The Dawson Fallacy

This is an idea I am toying with putting in my thesis...

The Dawson Fallacy is the suggestion that every interaction with the world must not only be meaningful and important, but also dramatic. While I am sure that there are plenty of examples of this in the world, Dawson's Creek not only represents this, but also seems to be about this.

Dawson as a character never seems to have any interaction with anyone that is simply him being friends. While part of this is just the way television must work conserving time to push the plot forward, but even sometimes a story can move along without the characters analyzing it to death.

Mostly when this sort of thing happens it is very soap opera-y and is cast aside into the pile of low quality characters that populate the pop culture landfill. Dawson is different though. A combination of being right for the times and being somewhat smart in the cultural metaphors used in the dialog and the show works. Anyone who has watched the show will agree that it is good enough to want more, even if they will tell you that melodramas are brain rotting.

This is because there is a feeling that Dawson is self-aware of his acting out for maximum drama with his friends and loved ones just trying to make their way through their pulp romance lives. He knows he is a teenager and guy, but his ideas on what to do as a teen come from what he has seen in all the movies he has watched. His desire to be a filmmaker is then played out through his life. He doesn't want to just be a film maker he wants to live in a movie. He wants there to always be conflict. If as a teen he was ever happy it would be a sign that he is doing something wrong. He is not being a teen the way he should be.

This is why the end of Dawson's Creek is both satisfying to the audience and a painful realization for Dawson. The only way that Joey can ever be with Dawson is in Dawson's world of film. That's why in the TV show Dawson creates they are together. Joey as a real person goes off with Pacey who has always been the one who ended up in overly dramatic situations without having totally put himself in them.

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This is really all I have right now. I have only really seen about half of the show's episodes so I do not feel too comfortable talking about the show in any great detail, but I feel like I am on to something here with Dawson. If anyone would was/is a fan of the show we need to talk. I want to see just how close to base I am.