Why Degrassi? Well, my interest in Degrassi predictably started when I was an adolescent. I saw promos for it while watching Teen Nick. It looked dramatic, fun, and just the right amount of edgy for a kid my age. I was too embarrassed to admit I wanted to watch it, though. I thought my older sister would bully me for being interested in what could be considered a "girly" show. That all changed with the iconic Shark in the Water season 10 promotional video, which luckily also caught my sister's interest. I had the green light to start openly liking Degrassi.
I watched and loved season 10 and while I looked back on the show fondly, I never returned for another season to my memory. I'm not sure why, maybe my sister lost interest or I simply forgot to tune back in for season 11.
Fast forward about a decade. I was going through a rough period in life when I suddenly remembered Degrassi and how much I'd like to rewatch it. Originally I was only seeking out a scene that impacted me, but when I was looking for it I found out the entire series was on YouTube for free. I was at the perfect point where I could spend my days doing nothing but watching the show, so I did. I started in season 10, just like I had before, and watched every season after. Then I looped back around and watched seasons 1-9. I've yet to finish Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High but I plan to.
Degrassi was just what I needed at that part of my life. I wasn't a teenager anymore but I found a lot of value in the characters and the lessons taught. The way the show handled topics like mistakes, mental health, and suicide in surprisingly nuanced ways spoke to me. It offered me an intense catharsis.
When I was first introduced to Maya I said, "Good luck trying to get me to care about these new characters." Well, they definitely succeeded in that goal. Maya skyrocketed to one of my favorite characters, and now I'd say she is probably my #1.
I remember back when TikTok was still somewhat new, Maya actually went viral on it as an audio meme. The audio was pulled from an episode about her grief from her boyfriend committing suicide. The scene, while many find humorous due to the acting, I wound up crying from. I'd heard the audio before when it was a meme but it hit me hard when I finally saw it in the show. I found Maya' reaction to her boyfriend, Cam's, suicide compelling, relatable, and authentic.
With everything I knew about Maya at that point I fully expected her to be a typical mourning girlfriend. But instead I got this angry, raw reaction. Maya went on to act out and stopped caring about the things that were important to her before. She used anger as her shield against the sadness that Cam's death left her with. His death continues to influence her and her actions even into the soft reboot that is Degrassi: Next Class.
That's why Maya means so much to me. She is such an incredible portrayal of grief and depression.