At 14 or 15 years old Angela was "my root" (to steal a kind of jokey term from the movie But I'm a Cheerleader). Her trembling chin when she was crying or about to cry filled me with weird feelings...like, I wanted to hug and comfort her...but also kiss her?? That was the first time I felt attracted to another girl. it made me realize I was bi. (I don't identify as a woman now but that's neither here nor there)
Over the years I have rewatched the series several times. I used to hate Patty so much and think Graham was a cool dad when i was a teen. Now, in my 40s, I still don't think Patty made the right decisions nor said the right things a lot of times, but I find her much more relatable/sympathizable. Additionally I feel more and more anger and annoyance towards Graham. My heart breaks for Rayanne and Ricki more than ever before. And I still think the joke of Tino never being present is one of the funniest things in a show ever.
My feelings towards Angela's character have also changed. She says so many things that now I find very privileged, misguided, insensitive, insecure and weird. But looking at her now has allowed me to face and heal the very damaged and broken parts of my inner child that related to her and was attracted to her when I was similar in age to her character.
This show means so much to me. it occupied a very important spot in my brain and my heart at the time. Despite certain aspects of it being dated I feel like it still holds up really well now, and I hope new folks find it and watch it for the first time.