Reacting to Degrassi Hot Takes Part 2

You've got the hot takes, and I've got the reactions.
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[@chaosspy6723]

Personally I think Manny learns from her mistakes and becomes a better person. Emma on the other hand is really judgemental and always in someone else's business. Also Emma really earned her hate for dating Peter and that will never ever be ok.

[@smurfyboy92]

Here's my hot take. It made absolutely 0 sense for Declan and Fionna to attend Degrassi. They made it clear that they come from a rich family & went to private school in New York, so why did their parents enroll them at a public school when they could've just enrolled them in private school in Toronto. It doesn't help that they went back to private school once they moved back to New York in season 10

[@NotAVampyre]

I think that's a fair thing to wonder. As glad as I am that they came to Degrassi......why did they tho?

[@treasuremage7546]

Wasn't it something to do with their parent's career ambitions? Sending their kids to a regular public schools so they can show off what humble, down to Earth, regular Joes they were.

[@deathdog1392]

While that is weird, I personally never found this odd as there were some really rich kids that went to my High School, which was a public High School with actually a bit of a bad repuatation. It makes no sense but there's numerous alumni that went to jail at my school and a few that went to Ivy League colleges. I honestly think some kids and/ or their parents rather feel like the "top" of a crappy HS, instead of a fish in the pond of a rich HS. My hometown was weird.

[@mramos1126]

The show jumped the shark with those two.

[@Michelle-rf8jf]

I went to an average public high school, and a lot of kids went there for a few months until a space opened up at a better private school. Just because better schools are available doesn't mean there's space for them

[@williamjasper7736]

It felt like season 13 went full teen soap opera yeah they talked about important issues like having cancer and teen dating violence, but you can definitely tell there’s a tone difference between seasons 10-12 and 13

[@NotAVampyre]

For sure. I think the France part gets it the worst and it doesn't quite go away til around season 14

[@sweetdaydreamer8868]

Marco and Alex deserved so much better than Michalchuks ever gave them. Breaking hearts of the gays is in their genes ig.

[@amwfan88]

Here's a hot take; the Dave being transphobic plot makes absolutely no sense. Dave knew Adam was trans in Season 10, and had absolutely no problem with him, and was even Adam's friend. Then in Season 11 he's suddenly a terrible person towards him? I've had people try to explain to me that it had to do with Dave thinking Adam shouldn't have been part of the radio show with two guys, but that still doesn't make sense to me. It was a lazy story arc and would have made much more sense with someone like Owen, who was transphobic, or, heck, even Bianca, since she and Adam hadn't made up by this point in the series. I remember watching that episode for the first time and just being so confused. But then again, the writers always were really inconsistent with Dave. See his relationship with Alli - he spends his entire tenure trying to date her, and when he does get together with her, he treats her like crap.

[@NotAVampyre]

I'm going to have to disagree. It totally makes sense. He really didn't interact much with Adam before that episode. Sure he was never shown to be transphobic before that point, but he was also never shown to be pro trans people either. It's not outside the realm of possibility that up until then, Dave was one of those people who "tolerated" trans people. Like "you can dress and call yourself whatever types" who then panic when their exposure goes beyond just using a different name, like what happened with Dave. He already thought the trans thing was "weird" and felt Adam trying to mimic the way he pissed just confirmed how he already felt. Not only that, it seemed to reaffirm to Dave that "if Adam has to use plastic props to do guy things, maybe he isn't a guy and this trans thing is dumb." This is something alot of people who don't think of themselves as transphobic feel. That they won't use slurs, but they're also "skeptical" of this "trans trend". I'm actually very glad they gave this story to Dave because transphobia has many different faces. Giving it to Owen or Bianca would just pretend that there's only the kind of transphobe who openly hates you. In reality, there's alot more people who keep their transphobia quiet until you leave the room or try to paint it way more innocently than expressing it via throwing people into doors.

[@LordJudgement1818]

Jenna an Conner are great. This show needs a solid couple out of the sea of trash an drama

[@katiefedele1813]

They were really cute!

[@Mshottie6]

Honestly, I think the best actor is Ephraim Ellis.

[@NotAVampyre]

He did a very good at an extremely challenging role

[@nerdinahoodie7972]

I think a big part of why Riley felt as if he lacked anything to do was because we simply never saw him in storylines outside his own. If he wasn't dealing with his internalized homophobia or apologizing to Zane for the 23rd time, he may as well have not even gone to Degrassi. Unlike other characters, Riley really had no friends or places to be outside his personal story. Anya was his only friend and he only ever talked to her when he needed guy advice. I think making him apart of Anya's stories more may of helped him feel less one note. Like she confides in him that she slept with Owen or something. Just give him friends to support

[@devonmunn5728]

Yeah pretty much all of Riley's storylines were about him being gay in some way. Even his steroids storyline you could argue that it ties into his image which him being gay is a huge apart of. After he broke up with Zane we don't see him get another storyline and his last significant appearance is him and Zane finding out there going to the same college and that they'll probably get back together

[@nerdinahoodie7972]

Which is disappointing since I believe that is a big reason why many in the fanbase either don't like Riley or are luke-warm towards his character. Well that, and the whole "angry, toxic jock" thing he has going on for about two seasons. If he were a more well-rounded character where we saw the sweet and gentle side of him a bit more often in contexts outside of his relationship, maybe fans might be more interested in the character.

[@NotAVampyre]

I was pretty cool with that because of how much was covered through Riley. He went on a huge journey with interesting aspects to address at every level.

[@nerdinahoodie7972]

That's fair. Riley is a fairly nuanced take on what growing up in a hyper masculine, traditional environment can do to a boy struggling with his sexuality. Most notably when Riley genuinely fears that he can't have everything he wants in life because he's gay like a lot of friends or being the star player. Since nearly all of of his screen time was devoted to this struggle, the writers gave us a deep look into every aspect of internalized homophobia and how it can influence a lot of what you do. I think Riley is one of the more grounded, even painfully realistic characters in the show. Though the heavy focus on a lot of his flaws could be why some may find him "unlikable" or a bit one note. I think he's a character who will rub you a certain way depending on your tolerance for understanding him and watching the long road he goes on to accepting himself. I personally enjoy Riley overall though

[@deathdog1392]

Don't know if it's a hot take but, I think Drew is one of the best characters in the show in terms of storyline and development. I hear alot of people call him the "dumb jock", but we had seen so many iterations of Drew, he started as a Jock Popular mean guy, to dealing with gang violence, then turns into the chill mellow Class President that also... competed in underground MMA fights?!?! It's a real cool storyline that felt believable and dramatic all throughout IMO.

[@NotAVampyre]

He's a great character who falls into my category I lovingly call "meat heads"

[@Chelaxim]

Not really a hot take but after finally watching OG Degrassi, if it wasn't for The Next Generation the franchise would have gone down in history along with Dinosaurs and Quantum Leap as series finales so bleak and depressing it overshadowed the entire show's legacy.

[@NotAVampyre]

Likely. School's Out was such a depressing way to end the series

[@a.cdiamonds8370]

I would love to see you do video(s) on the big 3 “main” couples - Emma & Sean, Eli & Claire and Maya & Zig. There’s a lot to breakdown throughout their history and would enjoy to hear your opinion on them

[@belowthedot8903]

2:41 The sad part is it isn't even just TNG where this double standard is a problem. Yesterday I debated with someone in a Degrassi group over Spike's actions in DJH. They had an immense, probably slightly unhealthy hatred for Spike, calling her a bitch and a "bitter baby mama" with a woe is me attitude. Then when I brought up Shane's flaws, they just handwaved it with "he was a child", while completely judging the crap out of another child. What made it worse was that this person was too obstinate to even consider Spike's POV. That's the kind of stuff I think should be called out more often in this fandom because it can end up saying more about the people with the opinions than the character they're criticizing. Either everyone gets a pass for something, or none of them do.

[@NotAVampyre]

Ugh that makes me mad. It's like they refuse to even entertain that maybe Spike's position could even be worth considering or empathizing with.

[@ChristineTheHippie]

It's especially the case with boys vs girls. The characters who hated for having flaws are mostly first. People still like Craig, Spinner and even Jay, who have done worse.

[@BBest1996]

I think season 7 might be the best season of TNG if you’re a fan of darker teen dramas (mainly due to death or glory for me but still)

[@invadertifxiii]

i think the desaturation in 6 and 7 was done because we were dealing with depressing topics, such as JTs death, spinners cancer and darcys r***. if thats what u mean with the darker visuals

[@ChristineTheHippie]

My hot take: JT and Liberty were not getting back together if JT had survived. There was too much baggage.

[@MegaAnifreak]

I love how Joey matured

[@NotAVampyre]

Saaaame

[@MegaAnifreak]

@@NotAVampyre I found it weird about him being too mad when Craig stole the car. I liked how he empathize with Craig when he was cheating on Ashley

[@NotAVampyre]

I mean, Craig did betray Joey's trust and crossed an important boundary

[@MegaAnifreak]

@@NotAVampyre but just the fact of him stealing snake's parents car at his age. I was expecting some understanding

[@NotAVampyre]

Unfortunately adults tend to also underplay or respond differently to their own antics when someone else does them. Sometimes they stop empathizing with their younger selves

[@shimmershine6902]

Oh I got one! The Craig/Ashley thing dragged on for too long imo.

[@shimmershine6902]

I agree that Jake Epstein is a phenomenal actor though

[@NotAVampyre]

Hmmm maybe. can't say I agree but also can't say I was thrilled with them getting back together

[@jacobbelow4136]

I LOVE your Vampire WARNING sign hanging up on the wall!

[@NotAVampyre]

Thanks! I think I got it as a gift and finally hung it up again recently

[@FreshEd]

Here's one of my takes; season 14 of TNG is overlooked! It flows much better than some seasons prior and it's prob. the only season besides 1-3 where I genuinely want to watch the next episode till it's over! Even tho there are a few things going on like Drew and Clare, Degrassi cheerleader scandal, zig/tiny/vince situation...etc it feels like everything flows perfectly, and also the silly summer episodes, which were obviously filmed and written differently are a nice touch

[@NotAVampyre]

Definitely agree that season 14 is overlooked and too often forgotten

[@taahirahbrown606]

One thing that bothered me about season 14 was the fact that we didn’t get to see Drew’s reaction to seeing Vince again I was honestly looking forward to that

[@kelsey1467]

heres a hot take becky baker is an underatted charcter the main thing I love about her is she didn't screw up as often compared to other charcters but still improved herself and also does anyone think shes a mary sue I don't but I wonder if other people do and imogen and beckys friendship is underatted

[@NotAVampyre]

She's def not a Mary Sue

[@jjthepikazard212]

i more hate that the writers made adam become v close with a previous transphobe 2 different times. i think it's fine with dave & i grow to like him, but i really dislike adam's storyline with becky

[@NotAVampyre]

I do think that's in Adam's nature though. He doesn't really hold a grudge. he's too good natured to not welcome someone as a friend when they show they're learning and trying to be better. Also helped that he had a crush on Becky that could've been influencing his decisions too lol

[@jjthepikazard212]

@@NotAVampyre i feel like ot's an extension of the problem with only having one trans character. if they had another trans character who didn't feel the need to do this, then it wouldn't feel as scummy

[@maddyb4501]

The difference between Manny and Ashley or Emma is that they all do messed things but Manny is still a good and likable person who learns from her mistakes. She’s not judgmental or stuck up like Emma. And she’s not annoying or a complete jerk like Ashley. And let’s not forget Ashley cheated on Jimmy and was gonna break up with him on his birthday😑

[@maddyb4501]

Also a good chunk of Degrassi characters either cheated or got with another person’s boo😭

[@NotAVampyre]

Including Manny.

[@maddyb4501]

@@NotAVampyre and I have no problem holding her accountable for that. Manuela had absolutely no reason chasing after another girls man🤦🏽‍♀️ HOWEVER she heavily dealt with the consequences of her actions. My point was that people call Emma and Ashley bad people for very valid reasons. Emma is a disrespectful rude stuck up person who basically insinuated Chris dating Liberty would make her look bad. Also did she not date Peter after leaking her so called Besties nudes. Also regularly Slut-shamed Manny. Ashley was just extremely annoying and selfish like when she deleted Jimmy’s verse or always acted like things were so horrible for her when compared to a lot characters she got it easy. Manny did something that at least 40-50% of the characters on this show did. Heck Emma slept with Jay when he was with Alex (granted she was going through it and most definitely payed for it😩)

[@veravera6571]

aw their hair is so cute in this

[@NotAVampyre]

Thanks! ^^

[@kelsey1467]

heres a hot take winston is as much of fault with the degrassi nude thing he shouldn't have blackmailed zoey she wouldn't have done that to frankie zoeys actions were wrong but winston rang the bell in the beginning she had shut down the site and he continoued to blckmail

[@derricksmith5669]

I have a mini au over owen and zanes characters, and zoe and tori characters, I copied and pasted my posts from reddit. Id love to hear your opnion No hate to Riley at all, but I did not find his sexuality storyline that interesting. Maybe because Agrisis wasen't the best actor or it felt to similar to Marcos in the beggining. I feel like zane should have taken his storylines on coming out to his unaccepting family because of culture. Especially since he is a poc. Maybe even a story line on him being bullied for being gay and it messing with his mental health, or him trying to find more support for the LGBTQ+ club. Now to Owen. I think we can all agree his homophobia was way worse then Rileys, and to find out it was his way of hiding his internalized homophobia would have felt a lot more realistic, and him doing a steroid arc would be very fitting for his characters like Rileys. Seeing owen having a muscle and/or body dysmorphia story would have also fit his character. Finally, I also feel like Owen recieving a DL story arc would have been interesting. Like one night he sends Zane partial ,or full on nudes, and zane responds by outing him because Owen would bully him for his sexuality. Them learning to both realize what they have done to eachother as wrong, and learning to make up what they did to eachother, and 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 forgive eachother, and eventually enter a end game relationship would have been great to see. Make a actually good closeted bully x openly gay kid story I was thinking if Tori stayed, and we still had Zoë, it would have been cool to see them get together. Like imagine during the Thunderstruck episode it was Zoë and Tori and they realized they had feings for eachother after a long time rivalry that stemmed from their time on West Drive together as major rivals similar to zoe and maya. During the episode Tristan and Miles get togrther too. Along with Zig and Maya getting together. They would have had a huge love hexagon going on that came to a somewhat peaceful end. I would love to know your opinions in the comments.

[@NotAVampyre]

I mean, they did have an aspect of the unaccepting family culture in Riley. His mom was okay with him dating a non Greek girl, but not a non Greek guy (or even Greek guy). I also worry about changing it to Zayne specifically because he's POC because that makes it seem only non white people experience unaccepting family cultures. II also really don't like the "bullyxbullied" idea because it's a bit less realistic than what we got, and I don't see how it'd be better. In reality, people don't always have a "we messed up let's be better" conversation and then everything's better. Many times grudges and rivalries just fizzle out as people move on or do other things like what happened in the show. Owen incidentally stopped bullying Riley and Zayne, and Riley learned to stop responding to homophobia with fists, so there wasn't much left to fight about. It would've been nice for the two sides to reconcile and have the heart to heart, but like I said, life doesn't always give us that. Owen likely is someone who looks back on what he did in shame but has too much pride to admit it. Also, don't really like the idea of promoting the "I bullied you because I like you" trope. It's incredibly harmful and promotes real world handwaving of bullying.

[@derricksmith5669]

@@NotAVampyre I also have a what if idea where Tori never leaves Tori and Zoë get together. Let me know if you want to hear about it. May I also say I love your videos

[@derricksmith5669]

@@NotAVampyre I can see where you are comimg from, and I also hate the bully x bullied storylines. I usually lilke the repeated story lines but Riley having a unaccepting parent because cultural reasons felt like a repeated storyline froms Marcos, and I feel lilke they never did their very few poc queers any justice. I think Zane getting Rileys unaccepting parents because of their culture but mainting his personality, while Owen getting the self hatred of his own queernss while mainting his personality, and homophobic actions would be the same storyline, but feel new and different at the same time, and feel more realistic. I also think Owen shouldnt bully Zane because he likes him, but because of how insecure he was of his own sexuality. While Derek and Fitz were genuine homophobes who needed to change. In my au Owen and Zane would start off with the bullying story line, to Owen stopping, and them not being friends at all on bad terms to becoming aquantinces on good terms, to becoming friends, to Owen liking Zane, but him making up big time to what he did to him, to becoming lovers if that makes sense.

[@invadertifxiii]

i really love maya outside her feminist arc

[@NotAVampyre]

Why? What's wrong with Maya being a feminist?

[@YoongisSeesaw97]

Only time I really hated Dave was when he never understood how important school was to Alli how he would try to make her choose instead of supporting her other than that I liked him a lot as he got older ❤️

[@NotAVampyre]

I think more than most characters I found myself disagreeing and not liking his choices. Dave cared too much about what others thought of him, and he also tended to put his feelings first. I still love the character because I've known people like him and he was a good addition to the cast, even if he made me mad often.

[@YoongisSeesaw97]

@@NotAVampyre same exactly he was flawed but it was very realistic ❤️

[@ChannelingChinez]

Here me out- Dallas and Connor should have been brothers. Same mom different dads. Dallas could have grown up with dad and came to live with them when there ice hounds came. Would have expanded their stories and made more out of their already very beautiful relationship. INSTEAD tori should have been ANGIE and come to live with mr. Simpson while Joey traveled Caitlin.

[@Michelle-rf8jf]

Not a necessary a hot take but I've neveerrrrr liked Craig. I'm empathetic to his struggles but ehhh no.

[@NotAVampyre]

Hehe I feel you there

[@RheRheSmily]

Realising that you quoted Hannah Montana

[@NotAVampyre]

Lol yup

[@hostileX7]

Peter's vocals weren't total shit. Stüdz rules 🐰!

[@NotAVampyre]

Yeah, he fit the teen boy band genre well

[@hostileX7]

@@NotAVampyre I actually meant the rougher punk sound they had when they first started with the masks but either way, I prefer them still over a lot of the other Degrassi bands.

[@MakeupWithSmidge]

Is that how Munro’s name is said? 0.o

[@NotAVampyre]

Not really. I kinda flubbed it and only realized it in editing. My lips went rogue on me

[@MakeupWithSmidge]

@@NotAVampyre hahahah that’s all good my dude Glad you’re back :) take it easy, release whenever you want. Just happy to know you’re alive 🥰

[@NotAVampyre]

Thank you!! Comments like these really help me to keep at it

[@maddyb4501]

I don’t see how manny not going out with Jt when another guy already asked her out. And last I checked he only started liking her when she became hot, like every other guy in school. So not really a strong argument

[@NotAVampyre]

I'm actually about to release a video on the situation, but to summarize: it's how she treated him that's the problem. Before Sully showed interest, many was acting receptive to JT and leading him to believe she might be into him too. But then Sully comes around, suddenly she's being cold to JT, let's Sully tell him to get lost, and acts like she was never being honest or serious when she was talking to JT before. She couldn't make it more obvious that she only saw JT as a place holder for a "better man".

[@maddyb4501]

@@NotAVampyre the only thing Manny did wrong (in this situation) was let Sully be rude to Jt. She did try to let him down easy and apologize. Also people don’t have to go out with someone just because they flirted with them. Mind you Jt did most of the flirting and Manny hardly showed interest. He could see she was into Sully when they were talking about Platypuses😂

[@NotAVampyre]

I just rewatched the episode though, and although she wanted Sully to begin with, she was still cutsy/flirty back towards JT right up until Sully moved in on her. And she didn't really let him down easy. She just said she was too busy to hang out with him. No explanation or honesty with her feelings. Just a round about sort of "not interested". The problem isn't that I think she owed JT a date or something. It's that she wasn't very kind to JT as she was rejecting him. She basically rubbed it in his face that because Sully was giving her the time of day, she doesn't care about JT

[@maddyb4501]

@@NotAVampyre how did she rub it in his face?

[@NotAVampyre]

For one her whole tone towards JT changed drastically from the start of the episode when Sully didn't care to the scene where she rejected JT. It's night and day. On top of that, she didn't defend JT or scold Sully when he told JT to go away. She let Sully be rude to someone she claimed was at least her friend even if she wasn't romantically interested in him.