Dawsons Creek Value :: essays research papers

A seminal one-hour drama series, â€Å"Dawson’s Creek† chronicles with wry humor the undeniably intense period of awakening known as the teenage years. A startlingly fresh and realistic approach to adolescence, bringing an edgy, keen perception to the turmoil of that time in life, â€Å"Dawson’s Creek† in its first two seasons ranked as one of the highest-rated shows among female teen viewers. Set in a picture-postcard Boston suburb, just off of the Atlantic Ocean, this coming-of-age series explores the blooming self-awareness and growing pains that go hand-in-hand with the triumphs of growing up. Wisely intelligent and yet naively open, four teens are at the heart of this drama as they unknowingly embark on the road less traveled, going against the norm in the paths they choose. Together in this passage from adolescence to young adulthood, the series stars James Van Der Beek (â€Å"Varsity Blues†), Katie Holmes (â€Å"GO!,† â€Å"Disturbing Behavior,† â€Å"Teaching Mrs. Tingle†), Joshua Jackson (â€Å"The Skulls,† â€Å"Urban Legend†) and Michelle Williams (â€Å"Dick,† â€Å"Halloween: H20†). John Wesley Shipp (â€Å"Sisters†), Mary-Margaret Humes (â€Å"History of the World, Part I†), Nina Repeta (â€Å"Radioland Murders†), Mary Beth Peil (â€Å"The King and I† on Broadway), Meredith Monroe (â€Å"Dangerous Minds† the series) and Kerr Smith (â€Å"Flight 180†) also star. Oblivious to how well he is growing into his good looks, Dawson Leery (Van Der Beek) is a teenaged Steven Spielberg fanatic who is charmingly obsessive and passionate about his love of movies. As he returns to Capeside for his junior year of high school after spending the entire summer in Philadelphia with his mom (Humes), Dawson must face the rift with his longtime best friend. Joey Potter (Holmes), the tomboy and emerging beauty who lives down the creek with her sister Bessie (Repeta), is still reeling from her break-up with Dawson and what she perceives as his ultimate betrayal in turning in her father for dealing drugs. While Dawson tries to embrace a newfound devil-may-care lease on life, the ever-sarcastic Pacey Witter (Jackson) has been grounded somewhat by his tumultuous relationship last year with Rhode Island transplant Andie McPhee (Monroe). Next door to Dawson, Jen Lindley (Williams) has moved back home with her Grams (Peil), along with Andie’s brother Jack (Smith). On the home front, Dawson’s dad (Shipp) starts a new position as Capeside High School’s new varsity football coach. Together, these friends learn that growing up is never as easy as it seems in the movies. Blindly testing the waters towards young adulthood, the astute teens shed their childlike innocence and endure the compromise of morality that accompanies so-called maturity.