"Degrassi" Portrays Lesbian Relationship with Class

Class Issues
In a May 2007 interview with Degrassi.tv, Deanna Casaluce described Palex as "a great example of how young adults, when they fall in love with somebody, it's really for who that person is and not where they are from or how much money they make. They fall in love with that personality."

The economic and lifestyle differences between Paige and Alex are present and pervasive from the beginning of their relationship. From Alex's ongoing assumption that going to college isn't financially possible for her, to Paige's horror at seeing Alex knocked over by her mother's drunk boyfriend, to Paige's friend Hazel (Andrea Lewis) making a snide remark about Alex not being able to afford clothes on a shopping trip, viewers are constantly reminded that these girls lead very different lives.

The class differences are illuminated even further when their relationship takes a romantic turn, with Paige telling Alex the day after their first kiss, "I'm not even supposed to like people like you." She goes on to say that she means "people who wear black with navy, and hate everything and everyone," but the unspoken implication is that "people like you" is also a stand-in for "poor people."

Class differences take center stage in the sixth season, when Paige is forced to admit she can't live up to her wealthy, successful parents' expectations, and Alex turns to stripping in order to pay off the mountain of debt her mother's boyfriend got them into. Paige frequently offers to lend Alex money or help out in some other way, but Alex always turns her down out of pride, once telling a friend, "Paige looks a lot better off than she really is, not that I'd ever ask."

When Paige finally discovers in the finale of Season 6 that Alex is stripping, she asks, "How bad is it that you have to do this?" Alex replies, "I'm doing what I have to do!"

Later, Paige tells her to "swallow your stupid pride and accept help when it's offered," but Alex reiterates, "My mom and I are this close to being evicted. I do this because I have to."

When Paige asks, "When does it stop?" Alex retorts, "Maybe when I make enough for tuition or when I get my mommy's magic credit card, like yours. This is my reality, Paige, and if you can't be there for me, we have no future."

Alex eventually does ask for Paige's help, and Paige quite happily gives it, but it doesn't appear that Paige ever really understands what her girlfriend is going through.

The O.C. broached class issues when it introduced bisexual Alex (Olivia Wilde), who clearly didn't have the income to match her new girlfriend's. But The O.C. didn't do much with this beyond establishing it as a fact and referencing it in an amusing episode where Marissa (Mischa Barton) moves in with Alex and is introduced to the wonders of doing your own laundry and taking out the trash.

By focusing on class differences as the primary wedge between the two girls in the sixth season — as Buffy focused on Willow's addiction to magic — Degrassi took the focus off their sexuality and made them just like any other couple.

Grade = A