| Jerry D |
02-08-2021 09:46 AM |
This is something that I wrote at the end of Season Two in answer to the question that someone posed about which breakup on Dawson's Creek impacted me the most.
Quote:
The breakup that impacted me the most was Dawson and Joey’s first breakup, because it came as a completely disappointing and disheartening shock to me, and Joey’s reason for breaking up with Dawson made no sense to me whatsoever, and it started me on the path to being the confirmed Joey hater that I am today! ;)
For me, the breakup of these two "star crossed lovers" has been the single most disappointing development on this show, and I never felt the same way about this show, or these characters, after that happened.
The first season of Dawson's Creek established the central theme that was, for me, the core of the appeal of the show, Joey Potter's secret, and initially unrequited, love for her “best friend” Dawson Leery. We suffered with Joey as Dawson pursued, and then lost, his first girlfriend, Jen Lindley, and we collectively wondered how such a seemingly self aware and intelligent young man could be so utterly clueless to the affections and charms of his misunderstood, but wonderfully appealing, best friend. Just about every single fan cheered for Joey, and vilified Jen, to the point where entire websites were created dedicated to hating her character, although I personally always liked Jen, and sympathized with the situation she was in. Therefore, almost everyone was delighted when Dawson finally "took off the blinders" and realized his true feelings for Joey, and everyone literally jumped for joy when these characters at last met in a passionate embrace at the end of the last episode of that magical and sorely missed season.
Therefore, everyone tuned into the second season of Dawson’s Creek happily anticipating seeing Dawson and Joey interact as a couple, and face the changes and challenges that lay before them together. I, for one, hoped that Joey, finally secure in a loving relationship, could let down her guard, and overcome the bitterness and resentment she felt due to her tragic family history. I also hoped that Dawson, realizing that he was in a real relationship with someone else, would start acting less self absorbed and realize that the world doesn't always revolve around him and his interests, and that Dawson would have to consider Joey's feelings and interests as well. Instead, the writers chose to break Joey and Dawson up in an incredibly contrived and poorly handled way. This caused many of the fans of the show, including myself, to resent the Joey character and view her actions as selfish, insensitive, and incredibly hypocritical. Ever since the breakup of Dawson and Joey, I felt a seething resentment any time I saw her and Jack, who Joey started dating after she told Dawson she needed time alone to "find herself", interacting on the screen together, and that resentment has never left me, and it’s only deepened over the years. I deeply resented the fact that Joey hooked up with Jack, and that she was kinder and more understanding towards Jack than she ever was to Dawson. Joey really seemed to disregard Dawson's feelings, even though he had always been there for her, through good times and bad, first as a dear friend, and then as a loving and loyal boyfriend. I also resented the fact that Joey broke up with Dawson just when he needed her the most, when his parents' marriage was breaking up, and when his carefully constructed world was falling apart, and she’s continued to disregard his feelings, with rare exception, ever since.
What I think the writers did, in the interest of creating conflict, was destroy the wonderful relationship dynamic between these two characters, and it’s never been the same since then, because even when they got back together, it rang false for me, because Joey never accomplished her goal of “finding her something,” and it seemed like she only went back to Dawson after Jack revealed he was gay and he broke up with her, a pattern she repeated years later when she broke his heart again by becoming romantically involved with Pacey, and then she only appreciated Dawson and told him how “incredible” he was after Pacey broke up with her and left town without even saying goodbye to her. My main disappointment stems from the fact that I felt that both Joey and Dawson deserved happiness after all the drama in their lives, with Joey having to suffer through an unrequited love for her best friend, and with Dawson suffering the pain and anguish of his breakup with Jen. To me, the writers did nothing but make almost everyone unhappy on the show, and the also made all of us fans of the friendship and the romantic relationship of Dawson and Joey very unhappy as well when they broke them up in Season Two. Therefore the first breakup of Dawson and Joey was definitely the breakup that had the most impact on me.
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