Posted under mtv
I did not get my picture taken with James Van Der Beek.
That probably needs some context, so let me back up. Last week, word came down that James Van Der Beek would be stopping into the MTV Newsroom for an interview. He has a new film coming out called “Formosa Betrayed” and was just introduced as a character on the NBC medical drama “Mercy,” and MTV News pop writer Jocelyn Vena would be sitting down with him for a few minutes on Monday morning.
I immediately got excited, because I’m a gigantic fan of “Dawson’s Creek,” and have always thought of Van Der Beek as the most underrated of all the ’90s teen heartthrobs (mostly for his many TV guest spots, as well as his performance in “The Rules of Attraction”). Even though I wasn’t conducting the interview, I wanted to sit in on it and snap a few photos.
My relationship to “Dawson’s Creek” is multi-layered. I was in the target demographic when the show premiered in 1998. I was about to turn 16 and had read a ton of articles about the buzz surrounding the debut of the show. I was excited: Here was a program that was going to be pitched at teenagers that talked frankly about issues (but mostly about sex) without dumbing down the dialogue.
Naturally, I got hooked. I still have VHS tapes stored at my parents house that contain original broadcast episodes of the first and second seasons of “Creek” (for some reason, I was never home on the night it aired). I followed the escapades of Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen as they navigated the murky waters of high school. It seems utterly sterile now when you compare it to something like “Gossip Girl,” but “Dawson’s Creek” was really edgy at the time, opening up conversations about sexuality and social morays. What was even better? Those conversations were being conducted in the show’s trademark elevated dialogue.
But despite the relationship dramas and soapy plots, the best thing about “Dawson’s Creek” was that, generally, nothing ever happened. And that’s what made it realistic. For most people, high school is just a series of short distractions amidst interminable stretches of boredom until graduation and the liberation of college or adult life. Most people don’t have the intriguing, operatic teen lives of the kids on “The O.C.” or any other teen show of the past decade. Most people just drive around waiting for something to happen while the music is cranked up too loud, and hopefully you get to make out a little bit in between.
“Dawson’s Creek” captured that perfectly. It captured that high school malaise that sets in when you know that there has got to be something better out there, but you have no idea what that something is. It was a show about waiting and hoping and wondering and dreaming (which is why it got a little ridiculous in the fifth and sixth seasons, after the gang graduated from Capeside High).
Even when I graduated college in 2003 (which happened to coincide with the series finale of “Dawson’s Creek”), I managed to find my way back to the Creek: I was a freelance writer living in a tiny apartment in Manhattan, and I spent my mornings watching back-to-back episodes of “Dawson’s Creek” on TBS. (I got through the entire series this way.) Being able to re-experience my favorite episodes (including the all-nighter from the second season, possibly my favorite entry of any television show ever) not only helped me cling to some sort of college-aged juvenilia for a little bit longer, but it also helped remind me that growing up is difficult even if you’re living in a fictional town in Massachusetts and have the Flash for a dad.
So “Dawson’s Creek” meant a lot to me, which is why I was thrilled to shake Van Der Beek’s hand this morning. I didn’t share all this with him, because let’s face it: It’s more than a little off-putting. Even though I told myself I would, I decided not to get my picture taken with him. Because he’ll always be Dawson Leery, and I want to keep him on the other side of the screen, forever in Capeside, forever helping me grow up.