Television Dramas
The viewer positioning in television dramas play a very important and
critical
part in how the drama is portrayed to the audience, and hence this
gives an idea
on how successful the show will be. Dawson’s Creek is a
relatively new TV
drama aimed at teenagers and the issues they face and have
to deal with in
society today. The viewer positioning, in relation to the
show’s themes,
construction and values will be discussed and analysed. The
"Pilot" episode
(first episode of Dawson’s Creek) will be referred back to in
this essay, as
this episode was what propelled Dawson’s Creek into becoming
the most watched
teen show around the world and what made the actors/
actresses into instant
stars. Dawson's Creek is about one boy's coming of age
journey and his lifelong
friendship with a girl from a vastly different home
life. The vivid and
absorbing relationship between Dawson (James Van Der
Beek) and Joey (Katie
Holmes) is at the core of the series. Best friends
since they were small
children, the two are faced with many new challenges
ahead of them in their
teenage years, ones that would not have arisen in
their childhood days. One is
sustaining their close friendship in spite of
their budding romantic
relationship, their emotional, physical and
intellectual growth and the changing
world around them. Other than Dawson and
Joey, the show also revolves around two
other central characters, Jen and
Pacey. Jen (Michelle Williams) has
mysteriously come from New York to stay
with her grandparents, but she clearly
has an air of mystery surrounding her
as she harbours a dark secret from her
past. Dawson clearly lusts for her,
but when Jen unveils some of her teenage
experiences to Dawson, his feelings
for her clearly change. Pacey (Joshua
Jackson) has been Dawson’s best
friend, along with Joey, for some time. Pacey
lives life fearlessly, and he
is eager to discovery what life has laid out for
him. His gift for sarcasm is
matched only by knack for stumbling awkwardly and
unprepared into adult
situations. The four are engaged in an intriguing
relationship, and are
forced to deal with their feelings towards each other.
Dawson’s Creek is
about their journey through life. The show was conceived,
developed and
written by Kevin Williamson, who continues to serve as executive
producer of
the series. Dawson's Creek presents a somewhat autobiographical and
almost
shockingly honest portrayal of teenage characters dealing with
real-life
issues. Williamson believes that today's teenagers, who are exposed
to an
unprecedented amount of violence, sex, drugs and unsavory role models,
are
growing up fast. Dawson's Creek is loosely based on Williamson's
real-life
experiences growing up in rural North Carolina and the special
relationship he
shared with his own best friend. As it presents a very honest
portrayal of the
painful experiences of the teenage years interspersed with
incredible moments of
pure exhilaration, fun and joy, the show provides a
fresh and gripping approach
to the vast and diverse universal emotions
associated with growing up. Never
underestimating the 16-year-old mind, the
series deals with sensitive issues
that reflect the concerns of the four
characters striving for self-awareness,
while afraid of losing something
special and not being able to find anything to
replace it in the future. The
agony of surviving puberty intact, discovering
their sexuality, unearthing
their future and figuring out life in general are
just some of the themes
that surround the central characters of Dawson's Creek.
During a time
when friends and family have an enormous impact on their lives and
future,
Dawson, Joey, Pacey and Jen worry about where they're heading and
what
they'll be when they grow up. Afraid of doing something stupid, or
making
mistakes that have lifelong consequences, each of the four characters
must learn
to deal with the other gender, their own sexuality as well as the
question of
whether or not to engage in sex, and how those decisions impact
their long term
friendships. The viewers targeted are clearly teenagers, as
the show’s themes
relate to the issues teenagers face. However, watching
Dawson’s Creek can
satisfy young adults and even the older generation, as it
brings back fond,
strong and emotional memories of their teenage years. The
viewers are positioned
to associate with the themes present. Some feelings
and memories the audience
might have recollected from watching the "Pilot"
episode and a few of the
following episodes are; how they felt when they
experienced their first kiss, or
how they felt when they were severely hurt
and betrayed by someone, as Mitch
(Dawson’s dad), and Dawson were when Gale
(Dawson’s mum) had an affair with
another man. Or did some viewers ever
happen to have a crush on one of their
best friends? All of these issues and
conflicts are raised and resolved in
Dawson’s Creek. The themes of
Dawson’s Creek have such a strong impact on
the viewers and their feelings.
The audience can also relate to them. The
audiences are therefore really
involved in the plots and storylines. This is
what has made the show so
successful in quick period of time. The themes of
other teen shows are very
different to Dawson’s Creek, thus making it more
interesting to watch.
Dawson’s Creek freely brings up issues relating to sex,
which other shows
find it hard to do. The writers and producers of Dawson’s
Creek know sex
is an extremely titanic issue when it comes to teenagers, and the
show
handles the topic very well and carefully. Other teen shows such as Party
of
Five, Neighbours, Beverly Hills 90210, Home and Away, Charmed,
Buffy,
Heartbreak High and Breakers hold back when it comes to sex. These
shows do not
freely and openly express the issues involving sex, especially
when it comes to
character dialogue. This is what separates Dawson’s Creek
and the rest of the
field. The writers and producers made it clear from the
first episode (the
"Pilot" episode) that the subject of sex would play a
big portion of the
show. In the "Pilot" episode, there was a lot of sexual
tension between the
main characters. The main characters discussed their
sex-lives, sexual
experiences openly and they talked about sex in general as
a lot of teenagers do
today. The first scene of the "Pilot" episode shows
that Joey has been
sleeping over Dawson’s house for 7 years, but on that
night, Joey thinks they
should stop because their growing hormones are likely
to alter their
relationship. Dawson completely disagrees, and persuades Joey
to stay the night,
which she does. In future episodes, the audiences learn
that Joey has had a
strong crush on Dawson, so she feels uncomfortable being
so close to him. When
Jen arrives, Dawson instantly falls for her, but
Joey tries to keep them apart.
This is an example of some of the teen
angst on the show. There are a lot of
compelling emotional scenes, and also
some great humour and fun, which makes
Dawson’s Creek a delight to watch.
Dawson’s Creek is an hour-long drama,
which is the standard for most dramas
on television. The first season contained
13 episodes, the second
contained 22 episodes and the third will contain 26
episodes. This suits the
viewers because the episodes are not too short, and not
too long. There is
enough time for character development in an episode, but it
does not get
boring and long. In an hour, there can be numerous conflicts, which
can be
resolved, however it would be difficult to do this effectively if the
drama
went for half an hour. If it did go for thirty minutes, then it would be
more
like a soap opera because one episode would continue on from another.
Every
episode, a number of conflicts arise, and they are either resolved in
the same
episode, or in one of the future episodes. For example, in the
"Pilot"
episode, the conflict between Pacey and his teacher, Tamara, was
briefly
resolved in the same episode, however the conflict between Gale and
Bob (her
co-worker, whom she slept with) was resolved in future episodes.
This technique
is effective because the viewer will be satisfied with an
episode, but will also
be eager to watch future episodes to see how conflicts
are resolved. The viewer
positioning for most television dramas in relation
to the show’s construction
is comparatively similar. The characters of the
show value families, friendship,
sex and honesty. Dawson’s Creek also values
teenage life, and the issues they
face as well as the consequences of them.
Dawson clearly values honesty, as he
was absolutely devastated when he
discovered that his mum, Jen and Joey had all
been keeping gigantic secrets
from him. Dawson also values sex, as he wants it
to be the perfect moment-
the perfect time, the perfect woman, and the perfect
place. Joey does not
want her feelings towards Dawson to alter their long and
dear friendship.
This shows that Joey values her and Dawson’s friendship a
lot, so much that
she does not want to take any risk of losing it, no matter
what she might be
missing out on. All of the characters value their families
greatly. Dawson
realises how much his family means to him after they decide to
separate; Joey
wishes she had a family because her mother died of cancer and
father is in
prison; Jen was kicked out of her house in New York but after a
while, she
realises that she wants a second chance with them; Pacey has always
wished
that his dad show more respect towards him and spend a bit more time
with
him. The viewer is positioned to relate to the values of the show and
the
characters, like it is with the themes of the drama. The younger viewers
learn
from the characters, and their mistakes. Teenagers may start to value
their
families, specifically their parents as they learn what life would be
like
without their parents by their side. They also might learn to not make
decisions
that could affect the rest of their lives without thinking about it
and the
consequences the decision could lead to. The viewers can almost
picture
themselves as one of the characters, and they can assess what they
would do in
an identical or similar situation. In the "Pilot" episode,
viewers may learn
that if they ever have strong feelings for someone, then do
not let the
opportunity go or they might live to regret it for the rest of
their lives.
Dawson’s Creek handles these issues with a huge amount of
care and
consideration. The positioning of the viewer in relation to the
themes,
construction and values for television drama plays a critical part
in
determining viewer response, and how popular a series will be. Dawson’s
Creek
deals with resolving issues that teenagers face, so teenagers can
relate to the
themes and values of the show. The storyline has a huge impact
on teenagers as
they could be in similar positions in the future. Dawson’s
Creek is
constructed like most other TV dramas are, as it holds the
audience’s
attention and liking. Dawson’s Creek makes the audience think a
lot, about the
future and the past. This is what makes Dawson’s Creek
spectacular to watch
and added with the good blend of drama and humour, these
are the reasons why it
became the most watched show by teenagers around the
globe.