Television Drama

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

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