Goodbye “South of Nowhere”: A Tribute
by Guest Contributor Nadra Kareem, originally published at The Whirliest Girl
In late 2005, I was visiting my Aunt Joan in Chicago. The visit pretty much entailed me trying to avoid the cold and, thus, spending much time with her remote in hand, flipping through the gazillion channels offered by her Satellite provider. One day I stumbled across a network called The N and was thrilled to find out that the MTV subsidiary ran repeats of shows like “Degrassi Junior High” and “My So-Called Life.”
As I relived my youth by watching The N, I discovered a new show the network was promoting called “South of Nowhere.” I was instantly hooked. Now, I’m bummed to find out that The N is canceling the show, which is in its third season. “SoN,” as it is called by fans, was groundbreaking in many ways. It chronicled a high school girl’s budding awareness that she is a lesbian and the reactions that her classmates and conservative Catholic family have to that realization. Yes, the girl, Spencer Carlin, is hot and her love interest is even hotter, but the relationship they have isn’t depicted in an exploitative way. My only real criticism of the relationship is that the actresses don’t have much onscreen chemistry.
As Spencer begins to accept her sexual identity, her adopted black brother, Clay, struggles with his racial identity. I loved that the adoptee character wasn’t added to be gimmicky, i.e. Natalie Portman’s brother in “Garden State” and the black, deaf, gay love interest of a character in “The Family Stone.” Instead, there’s genuine exploration of how growing up in a white family shaped Clay’s perceptions of race, which make him vulnerable as a black teen in Los Angeles (the Carlins are Ohio transplants), and the stereotypes that he has of other blacks, like his street-savvy classmate Sean Miller.
I admit that while watching the show I fell a bit in love with Sean (hey, in real life he’s in his late 20s). But I digress. Sean is a character rarely seen on film and television. He’s a black, inner-city youth who can effortlessly dissect Poe’s “Tell-tale Heart” and spends his free time watching Wong Kar-wai films. He can be a bit intimidating at first but, as others get to know him, they find that he is sensitive, listens well and gives great advice. Oh, and did I mention that this guy regularly attends church with his grandmother? We just don’t find these kinds of young African American characters depicted on television—three dimensional, well-read and nonconformist.
Clay’s love interest, Chelsea, the first black girl he’s ever dated, is just as unconventional of a black Hollywood character. She’s covered in tattoos, has a bohemian style and is bent on going abroad to study art.
Even the head cheerleader at the school is not what one would expect. Rather than being a skinny blonde, she’s a shapely Latina named Madison. Portrayed as unbearably bitchy at first, Madison’s character deepens as the series progresses.
While there’s more development of characters like Madison in the second and third seasons of “SoN,” the show took a turn for the worst in that its plotlines began to mirror those of prototypical teenage dramas. The characters all begin to sleep with each other. Long-lost relatives emerge from nowhere. There’s an unexpected pregnancy and two unexpected deaths, one of which results in a character finding herself filthy rich.
Due to these storylines, not to mention sometimes underwhelming acting, I realize that maybe it was time for “SoN” to retire before its original, groundbreaking vision was tainted. Still, I’ll miss seeing how the show’s characters grow. If you like, view an episode of “SoN” here.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Kenny wrote:
Sounds interesting. I couldn’thelp but notice how the Black guys are the only ones not touching anyone on the photo, especially the females.A lot of people missed that aspect in the Lebron/Bundchen photo,they were also trying to minimize the physical contact between the two.
Posted 23 Apr 2008 at 10:15 am ¶
Nadra wrote:
That’s true. Good point. They are positioned off to the side.
Posted 23 Apr 2008 at 1:43 pm ¶
Tasha wrote:
This did seems interesting until yes you described the plot downturn at the end. Yes where are their romatic interests in the shot…makes it image a bit odd if not unbalanced
Posted 23 Apr 2008 at 2:26 pm ¶
B wrote:
I’ll really miss this show. I’m a fan. It did get sorta overly-dramatic in later seasons, but high school kids are like that (Now that I’m an old fart, I can admit that most of my teenage tears weren’t necessary). Also, to the writers’ defense, one of the show’s deaths was a result of an actor who doesn’t agree with homosexuality (the actor doesn’t define this as being homophobic or bigotted, but if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck…) opting to leave the show. I definitely agree that the Sean & Chelsea characters are standouts, and would add that the actors who portray them consistently did a good job.
Posted 23 Apr 2008 at 9:28 pm ¶
thejoyprincess wrote:
I’ll miss it too…I need to get off The N, anyways, lol
Posted 24 Apr 2008 at 7:49 am ¶
jvansteppes wrote:
“the girl, Spencer Carlin, is hot and her love interest is even hotter”
This is a claim that merits some dissent here. What do you mean by hot? I noticed you didn’t even use the term ‘conventionally hot’ which might have implicitly challenged gender and beauty standards. When people critique the L Word they don’t complain that the actresses are ‘hot’, they complain that they’re gender-normative, thin and heavily made up. Which is what these characters are and it seems that you’re agreeing with the assumption that hot equals thin/ultra-feminine/cosmetics addicted which it does not.
Posted 24 Apr 2008 at 9:33 pm ¶
Erica wrote:
I agree, I thought the first couple of seasons were great for all the reasons you mentioned. It was unconventional without seeming completely unrealistic. And then they fell back on stereotypical tv drama to create storylines. Boo! I had to stop watching.
Posted 27 Apr 2008 at 8:17 pm ¶
jalabi wrote:
“Degrassi” is a Canadian show, and I’ve found that for the most part, shows from the north tend to be more progressive in terms of sexual and racial relationships. IR are much more common, and less remarked upon, in CDN shows.
Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 12:15 am ¶
CK wrote:
I agree that the storylines for season 3 have been disappointing so far. I credit that to Nancylee Myatt no longer being a part of the show. Mandy even said that Nancylee was the reason the show even made it to a third season. The remedy for that would be to get her back, not cancel the show. But I disagree on Mandy and Gabby’s lack of chemistry. Other than Gabby’s lackluster kisses, I think they have great chemistry. Their chemistry is what makes fans outside of the lesbian community (fans like me) drawn to them. At the very least, I find it believable that Ashley is crazy about her Spencer. You can see it in her eyes. And although all the other issues on the show are interesting, I can bet that their relationship is the only reason for the success that the show has achieved. If Spencer and Ashley were never “Spashley,” I honestly wouldn’t watch it.
And I have to disagree with the comment about the black guys in the picture not touching anyone. Clay’s getting about as much contact as Spencer is, seeing as they put Ashley with Aiden in this shot (which doesn’t make sense since they weren’t together then). I can see why Clay’s romantic interest isn’t in the shot because until season 3, Aasha Davis wan’t even in the opening credits, whereas the cast members in this shot all were.
Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 4:34 pm ¶