Reacting to Degrassi Hot Takes Part 1

[@smurfyboy92]

Chantay gets so much undeserved hate for absolutely no reason at all. When people make lists of the worst Degrassi characters, Chantay is always near the top. It bothers me cuz people fail to realize how she's the prime example of how the Degrassi writers wrote so poorly for the majority of the Black characters on the show.

[@NotAVampyre]

It's exactly case of blaming the character for how they're written

[@shimmershine6902]

She definitely deserved better but the creators made her annoying and basically a meme so ofc people are gonna be annoyed and treat her as a meme. We gotta put the blame on the right people here

[@NotAVampyre]

I personally didn't find her annoying. Not exactly someone I'd hang out with, but still great to watch for mw

[@kevlarkev7]

Chantays actress also just sucked

[@joshshipp2979]

​@@NotAVampyre she was on the show for a long time since season 4 all the way until season 11pt1 but she wasn't in much episodes earlier on in season 4-7 she started to be in more episodes in seasons 8-11 and plus she graduated in the class of 2011 it got confusing after they started skipping the years of the classes Like after the class of 2008 they skipped it to the class of 2011

[@jczbas]

I binged all ur videos glad u back

[@NotAVampyre]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying them!

[@sweetgeo96]

Thank you Clare is more than Eli, I love Eclare but come on Clare is her own character and watching her over the seasons also she has the best ending

[@euyemura123]

Long time no see. Always enjoyed your Degrassi videos

[@NotAVampyre]

Thank you! Long time no.see!

[@jacobbelow4136]

Also, to add the the notion that ‘Bad Person=/=Bad Character”, Sarah Z has remarked on how the reason we love villains so much in fiction, is because they allow us to analyze the darker parts of our own psychological nature in a safe way. Even if Degrassi doesn’t have any “villains” per say, the principle still applies. Anyways, looking forward to Part 2!

[@CutterHistorical]

Even if Rick tried to change, we didnt find proof that he made the effort such as proving he was in counselling and all that... OF COURSE HE BROUGHT A GUN TO THE SCHOOL, if he was getting better he never wouldve done it

[@razkable]

They made Rick a middle ground character...he wasn't suppose to just be a bad guy but also he wasn't really on the path of a happy ending cause he was unhinged had selfish motives and felt entitled with an ego so we knew he would self destruct...although he overreacted to the prank and Emma rejecting his kiss...he should of never came back to the school..period...especially that day after the prank....or transfer when he's bullied...it all was set up up end in a shock not be realistic...writers did him dirty

[@YoongisSeesaw97]

He could have become better but they bullied him and kept bullying him terries friends did not have to forgive him but bullying wasn't right at all either even Jimmy was like it's okay to be civil they bullying was getting home Jay and his gang didn't even know her and Alex bullied him for personal reasons

[@invadertifxiii]

I love claire and eli, young relationships can be toxic especially if they've been together since then

[@alfjgist]

My hot takes : 1. Manny was a bad friend 2. Jimmy & Ellie would’ve made a great couple 3. Parents were the worst people 4. Goldi could’ve been a more interesting character 5. Next Class gets way too much hate

[@NotAVampyre]

I think I agree with most!

[@ashie1175]

I think the issue with saying that Eli and Clare got better over time is that the show never seemed to address what Eli did as wrong. They did in season 10 when Clare called him out for manipulating her but never really did again, at least not in a way that was direct and made it clear his behavior was manipulative and emotionally abusive. He's awful to Clare the entirety of season 11, purposefully not taking his medication and literally writing a play making her out to be a villain to make sure he's always in her face and under her skin. He still gets Clare back and then as soon as he moves away he cheats on her. Then he has the audacity to get mad at her for sleeping with someone else as if he didn't cheat on her, treat Drew like absolute crap because he's mad that she dared to sleep with anyone else, and then called her a whore. Then he gets rewarded by the writers by having it be his baby instead and then getting Clare in the end. I didn't hate them them in season 12. I felt Eli was actually an ok character in season 12. Outside of that one season he was awful and treated Clare terribly and it was never really addressed since character's like his were seen as romantic at the time in our culture. I think if he was written today he wouldn't have been seen as this romantic guy but as the asshole and abuser he was.

[@bestabothworldz2766]

Hot Take :Elli and Sean endgame!!! Agreed

[@KitsuneRokaku]

I too and a Sellie defender and Semma was quite overrated for me. Frankly, my own personal crack ship is Sean and Manny. I can hear the laughter from here but I don't care. There's a bit of chemistry there and wouldn't been mad if Sean and Manny were canon. *sigh* Least there's fan fiction potential there.

[@NotAVampyre]

I've actually never thought of them together. Might've been interesting

[@martelraykin]

The camera story between Imogen and Eli was so frustrating because we see it's an accident and we hear everyone saying that he freaked out and broke it like he just took it to smash it to the ground and it is so not what happen I could *feel* his frustration in my bones

[@NotAVampyre]

Yeah, I really the weight of the struggle between his lived experience of the event and how everyone perceived it.

[@devonmunn5728]

Honestly them as a couple were really toxic. Like her withholding his medication, manipulating him, the gaslighting him after she let it slip that she was stalking him and after that it was never addressed. Plus the thing with her using him being bipolar as an art piece I can understand why he reached that way, probably didn't want him being Neurodivergent being used as Imogen's fancy art piece. Plus that was an accident. He always had to apologize to her when she was the one in the wrong. The only sort of apology she ever gives to him is her saying that she romanticized him and projected a image onto him that would never meet reality but she never apologizes for withholding his meds from him or stalking him. Then in S11B she just magically changes personalities and besides the occasional thing she does to move the plot along she just never acts creepy again

[@NotAVampyre]

I don't think Imogen changed personalities. She continued to be "weird" but in a less extreme way. I always took it as growing up slightly and also seeing how her intense obsession burned her in the end. That she couldn't fundamentally change herself for love, and toxicity isn't that attractive up close. She would take a bit of time to stop refashioning her style to match her current love though.

[@HaleyNicole11]

Missed your Degrassi videos so much😍

[@NotAVampyre]

^^

[@CutterHistorical]

Glad to have u back Vamp, It was a bit hard trying to pick up the workload on Degrassi videos, besides ppl like ur videos of quality versus mine of quantity

[@NotAVampyre]

Glad to be back ^^

[@treasuremage7546]

I'd have loved to have seen to some of Baz's home life. Specifically what his dad was like . Nobody thinks the way he did by accident. Being a nerdy, style conscious guy is a great if you're around people that love you, but it sucks if they only want you to be a hyper masculine jock stereotype like Luke or early Drew . My theory is he only took to treating girls like they're puzzles to manipulate so he could meet his families expectations of him without needing to change completely.

[@NotAVampyre]

I do wonder about that. I wouldn't be surprised if how he views girls is more based on his social circles online, but it would've been cool to also see how he and Goldi ended up in different directions social justice wise.

[@treasuremage7546]

@@NotAVampyre Oh, I love that theory as well. Either way I'm glad he had Yael and Lola around to show him shes and theys aren't a complete different species.

[@ryanmeneo6301]

My favorite theme song is season 3

[@NotAVampyre]

I can dig it

[@canaryqueen4050]

I’m not hype favorite fan character of Paige michalchuk

[@NotAVampyre]

I don't think I understand

[@canaryqueen4050]

@@NotAVampyre Well a lot of people on Tumblr and read it we’re talking about who is your favorite least Degrassi character or favorite and I said and I stayed in my opinion I don’t like Paige Catholic is to me I’m not a huge fan of the popular mean girl show because I know it’s an every single TV show and other forms of media and I understand the appeal of it but at least I mean don’t get me wrong it is the way she acts in the way she is in and I’m not trying

[@invadertifxiii]

what do u mean hot take so i can post mine

[@jjthepikazard212]

my hot take is that i don't like any of the the tng theme songs very much. i really like degrassi high & i think it went sharply downhill after that. if i had to pick one, i'd probably choose the studz version or season 11

[@MegaAnifreak]

I think Rick was trying to get better and his classmates were in the wrong for how they treated him when he got back. You don't got to like or forgive him. They should have left him alone. They pushed him too far

[@treasuremage7546]

While we're at it, they shouldn't have messed with Toby either. All he did was show him kindness. Showing kindness is a GOOD thing. “A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

[@razkable]

Um he overreacted...the way you go to prison for killing someone who raped you..murder is worse than anything they did to rick...he shot jimmy..sorry ladies rape and bullying is not the same as attempted murder with a gun

[@YoongisSeesaw97]

Eclare was one of those couples that had break up and grow up and then be together ❤️which is natural when your highschool sweethearts

[@deathdog1392]

Hot Take: Eli and Imogen could have worked. I could see a storyline where they help eachother get over their respective mental problems and grow as people in the end. I could also almost see a friend group forming with Claire and Drew, as couple friends, and that would have shown huge character developement for Eli and Claire, had a happy ending and end up with a relatively believeable friend group.

[@kelsey1467]

I kind of don't think holly j is badly written but her character journey is a little too cliche I don't hate its just so clichee

[@razkable]

She was given a unique contrast arc when you compare her to paige who felt more like the typical arc type bossy catty popular female..but both did their job well

[@StardustNovaChannel]

5:00 Yeah that was me. Perhaps I treated Clare too harshly.

[@MG-mn7ig]

Sellie would have worked if Ellie wasn't so selfish about Sean needing time with his parents after the shooting. I agree he should have communicated better with her, but she was so crappy about him finally opening up and being honest. He needed time with his family and AWAY from Degrassi, he was struggling with PTSD and guilt. I never loved Ellie because she always seemed to make silly mistakes like this... Loved Semma for sure, but Sellie definitely could have been endgame if they fixed things up just a bit.

[@NotAVampyre]

I don't think it's how Elli responded that ended Sellie. I think it was Sean. How he was feeling and what he felt when he came back to Toronto. He realized that he still love Emma and just didn't feel the same for Ellie.

[@MG-mn7ig]

@@NotAVampyre Very true! I'm re-watching for the seven billionth time and just hit season 5, so I'll soon be approaching his return!

[@jacobbelow4136]

Confession time: I only saw a couple of episodes of Degrassi, and they were on a network exclusively dedicated to the show. I think the episode mentioned at mark 9:02 was one of the ones I watched! One of the thing I distinctly remember was this satirical plot line of one or two of the student characters (can’t remember which specifically) calling for a movement to de-employ squeegee-men who clean peoples’ windshields! If I were to have any personal hot takes with the show, it would be involving that, considering that my day job does involve cleaning windshields! XD Anyways, I’m sorry for being late to the part here. Some stuff happened in my life this week (and not some good stuff to happen in the dead of winter), and it kind of left me in a place where I was scrambling to get things done, and save as much time and money as I could to resolve what I needed to with my family.

[@NotAVampyre]

Haha I forgot about the squeegy kids episode! I almost didn't believe it was Degrassi for a second! I hope things are better now or at least getting better. No need to apologize. Always take care of you and your family first! My videos can wait :3

[@kelsey1467]

I don't know if this is a hot take but I actually feel like a degrassi university could work if it was its own seperate thing with different characters and I think they could have done the same thing with riverdale they could have archie and the rest of the gang attend college in riverdale rather than time jumping 4 years would it work like im asking im always a believer in its not what it is its how you do it

[@LordJudgement1818]

Wooooooooooooo

[@NotAVampyre]

Huh?

[@LordJudgement1818]

@@NotAVampyre just excited for your return an Degrassi talk. :)

[@NotAVampyre]

Ah gotcha! Thank you!