Season 3, Episode 5 - Pride, Part 2

Original Airdate - October 15th, 2003

Content warning - homophobic violence, f slurs

You should really read Part 1 if you haven’t.

It’s the next day at school, and Marco goes straight for Spinner. He has to know, did Spinner share his secret? Spinner is cagey, and makes Marco repeat that he’s gay in a way that feels like it’s more for the viewer that missed Part 1 than the character. He refuses to say whether he told anyone.

Marco confides in Ellie, and when they walk up to Jimmy and Craig discussing a secret Spinner told them, Marco thinks he’s fucked. But it turns out, Spinner is just planning a surprise party for Paige. That’s good?

Later, Dylan gives Spinner, Jimmy, and Craig the tickets to his hockey game, plus one more for Marco. Jimmy and Craig are excited for a boys’ night but Spinner calls them fags. He’s weird about Marco coming, so he lies and says Marco has plans with Ellie.

In gym class, Jimmy asks Marco why he bailed, and Marco is pissed at Spinner. They set up to play volleyball, and even though this is supposed to be a volleying exercise, Spinner spikes the ball into Marco. Twice. Marco says that Spinner spikes as a girl because the best way to fight homophobia is misogyny.

Spinner goes to the bathroom and writes “Marco is a fag” on the wall. Jimmy comes in and sees it. Spinner says it’s true, Marco told him, and Marco sucks now. Jimmy compares Spinner’s homophobia to racism. But then, Jimmy goes to Marco and encourages him to join them at the game, where Spinner will be! Marco says he’ll come, but is going to skip pizza beforehand. He makes a joke about Spinner’s farts, but the real issue is obviously Spinner’s homophobia.

In this conversation, Ellie is also encouraging Marco to go to the game anyway. She doesn’t want Spinner to stand in the way of Marco and Dylan. We’ll come back to this.

The boys pregame at The Dot. The Dot is a chill teen hangout/restaurant that we first saw last episode and first hear of by name in this one. It’ll be with us for a very long time. Turns out Paige is coming to the game to support her brother. Spinner is still being so weird, and Paige tells him he has to chill out. She dealt with the fact that her brother is gay, Spinner can deal with the fact that Marco is gay.

Marco gets off at the wrong bus stop and ends up crossing through Toronto’s gay neighborhood to get to the game. He’s enamored by the site of a gay bar and a bunch of presumably adult men look at him which is gross. As he’s entering the park, he’s cornered by a group of gay-bashers who instantly clock him as a big ole homo.

The game starts, and Jimmy is worried that Marco hasn’t shown up. He tries to call Marco’s phone. The mocking gaybashers make Marco answer, but when Marco starts crying for help, they smash his cell. Jimmy doesn’t hear much, but he knows something’s up. Everyone suddenly has cell phones this season. Time is passing!

The homophobes start beating Marco up, but luckily a cop car drives by and scares them off. Jimmy rushes up to see Marco and one of the cops. Marco is clearly terrified and overwhelmed because of course he is! I think it’s important context that we’re only a few years after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is terrifying stuff.

The next day at school, Marco is lying about why he was attacked. Ellie, weirdly, tells him he should just be honest. Marco, understandably, says no way! If this is what it means to be gay, he’ll stay in the closet. Ellie says what about Dylan, and sure enough, Marco runs into him. Dylan tries to offer care and support, but Marco tells him to leave him alone.

Spinner is still mad for whatever reason. It’s clear he feels a little guilty about the attack. He knows that he’s the reason Marco didn’t come to pizza. But he makes it all Marco’s fault. If Marco was just normal, and just hung out with the guys, none of this would have happened. Jimmy tells Spinner he’s an asshole.

Marco runs into homophobe Jay in the bathroom, who draws his attention to Spinner’s graffiti. Spinner conveniently walks in so Marco can yell at him. Spinner told everyone! Spinner says that Marco should just stop being gay, and Marco says it’s not a choice. In fact, Marco is done hiding. The way he was clocked in the park makes it clear to him. He can’t hide, even if he wants to.

He says that Spinner is just like the gaybashers in the park. Spinner denies it. And Marco runs off. We end the episode on sad, guilty Spinner’s face. Great.

But what about Mr. Simpson? Emma comes to check on him and see how he’s feeling, but Simpson is putting on a brave face. He’s determined to go through with Manny’s silent auction, and Emma is a little bothered by his attempts to keep a smile, especially when he’s clearly thinking a lot about Jack.

At the auction, Ms. Hatzilakos is raising far more money than Simpson because of Degrassi’s teenaged perverts, so Simpson ups the ante. He says that if they raise $250, he’ll shave his head in the foyer. Everyone thinks this is so fun and great, but Emma knows what’s really happening.

That evening, Joey and Sydney drop off a meal for Simpson to enjoy after his biopsy. Simpson and Christine get home before they can slip away, and Simpson demands they all stay and have a good time. He’s trying very hard and everyone else is very somber. Awkward.

Sure enough, he raises the money and Sheila the lunchlady shaves his head. Everyone is laughing and having a good time, but Emma is near tears. Simpson gets a call and steps outside. Emma knows exactly what that is.

Manny comes up, annoyed that Emma is being sulky about another fun thing she’s doing, but realizes something is really wrong. Emma lets her in on Simpson’s illness, and Manny supports her. They’re strained, but there’s still a lot of care.

Emma asks Mr. Simpson about the call, and yes, it’s cancer. Emma is freaking out, and confronts Simpson on why he’s being so calm about all of this. He says he has to believe he can beat it, and promises that he will.

I want to say that this episode hasn’t aged well, but I can’t decide if I think that’s true. I have a lot of problems with it, and I know that. The question is whether those are problems of age. I think those problems were just as valid in 2003 as they are now. These are not problems that exist because of improved understanding. They are problems that existed with the episode when it aired, problems created because of fucking Spinner.

Spinner sucks. I have been surprised in my coverage up to this point how much more I’m enjoying Spinner, who I feel is constantly shoved down my throat. I remembered hating him. I remember now why I did.

Spinner is not just kind of homophobic in these episodes. He’s wildly, intensely, cruelly homophobic. He insults Marco, he socially isolates Marco, he does physical violence to Marco, he outs Marco, he blames Marco for his own attack. The slurs will not stop leaving his mouth.

And yeah, that’s most guys in 2003! Sad, but true! It makes a lot of sense that at least one of Marco’s friends would react to his sexuality with disgust and cruelty. It maybe should have been more than one. That’s not the issue at hand. The issue is the way the show reacts to Spinner’s POV.

First of all, it’s centered. Spinner’s reaction to Marco is the primary story of these two episodes. I would argue that the episodes spend more time and energy on Spinner spinning out than they do on Marco’s anxiety. Marco is very reactive. Spinner is very active. Even in the wake of the attack, Spinner’s guilt becomes our focus and our climax.

Then there’s every other character’s reaction to Spin. So many people in this episode try to have it both ways. They tell Spinner to knock it off, but do nothing to protect Marco from him. Why is Paige, who proudly supports her gay brother, continue to date such a massive homophobe? Why is Jimmy, who basically already hates Spinner, playing basketball with him?

Making this even worse, we don’t even see anyone but Ellie actively talking to Marco about his experience. Yes, he hasn’t technically come out to them, but they all know! I think it’d be better for them to privately, but explicitly offer them their support then pretend they don’t know anything. Jimmy is there for Marco, it’s true, but he never makes it clear that he accepts Marco as a gay man. Why does Paige say nothing to him at all?

These people have endless time to talk to the homophobe, but his homophobia is never disqualifying. They will voice their derision, but not their support.

But to be fair, the support Marco is getting isn’t great either! Marco is the victim of a hate crime. Maybe it’s not the time for him to be coming out, dealing with to the cops, being public, or starting a relationship. Maybe Marco needs a moment to get some therapy and a big hug.

But not as far as Ellie is concerned. Be honest, she demands. And it’s weird! It’s as though Marco is failing in some way because he does not want to expose himself to the wildly homophobic world around him. Let the boy have some privacy.

The thing I like most about this episode is where Marco ends things. I find it extremely relatable. Marco realizes that based on the lottery of his personality, he cannot hide. People will clock him, so he may as well be out.

I find it moving and sad. We spend an episode learning just how ill-prepared the world is to handle Marco. Marco tries to pull back and save himself from that stress. Marco realizes he can’t and he will have to shoulder this burden. It’s tragic, in the literary sense.

But I don’t think the show knows that. I think we’re supposed to find it brave. The thesis of the episode seems to be that the world is full of homophobes and well meaning straight people who will do nothing to protect you from them, and the role of the queer person is openly and boldly show up for that dynamic. That’s fucked up. That’s a bad message.

I take it personally. We covered this yesterday, but this episode inspired me to come out. I took this thesis on. I couldn’t hide, so my role was to exist in a way that invited further cruelty than I already experienced. What a horrible thing to put on a child.

Degrassi, as a show, wants to connect with its viewers. It wants to show them the world as it is, so that they feel less alone. Windows and mirrors. We see you. You should see others who are different. It’s a very tender mission.

So maybe this episode is a success. The mirror isn’t wrong. The world is homophobic and cruel and even the well-meaning people like the characters and creators of this show will not step in to protect you from it. Sorry, gay kids. This is the best we can do.