heart-to-heart

Now that I live with a Canadian I have been more concerned with watching Degrassi Junior High and also Degrassi: The Next Generation (starring Drake in his breakout role) than ever before. I realized that, growing up in Illinois, I had unfairly given little thought to the teenage lives being lived concurrently by my northern neighbors. I had no concept of the deeply traumatic social climate Canadian teens faced that the series of Degrassi TV programs explore.

To put it into context, this is no Saved By the Bell. There are no universally charming troublemakers, no bumbling, comedic authority figures, no 6-person high-five freeze frames. These characters are startlingly human. Every episode of Degrassi is like if Jessie took caffeine pills and had a breakdown, Zach delivered Mrs. Belding's baby in the elevator during the earthquake, and Kelly fell in love with that other guy and broke up with Zach at the dance ALL IN A HALF AN HOUR. It has been confirmed. Teen suffering is commonplace (in Canada).



Shoplifting isn't a joke. Canada isn't a figurative place.