as a 15 year-old I would have made the same decision as Angela.

Jordan is the guy you lust after & date in high school; Brian is the guy who is unappealing in high school, but you end up with in the long-run when you're old enough to realize how little the Jordans of the world really have to offer. I remember in the early days of the Internet there was a lot of forum discussion about what would have happened if the series had lasted longer than a season & the general consensus was that Angela would have gotten back together with Jordan even after she found out that Brian wrote the letter, but that pairing would have lasted six months tops & that she would eventually end up with Brian.

I rewatched the series a few years ago on ABC.com when they released one episode per week to promote the new DVD set. I think the series does hold up 15 years later. The only thing that is extremely dated is the obvious lack of cell phones & computers. So many of the touching moments of the show still made me smile/cry: Angela's little dance in the yard, Mrs. Chase rescuing Ricky, Rayanne's breakthrough in Our Town, etc.

Beyond the central "triangle" of the series, the other relationships were written extremely well also. Every girl has a relationship like Angela/Rayanne/Sharon & could see themselves as one or all of those characters. Also the parent/child relationships between Angela & Patty vs. Rayanne & Amber. Ricky was everyone's first gay friend. The great writing & acting is still why we're talking about a show with only 19 episodes so many years later.

(Plus, Jordan was dreamy in a dim sort of way. And he leans well.)

Angela's Dance

By: bcarter3 | Wed, 11/18/2009 - 17:06

She wasn't dancing to Porno for Pyros. It was Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun".

Angela

By: Kry | Wed, 11/18/2009 - 15:49

Of course Angela's problems were trivial and she was over dramatic. Almost all of us are as teenagers when we feel like everything was the end of the world. It is interesting that when she has to deal with real, hard issues she is not nearly as overwrought about them. Like her father cheating or Rayanne overdosing.

I loved this show when I was younger. Not only did I really identify with Angela, but I looked like her too! I was thrilled when she died her hair the same exact shade of red that mine was! Haha.

I haven't tried re-watching it yet but I am sure that I have a date with Hulu.

As for Jordan. I remember always wanting him to be better than he was. The episode where Angela wakes up and realizes that she is so over Jordan and dances on her bed to Porno for Pyros is a crystallized memory for me. It was perfect.

And, to answer a previous question, yes, Jordan slept with Rayanne in the back seat of his car when they were both drunk and talking about Angela.

tried to...

By: jennies1897 | Wed, 11/18/2009 - 09:45

I tried to rewatch the show when I found it on Hulu because I liked it as a teen but frequently missed the episodes.

I didn't care much for Jordan in the first place and always wondered why Angela wouldn't go for Brian. I've never understood blowing off someone who so obviously has a thing for you (unless you totally don't see it, in which case a friend should really point it out to you). My favorite character on the show by far was Ricky.

As I rewatched it though, I found Angela kinda got under my skin a bit. Her problems were menial and she was too dramatic. Probably just that I grew up.

Disappointing (re)discoveries

By: ctreacylenda | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 21:21

I re-watched My So-Called Life again two years ago as a new mother. I had borrowed bootleg Canadian DVDs from a friend and watched them to entertain myself while bouncing and bouncing and bouncing my 2-month-old to prevent the world-ending sadness that would have resulted from no bouncing. I found the whole season to be at once exhilarating, disappointing, nostalgia-inducing, pathetic, and true to (teenaged) life. I also found it a little bit frightening because now I was watching it with one foot in Angela's shoes and one in her parents'. Jordan Catalano however... Yes, he's an ass and undeserving of Angela's attention, but God, those eyes. The whole Buffalo Tom episode is fantastic: gut-wrenchingly awkward with the rejection and but then redemptive at the end with the public acknowledgment of their involvement. Plus the over-the-top self-absorbed emo-kid music. And the Shakespeare sonnet. I'm still a little sad that the series ended as it did after one season without resolving the Jordan/Brian situation. As painful as some of the episodes are to watch as an adult, I still wish the show had gone on through a healthy three or four seasons.

Ditto on Reality Bites

By: Shelly | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 19:10

Ms_2B, I had the exact same experience with Reality Bites. I was roughly the same age as the characters when the movie came out. I thought Ethan Hawke's character was so charming & witty when I saw it in the movie theater. My guy friend couldn't understand why Winona didn't go for Ben Stiller. I re-watched part of it about a month ago - I kept thinking why these people didn't just get jobs in the midst of the booming Clinton era economy. Ethan Hawke's character seemed surly, lazy, and occasionally humorous, but unnecessarily mean to poor Ben Stiller, who was just trying to have a career.

Wrong, they both sucked.

By: hellizabeth | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 16:50

I was never attracted to Jordan for that very reason (unavailable, mysterious, moody dickhead). However, nor did I like Brian, who felt entitled to Angela's affections and acted like a dick when she didn't reciprocate. I call this The Duckie Problem. I get really sick of women defending Duckie and Brian Krakow just because they're the underdogs. Oftentimes nerdy dudes are just as crazy and abusive, if not worse, because of their self-esteem issues and the sense of indignant entitlement that comes along with them. Seriously, ladies, stop with the "Duckie deserved to win." Uh, I think not, considering ANDIE DIDN'T WANT HIM. Does that count for nothing?

Also, Jordan didn't say "your cuticles look like little moons." That was Angela. To which Jordan replied, "My what?" Dude was so dumb he didn't even know what cuticles were.

and didn't he sleep with Rae Anne?

By: daney | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 16:12

or am I mis-remembering???

I always liked the brainy oddball, Brian.

And I hated Ethan Hawke's character, too!

I don't like Edward Cullen, either.

except that

By: jaimeleigh | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 15:54

They really didn't interact that often...certainly not once an episode. And it was the Frozen Embryos, plural. And the song was not "Big Red," just "Red."

Growing Up Sucks

By: Ms_2B | Tue, 11/17/2009 - 15:40

While I didn't watch 'MSCL', I had a very similar experience with 'Reality Bites' recently. Oh, how I loved Ethan Hawke's bad-boy arty smart guy and despised Ben Stiller's corporate lackey back in the day. To rewatch it as an adult in her 30's, Oh, my, god! Ethan Hawke's character turns out to be a self absorbed ass and Ben Stiller's is still a bit soulless, but mostly a goofball trying to make his way.

Le sigh. Oh, for the romanticism of youth! No wonder getting married at 21 didn't work. :)