Degrassi: Heat of the Moment

Teenagers and kids of all ages have probably been bullying and pushing each other around since the beginning of time. But now, since the invention of the Internet (which happened on January 1, 1983), with texting and IMing and MySpace and YouTube, bullies no longer have to face their victims on the school yard, like they did in the days before computers were invented; instead, they’re able to hide in the shadows and torture their victims online. The term for that is “cyberbullying” — and has since become very widely known ever since it entered the English language.

The Season 8 episode Heat of the Moment from Degrassi proves how hurtful cyberbullying can be. And in the case of Megan Meier, who was 13 years old when she killed herself in 2006, cyberbullying can also be harmful.

Holly J’s watching the Power Squad practice, and Allia “Alli” Bhandari notices this while walking by with her friend Clare Edwards (the younger sister of Darcy Edwards). She then remarks about how bitter Holly J must be for getting kicked off the Power Squad (which happened in Money for Nothing), and Holly J tells her to shut her mouth. Alli replies that maybe now Holly J can use her free time to find true love. Holly J says Alli wouldn’t know anything about romance, which makes Alli admit she’s going out with Johnny DiMarco. Holly J doesn’t believe it, so she goes up to Johnny and asks him if he and Alli are dating in front of his friends. Johnny denies this before breaking up with Alli, and Alli is heartbroken.

Hurt by what Johnny did, Alli then snaps at Holly J for ruining her relationship and that she can’t be mean to her. Holly J says she doesn’t need a reason to be mean to Alli. 

Alli then goes on Facerange (which is the Degrassi version of Facebook) and starts a group called “I Hate Holly J”, which many people sign up for. Holly J sees the site, and confronts Alli, insulting her. Alli then sees threatening comments about Holly J from people who had joined her group. However, instead of noticing that her dislike for Holly J has gone too far, she feels excited enough to write this post:

“Holly J is a dirty ginger virus infecting Degrassi. She needs to be eliminated. I’D LIKE TO STRANGLE HER WITH MY BARE HANDS”.

Then, the next day, Clare is stating that Alli’s actions are going way too far, but Alli disbelieves her. In the most famous scene of the episode, Bruce (aka Bruce the Moose), along with Derek Haig, takes what he views as an opportunity to lead the the other students in chanting “I Hate Holly J”. However, Clare is the only one that does not join in (as she is shown to be severely disappointed in Alli).

Angered and hurt, Holly J proceeds to storm out of the cafeteria after yelling “Like I care what you losers think!” She then decides to not return to school or her work at The Dot, out of her fearing the growing hatred towards her.

Alli then randomly gets called to the office by Mr. Simpson and her father, where they discuss that her actions were unethical. Even though she gets suspended from school, she still refuses to believe that her actions were wrong, and even states to her older brother Sav (who also knows that she should not have done what she did, even though he himself is implied to have something against Holly J) that “it was totally worth it.” Suddenly, he gets a call from their father, who says the Sinclairs called the police on her for the threats on the group. Alli still believes that Holly J is just trying to make her life miserable, even after the cops explain to her clearly that her actions were illegal (as well as mean), and that she now has a criminal record.

Anya and Alli go over to Holly J’s house and, after seeing what a depressed mess Holly J is, Alli has an epiphany and finally sees that what she did was wrong. Holly J reveals that she did not hate Alli, and adds that she is not returning to Degrassi, and that Alli got what she wanted.

A few days later, the group is deleted, and Alli apologizes to the school and Holly J about her actions. Plus, Anya reveals that she convinced Holly J to give Degrassi another chance. However, Derek shows up and shows Alli the rope (in reference to the comment “Want to strangle her? I’ll bring the rope” about Holly J), which embarrasses Holly J.

From my perspective, this episode is really good and inspiring, as well as very well-written, too. Plus, in the words of Steve Barkin (voiced by Patrick Warburton) in the Season 1 episode Downhill from the Disney Channel cartoon show Kim Possible, cyberbullying is “sick and wrong” (and I couldn’t agree more there).

If you won’t say something in person, why say it online? Cyberbullying must be stopped!


What do you think about this? I hope you agree that cyberbullying is bad, too.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

On the morning before his twelfth birthday, Alexander wakes up to find gum in his hair, and cuts it out with a pair of scissors. Then, he gets an email about Phillip Parker’s expensive birthday being on the same day as his. He tells his family that he couldn’t compete, but they don’t listen. On his way to school, a boy is seen photo-shopping Alexander’s face onto the bodies of women in photos, and then posting them online.

By the time he got to school, not only is he humiliated, but he learns that his best friend Paul is going to Phillip’s party. He tries to ask his school crush Becky Gibson, but she refuses as well. Afterwards, Alexander accidentally burns down the periodic table with her notebook and gets blamed for it. While waiting for a long time outside of school, Alexander is put in charge of Melvin, the class guinea pig.

Later that night, Alexander tries to talk to Anthony about his bad luck. While Alexander thinks that Anthony loved him as a brother, Anthony is actually talking to Celia on the phone. While Anthony is talking to Alexander, Celia, thinking that Anthony is trash-talking to her, then abruptly hangs up, and Alexander hears Anthony calling him an “idiot brother.” 

At midnight, Alexander makes himself a birthday sundae and tells Melvin he wishes that his family would see what it was like to have a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

The next day, Alexander is the first one to wake up. While heading down the hallway, he sees Emily having a cold, and then wakes up his parents, who were oversleeping. As Alexander leaves the bathroom, Anthony comes in, and reacts in horror when he looks in the mirror and sees a zit on his forehead.

At school, Alexander hears from Paul that Phillip’s birthday party is cancelled, as Phillip has caught the chicken pox (which is shown in a picture that Paul got in a text from Phillip, which he shows Alexander on his phone). This implies that Alexander’s party was back on. (As Paul puts it: “His pox is your gain.”) Becky even mentions showing up. Alexander even hears that Becky’s brother Elliot Gibson, the boy who made the mean photoshops about him, had gotten suspended.

Throughout the day, while attempting to convince his family that their bad luck was his fault, Alexander learns that Trevor got green ink all over his face. Alexander and his family later see Anthony accidentally trashing their van, which resulted in failing his driving test. Emily gets drunk because of drinking too much cough medicine, and ruins the Peter Pan play as a result.

By the time the Coopers picked Celia up for the prom, Alexander and most of his family play music by using their fists and their mouths. At a Japanese restaurant, he sees his father catching food into his mouth eight times in a row, and then accidentally set his sleeves on fire (which he put out using water from a lobster tank). While Ben walked out, feeling disappointed (and trying to hide it), Alexander follows, along with the rest of the family. After realizing that they got to spend the worst day together, they begin kicking trash cans around.

After going home, they discover a vicious lizard in the living room. In the backyard, Alexander sees his parents had rented an Australian petting zoo for his birthday party. During the party, he learns that Paul and Becky have shown up. 

During the credits, they are seen pretending to surf.

The Two Coreys

We all have our teen idol fantasies. For me, there are two teen idols of the 80s — Corey Scott Feldman and Corey Ian Haim. Corey Feldman is so cool with his charisma. Corey Haim had green eyes that were so intense, as well as an aura that makes him so irresistible to girls and women as well.

Together, the Coreys are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. And they’re brilliant actors.

An example of Corey Feldman’s brilliancy is the 1986 movie Stand by Me, where he played the character of Teddy Duchamp.

In the movie, Gordie Lachance (who’s a writer at the beginning of the film) says this about Teddy:
“Teddy Duchamp was the craziest guy we’d hung around with. He didn’t have much of a chance in life. His dad was given to fits of rage. One time he held Teddy’s ear to a stove and almost burned it off.”

And one of what Teddy considers to be his “words of wisdom” is “I’m in the prime of my youth and I’ll only be young once”.

Then in 1987, on the set of the film The Lost Boys, he met another actor/teen idol who shared his first name — Corey Haim. They portrayed Sam Emerson and Edgar Frog in the fictional small town of Santa Carla. Showing they saved Santa Carla from four teenage vampires made moviegoers realize that the Coreys had chemistry.

In the 1988 film “License to Drive”, the Coreys bring back memories of what it was like to be sixteen years old and get your driver’s license.

“It was really, really hilarious.”

“It reminded me a lot of me.”

“I borrowed my father’s car once.” (Les Anderson’s father Robert: “What?!”) “Just kidding, Dad.”

“I’ve had some pretty wild nights, but nothing like this.”

In “Dream a Little Dream”, the Coreys explore what it’s like to be in love, and Jason Robards’ character Coleman Ettinger learns what it’s like to be a teenager with some help from Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman), whom he has accidentally switched bodies with.

May the Coreys live on in teenage dreams forever!

Update: I have learned that Corey Haim has, as of March 10, 2010, gone the way of all the earth. He will be missed dearly.

RIP

Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 — March 10, 2010),

Jason Robards (July 26, 1922 — December 26, 2000), Marc Rocco (June 19, 1962 — May 1, 2009), and Marc’s adopted father Alex Rocco (February 29, 1936 — July 18, 2015).

Popularity and Unpopularity

You hear all those stories of cliques and the popular people. There’s a group of them in almost every school. And then, of course, there’s everyone else. Everyone else would usually fit into two basic categories: the ones who completely hate them, and the ones who would do absolutely anything to be a part of them. Luckily, that doesn’t happen all the time. When you are everyone else, there’s no median or go-between within the groups. When you happen to be a hater, you are disliked as well.

It’s seemingly simple, but it really isn’t. Also, the whole “You don’t like me? I don’t like you” concept makes for good drama. And when you’re a worshiper — well, you are hated too. There is something about the stalking and strange obsessions that turn the “in-crowd” to hatred.

Almost every teenager has been the victim and the predator — the one who taunts and the one who is humiliated. It seemingly can’t be helped. But those who are different, they must somehow have to be “punished” because that is supposedly the society of high school. And those who befriend the different (and are different themselves), are viewed as lower than the low in the eyes of judgmental teenagers.

And the social ladder is a frustrating thing. The popular students control the student body — or try to, at least, because some of the students believe they have had it with being mean to others. So, these students try being popular and nice simultaneously.

However, it’s not always like that. The ones below the popularity circle listen — listen and nothing else.

What do you think about popularity and being popular?

Full House: Little Shop of Sweaters

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Danny has bought D.J. the royal blue sweater that she wanted. D.J. puts on the sweater and goes to school. At recess, she removes her sweater so she won’t get it all sweaty, but after she puts the sweater on the ground, the school’s gardener runs over it with a lawn mower, and the sweater is shredded. D.J. doesn’t want Danny to know about this, so she and Stephanie go to the mall to buy a replacement sweater, which is priced at $80.

Stephanie sees a sign on the checkout counter that says “Buy now, pay later”. Not realizing that a credit card is required to do what the sign says, she grabs the sweater in an effort to help D.J., but this gets Stephanie accused of shoplifting. Stephanie tells D.J. the whole story, and D.J. decides to wear the sweater (provided that they hide all the evidence) while they go out for dinner with Danny.

The next morning, the girls return to the mall to send the sweater back, but the store clerk catches them upon the sound of the alarm, and calls Danny, Jesse and Joey. The store does not press charges on any of the girls.

**************************

Stephanie: Hey, where’s your new sweater?
D.J.: (pulls parts of her now ruined sweater out of her backpack as she speaks) Right here... and here... and here.
Stephanie: What happened? Did it blow up?
D.J.: I was so stupid! I was playing soccer at recess, and I took my sweater off so it wouldn’t get all sweaty. Next thing I know, the gardener drives his stupid lawn mower right over my sweater.
Stephanie: Daddy is going to freak out.

***********************

Danny: Girls, I really like that you tried to help each other. But why didn’t you just come to me when you were in trouble?
D.J.: Because I thought I could handle things on my own.
Danny: D.J., you always think that. But to be honest, you’re much better at getting into trouble than you are getting out of it.
D.J.: Well, is there any way to practice getting out without getting in?
Danny: Well, no. But once you get in, you have to come to me, or Uncle Jesse, or Joey and let us help you. Because no matter what happens, we’re always on your side.
D.J.: Thanks, Dad. (hugs Danny)