Did I imagine this scene from My So-Called Life?

October 19, 2012 5:50 PM

So, I absolutely loved My So-Called Life as a teenager. I recently bought the DVD and just watched the pilot episode again, but a scene I vividly remember is missing.

It's about the line 'you're so beautiful, it hurts to look at you'. Angela says this to Rickie during the pilot episode while they're talking about romantic things to say before sex, and then Rayanne references it later on that episode.

The thing is, I'm absolutely positive that when I watched the series the first time round, the line was something originally said by Angela's mother, Patty, to Angela in the middle of an argument. Patty was frustrated and meant it sarcastically, but Angela mulled over it and then brought it up later as a romantic thing to say. I think maybe we don't find out the origin of the line until later, so the scene with Patty might have been a flashback?

Anyway, I just watched the pilot on DVD and Patty never said the line. In case it comes up in a later episode, I did a quick cmd+f on transcripts of all 19 episodes but the line never comes up again.

Does anyone remember this? Did I see a weird extended cut originally? (If it matters, I first watched it about ten years ago on MTV in the UK.) Or have I bought an edited DVD?

Or did I just completely hallucinate this scene? I've tried googling, but I haven't got anywhere as all the hits are about the time Angela said it.

I know this is incredibly minor, but it was one of the main things I remembered about the pilot and its absence is really puzzling me. Thanks, MeFites!

posted by badmoonrising to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

I've definitely never seen that version. Patty does have this sarcastic line about Angela's appearance that was memorable to me:

Angela: I had my hair dyed.

Patty: Oh, you had it dyed. I thought it had died of natural causes.
posted by the jam at 6:10 PM on October 19, 2012

I remember that line, I just don't remember it as being from the pilot.
posted by elizardbits at 6:20 PM on October 19, 2012

Would Patty say this to Angela? Especially the "hurts to look at you" part? I just watched the whole first season (it's such a crime that there weren't more seasons) and I think that Patty was incredibly sensitive to hurting Angela's feelings. Maybe she would say something like that to her husband but I think it would be out of character otherwise. Not saying there couldn't have been another cut....
posted by amanda at 6:50 PM on October 19, 2012

Could this have been in an episode later, like The Zit?

In the pilot Patty does say, about Angela, to Graham, "It's just so hard to look at her. She looks like a stranger."
posted by onlyconnect at 6:52 PM on October 19, 2012

I don't remember Patty ever saying that line, but I'm sure she says something like "I can't even look at you/her" after Angela dyes her hair.
posted by atropos at 6:52 PM on October 19, 2012

Also, outside the club (at the end of the pilot?) Rayanne says, "you know, with your hair like that, it hurts to look at you." Maybe you confused the mom with Rayanne?
posted by onlyconnect at 6:58 PM on October 19, 2012

Here you go, from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKuEzXcu9gI
posted by MiG at 7:08 PM on October 19, 2012

I'm with Amanda, it's out of character for Patty to say this and it doesn't make sense in the context of their relationship.
posted by sweetkid at 7:42 PM on October 19, 2012

I don't think MiG has it, OP references this scene in the question and is asking if Angela is recalling something her mom said in that scene.
posted by sweetkid at 7:55 PM on October 19, 2012

Oh yeah, on rereading the Q, Patty never says that line. Only Angela. You are halluciremembering.
posted by elizardbits at 9:19 PM on October 19, 2012

I don't remember Angela's mom saying that line, or the line being inspired by anything Angela's mom said.
posted by Sara C. at 9:54 PM on October 19, 2012

Huh, that's really odd. I remember the scene with Patty so vividly... I guess it's true what they say about the brain not distinguishing between true and false memories.

And I think amanda is right, it would be a pretty hurtful thing for Patty to say to Angela.

Thanks everyone!
posted by badmoonrising at 3:01 AM on October 20, 2012

I don't know, that sounds vaguely familiar to me, Patty saying that sarcastically. I have no evidence, but I wouldn't be too quick to write it off. Aren't pilots usually edited once the show is picked up? If so it seems entirely possible that there is an alternate version with that scene in it floating around somewhere. I would think they'd include it on the DVD, though.
posted by désoeuvrée at 4:14 AM on October 20, 2012

Aren't pilots usually edited once the show is picked up?

No. Well, it's complicated. A pilot is more likely to have "deleted scenes" and such than any random episode of a TV show. But the aired episode is the canonical episode, and the casual viewer won't see nonstandard versions floating around on cable or whatever.

Now, it could be that badmoonrising saw a deleted scene on DVD and mentally inserted it into the episode. But it's pretty much impossible that the episode Netflix has is actually different from what aired in 1994 or what has been floating around in the universe since then.
posted by Sara C. at 9:51 AM on October 20, 2012