(3) A Degrassi Essay Series About Rick Murray

Originally posted on Tumblr. See preceding parts 1 and 2 for more.

Part 3a

Here's my head canon of season 4's events: Rick returns to Degrassi; the school ostracizes him via Emma’s campaign; Rick is tormented everywhere he goes; Emma puts an end to Jay's ballistics once the violence against Rick gets out of hand; Rick would learn his lesson and never lay a finger on another girl again; and everyone leaves him alone while he completes his tenth grade year for the second time.

But this is Degrassi. The drama never ends. Drama is inherently messy. And that ending is too tidy for drama.While Emma made it clear that she wasn't going to torture Rick in the halls, this memo doesn't reach the other characters. There are three in particular who constantly take jabs at him: Spinner, Jay, and Jimmy. At this point, pushing him around is just for sport. Whether or not Rick deserves it, whether or not you feel sorry for the kid, one has to wonder: where are the teachers when all of this is happening? Has anyone reported this to the principal?

In part 1 we discussed why Rick returned. In part 2 we discussed what motivated Emma to protest against Rick. Here in part 3, we will explore another popular talking point in the Degrassi fandom: Principal Daniel Raditch. Any time his name comes pops up, fans tend to explore the answers to the two following questions:

1. Could Mr. Raditch have stopped tragedy from befalling Degrassi?
2. Could he have prevented Rick from returning in the first place?

Usually question one also encompasses question two, but for the sake of argument, I will address these separately as they are two different things. Mr. Raditch is such a huge part of this conversation that the next three uploads will be dedicated to exploring his role in this tragedy, which will be called parts 3a, 3b, and 3c respectively. Parts 3a and 3b will be used to answer question one, and 3c will explore the answer to question two. This is part 3a, so we will have a closer look at question one: could Raditch have stopped tragedy from befalling Degrassi?

An Unproductive Conversation

Could Mr. Raditch have stopped the school shooting? We the viewers learn that Rick has sought out help multiple times based on two different scenes from the show. The first instance is from episode 4x07, the first half of the two-parter episode titled "Time Stands Still". About a quarter of the way into part one, we see Rick making a visit to the principal's office and asking him to intervene in the Whack-Your-Brain predicament that he was recently forced to face. Earlier that day, Mr. Simpson decided to draft Jimmy onto the trivia team last minute after Heather Sinclair fell ill with mononucleosis. At this time, Jimmy Brooks is still giving Rick a hard time at school, and he'd be damned if he let that jock taint the only thing he has going for him at Degrassi that doesn't feel like hell on earth! Raditch is already short with Rick in this scene as he rummages through papers and moves back and forth in the office. "Do I look like I have time for a chat, Richard?" He barks at the student. Fortunately Rick isn't discouraged yet. He goes on to tell the principal that Jimmy "doesn't like [him], and he has no qualms expressing it." Rick doesn't name drop here; he simply refers to Brooks as "a member of the Whack-Your-Brain team".

Choice of Words?

A Youtuber who goes by NotaVampyre uploaded a video about this exact conversation and brought up an important point: Rick's wording in this scene as he's asking for help...he is being extremely vague. At first he starts off direct after Mr. Raditch asks him why he wants to chat. He says that Jimmy is harassing him. When Raditch asks how, that's when Rick gives his vague response. You can make a case that the principal is aware that Rick was at odds with a large number of kids at school, especially if we refer to the deleted scene where Marco and Alex ask him to reconsider letting Rick return to Degrassi, arguing that "he's a danger...especially to girls" as Alex Nunez would put. Unfortunately, the principal is wrapped up in whatever office task he has in front of him, and Rick's concerns are brushed off hastily.

"Richard, I've told you time and time again: it takes two to tango," he tells the boy. It's from this quote that we learn this probably isn't Rick's first trip to the principal's office. Or second. Probably not even the third. The principal goes on to say that he suggests that Rick tries harder to get along with the other student and to come back if anything serious happens. He dismisses the subject immediately after, leaving no room for any more questions Rick has leftover. The student receives the message loud and clear from Raditch: he is left to face this problem on his own.

More Could Have Been Done

The principal could have, and should have, done his due diligence; it could have potentially saved lives. Rick, however, should have also been more ingenious in his approach. Nonetheless, I can understand why Rick wouldn't want to open up about his suffering. I imagine it's much harder for teen boys to admit that they are victims of bullying than it would be for teen girls. Not only is it humiliating for him, though the same could be said about a girl, but there is also the feeling of being emasculated that is unique to the male experience. Men are socialized and hardwired to be tough and competent enough to fight their own battles; any other action or reaction would be perceived as weak and feminine, two things that men neither want nor are expected to be, especially the more masculine he is. I think this is partially the reason why Rick didn't express plainly the ways in which he had been harassed, though not necessarily because he is masculine in the traditional sense, especially since it's been presented in the show that he isn't. Rather, his pride and his eccentric, flowery language prevented him from being completely transparent. I like that the writers decided to give a distinct speaking voice to Rick's character. In this instance, however, Rick's vocabulary works against him as he's not being clear in what he wants from Mr. Raditch. Was this done on purpose? I think we can infer that it was to make the tragedy more tragic.

Even if Rick did come forward, the principal would still have to meet him halfway. Perhaps the other part of the reason why Rick didn't open up about the torment is that he had little expectations for the principal to take action. As we mentioned before: this isn't Rick's first visit to Raditch's office; maybe Rick had told him about a specific incident, such as being shoved against the lockers, before the moment we saw in 4x07 and had gotten nowhere. Maybe deep down, Rick knew nothing would come of confiding into an authoritative figure and didn't bother himself with the details of what was happening to him. Alas, these are only my speculations. We really never know how many times Rick attempted to get outside help, though we can infer that it was at least two. We never know what all Rick told the principal about the bullying he had been facing, thus we the audience are forced to fill in the gaps yet again and make our own deductions about what happened.

Remember, this is only 3a. We still have 3b and 3c to talk about Raditch. The rest of this conversation will be addressed later. Have anything to add? Let's chat in the comments. I'm open to discord, but let's keep it respectful.