Dawson

Dawson's Creek is by no means a realistic portrayal of teenage angst. I'll admit this. The power of the series and what, in my view, makes it far and away the best thing to happen to TV in a long, long time, is that is it a realistic portrayal of teenage emotions...

The characters in Dawson's Creek may only be 16, yet as Eve said to Dawson (early Season 3) they are all 'old souls'. The emotions in the series are real, the emotions felt by the characters are real, yet, the fact that Kevin Williamson has allowed the characters a vocal outlet for these emotions is the genius of the show. My So Called Life was a brave attempt to do this, but fell short through its pretensions of grandeur. Dawson's Creek embraces the fact that the vocabulary spoken is fake and because of this, is entirely forgiven. This is why we watch television, to feel and see emotions that we cannot or do not feel in our own lives.

As Dawson once said, "Movies (And TV) by definition are escapism, if you want reality look out of the window." Dawson's Creek knows what it is. A fictional television show about high school kids and the emotions they deal with. By admitting its falseness, yet retaining its warmth, humanity and heart, we are able to witness characters that we know aren't real, that we know in real life wouldn't have the vocabulary that these kids possess, but who we believe in and we root for.

Not only emotionally is Dawson's Creek superb, but technically, the series is faultless. Musically, artists like Sarah Mclachlan and Jewel fit snugly into the feel of the series, while artists like New Radicals and Semisonic serve to enhance emotions. The choice of song in Dawson's Creek is rarely wrong and often perfect. The music does not lead the scene into the direction of the song, but serves to reinforce and enhance the emotion that the scene portrays and requires.

Visually, the gorgeous backdrop of Wilmington, North Carolina is fitting as the small American village that is Capeside. The scenic beauty of the Creek, the coast, the woodland, the foliage. Everything visually about the show is in keeping with the emotional context of the show.

Camera work is also faultless. When presented with a difficult emotional scene, we usually pull away from the action at the end of the scene, not judging the characters for their mistakes and allowing them the right to deal with it on their own, without our interference. Only rarely do we judge the characters and when we do, the characters themselves have already beat us to it. (Dawson and Andie getting drunk)

I'd like to thank Kevin Williamson for allowing me the chance to fall in love with the town, the people and the life. These emotions are real. The vocabulary, is just a way of allowing the emotions to have a voice.

Dawsons Creek was revolutionary as it was a show that really cared about its characters, the story lines and the audience. The characters in the show were very likable, honest people who the audience grew to love. The thing that puts this show above most of the other teenage shows is the strength of the acting, the character depth, the realism of the show and the way the show is written.

Dawsons Creek follows the trials and tribulations of a group of very close teenage friends who are growing up in the fictional seaside town of Capeside. James Van Der Beek plays the main character in the show, the honest, romantic and genuinely good-guy Dawson Leery. Katie Holmes soul mate Joey Potter and Joshua Jackson was the plays his life-long best friend and funny, naughty and charming other best friend Pacey Whitter. Kerr Smith and Michelle Williams does a good job as Jen Lindley and Jack McPhee who were the other main cast in the show and who were also friends with the other three characters.

The show is mainly about these teenagers growing up through their adolescent years and it shows all the problems that they encounter, and by having each other the characters so close to each other it means they all have people they can turn too when things go wrong. This show dealt with a massive amount of issues and themes whether it be: sexual encounters, affairs, deaths, gay characters, love triangles, fights, mental problems etc and at the heart of the show is the problems they all have with growing up into adults.

Many people complain about the way that these characters spoke in sophisticated vocabulary that was unrealistic to how teenagers would really speak and that may be true to a point that was one of the good things about the show. It did not stick by the conventional teenage drama mould that has been copied many times by other shows.

All the characters in the show are very complex and because they are all there from day one the viewer learns to love each character because we come to respect and understand them. The viewer can also learn to see things they like in each of the characters and because the show stays true to itself, the characters do not change they just evolve.

The writing in this show is generally of a very good standard, and particularly in the first three seasons the music score is also great. The best episode of the show is probably "The Longest Day" as this is just superbly directed and put together and will probably rank among the best for many fans of the show.

A big strength of this show is that it appeals to a large amount of people in the teenage age group and unlike most teenage shows, it appeals to both men and women. I think this is due to the fact that the characters are not just two-dimension Hollywood cutouts and they all have deep personalities. The audience can identify with the characters because they paint a realistic portrayal of teenage life.

I personally think the show went on for too long and it should have finished after the fourth season. This is due to the fact that in Season 5 most of the characters moved away to different parts of the country and the closeness of the characters we had become to love simply vanished. The new characters that were cast into the show did not really add much to the already established show.

Go and see this show 9/10

The thing about Dawson's Creek and it's borderline pretentious vocabulary is that the characters acknowledge that they are a bit too smart for the average teen. They know how silly they must sound at times. Remember the episode where Dawson had his birthday and Andee and him got drunk and he just leveled into everybody? Do you remember what he said to Joey? " Joey, the only fifteen year old I know that needs to find herself. "

To say these teens are precocious is to say that Star Wars has a large following. It's just not needed. We all know that, but what makes the show so good is the characters, the writing, the setting, the direction, the production values, oh hell, everything makes this show good. It really is one of a kind.

What I like best about it is that Dawson is a dreamer. He does not want to grow up to be " Joe " down the street. He wants to be Spielberg. And sometimes he takes flak for who he is. But how many of us have dreamed? How many of us have taken flak for it? So how many of us can relate to this in one way or another?

I do agree however with the general census that Joshua Jackson is the best part of the show. Pacey is down to earth and he is not as wordy as the other characters. But his relationship with Andee is so complex and so refreshing that you yearn for his screen time, you get anxious to see what he is going to do next, and I do think he has the greatest range on the show. In the final episode of the second year, when he finally made some sort of amends with his dad..... powerful stuff.

I do like Joey and I think Katie Holmes is a wonderful actor, as is Van Der Beek and Williams. All in all this show is a refreshing taste of what it was like to be a teen and I applaud them for having the guts to tackle such delicate subjects as homosexuality and the difficulty in believing in God. That takes guts and they handle it with integrity and class.

There isn't a better show on TV and I look forward to every Friday ( here in Ontario ) to see what is going to happen next. Just one complaint: When the hell are Dawson and Joey going to do it?

An excellent show!

From it's very first pilot episode, Dawson's Creek has been able to capture the hearts of every teenager. Ever since it's ending in 2003, I believe this TV series was one the best teen set drama. One thing that this show was able to maintain was it's cast. Dawson Leary played by James Van Der Beck, Pacey Witter played by Joshua Jackson, Jen Lindley played by Michelle Williams, and Joey Potter played by Katie Holmes have all been in every episode since season one- and hence everyone was able to follow the characters from beginning to end. Though some episodes were cliché, and were equipped with some cheesy lines, that did not stop it from one time being one of the most popular shows in th world. This show brought many stars to the lime light especially Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson.

Why on earth did they cast James Van Der Beek as Dawson in this series? It was a total irritant to see his expressionless face and stilted dialogue all the way through six series. So much so that in series 5 and 6 when he wasn't prominent in the episode the quality was vastly improved. After five and half series of acting practice he just about managed to gain the power to make facial expressions, loose the wooden acting and deliver a line audibly. Despite all of the above, the rest of the cast to a greater and lesser extent managed to rescue the situation and elevate the series and portray an interesting and sometimes clever storyline, even if quite a few credits should have had as themselves tagged on the credit. That being recognised, then the casting team did a good job, with that one blunder as the exception. All in all a thoroughly good watch with story lines that keep you watching and one of the best examples in this genre.