Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 in 'My So-Called Life' series

I love to watch TV and movie. I enjoy watching any kind of TV series and films but I could be more interested when the production of it related to our daily life. The things that caught I eyes and attention now are the Shakespeare's poems that had been published on TV and movie. 

One of them is the Sonnet 130 which was published in TV series entitled My So-Called Life. 

“Self-Esteem.” 

By Winnie Holzman. Perf. Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, and Claire Danes. Dir. Michael Engler. 

My So-Called Life. Season 1, episode 12. 

ABC. 17 November 1994. DVD. Bmg Special Product, 2002.

The usage of a Shakespeare sonnet in the Shakespeare Retold's Much Ado About Nothing to stress and analyse themes in an already-Shakespearean plot reminded me of similar uses of sonnets in other situations.

My So-Called Life left a generation of viewers wanting more after only 19 episodes. However, the characters cover a lot of emotional terrain in the first season, which is sombre and moving. We see young people navigate the truth of the flawed self in Episode 12, "Self-Esteem," using a renowned poem as a guide.

In this way, Sonnet 130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun") is applied to the storey structures of My So-Called Life. I don't claim to understand the complexities of the Jordan/Brian/Angela love triangle. However, it is evident from the video that the two guys recognise something about the woman they have been idealising.

While it's not precisely accurate to argue that Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 is "about" a "gross" lady, a part of me cringes when Jordan realises he's in love with Angela because of this sonnet. Leto does a superb job of telegraphing Catalano's slow comprehension of what the poem signifies as well as his inability to completely express it in the Episode 12 sequence where the class meets Sonnet 130.

The major point of Sonnet 130 is to criticise poets who employ excessive hyperbole in their descriptions of love. The use of hyperbole and cliché may be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman poetry. In both literature and art, it was a convention during the Elizabethan age — and the royal court.

Here is the sonnet in question and the dialogue that follows its reading:

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

Here's the discussion from the scene:

Mr. Katimski: What kind of girl is Shakespeare describing here? Is . . is she the most beautiful girl?

Brian: No.

Mr. Katimski: Is she a goddess? Mmm? Physically perfect? The kind of girl who stops traffic when she walks down the street?

Brian [with a slight chuckle]: No.

Mr. Katimski: So he's not in love with her?

Jordan [barely audible]: Yeah. [Then louder:] He is.

Mr. Katimski: Well, and why is that? Why is he in love with her? What is it? What is it? What is it about her?

Brian: She's not just a fantasy. She's got . . . like . . . flaws. She's real.

Mr. Katimski: Thank you.

It seems to be a popular culture, right? 😊😊