"If I'm being honest, I can’t say I really like Dylan."

September 13, 2018 8:09 PM

[F]or reasons I may never be able to fully explain, when Lucas Wiley tells the camera, “Uh, yeah. He shits at Priceless Moments,” to explain why Dylan refuses to use the bathroom at Lucas’ mother’s house, because “squishy toilet seats are like pressing your butt against someone else's butt,” I was struck by two immediate and inexplicable thoughts:

1. This show is going to win a Peabody Award.
2. I am going to transition before I grow another year older.

From the incomparable Daniel Ortberg, A Taxonomy of Dudes as Inspired by American Vandal.
posted by rorgy (7 comments total)

I'm a little obsessed with American Vandal. It starts off as one thing, and then sneaks up on you. The show has a lot to say about high school kids, and the true crime genre, and the way we justify our obsessions. It is a riddle, tagged with dick graffiti, wrapped in a mystery. I've watched the first season three times now. I have high hopes for Season 2.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:49 PM on September 13, 2018 [5 favorites]

I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did at the 3D graphic crime scene reconstruction of the handjob.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 9:23 PM on September 13, 2018 [7 favorites]

We're talking about Bob Dylan, right?
posted by bunbury at 9:46 PM on September 13, 2018 [8 favorites]

This series came out of nowhere and I loved it. The writing is great, the acting is exceptional, and I still have no answer to the basic question of the series.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:56 PM on September 13, 2018 [3 favorites]

Oh shit Season 2 is out now! And Daniel's writing recaps for Vulture! I'm looking forward to that shit.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:28 AM on September 14, 2018 [4 favorites]

We're talking about Bob Dylan, right?

Look at this person -- they're so unhip, when you say Dylan, they think you're talking about Bob Dylan!
Whoever he was...
posted by miguelcervantes at 8:09 AM on September 14, 2018 [4 favorites]

Granted, it's been 23 years since I've been in high school – but I couldn't really relate to anything in this article. It seemed to be saying "Oh, yeah – that guy. We all know that guy, don't we?" But, like...no? I don't, really? Perhaps the article is more about the author's own adolescent experience than anything universal.

I don’t know what good this Taxonomy will be to any of you. You may not find it accurate unless you attended a suburban Californian high school in the early aughts. Even then, I have a bad habit of attempting to universalize my own experiences.

Oh. Well, then.

American Vandal is great, though, and I intend to spend my rainy Sunday binging the second season.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:36 AM on September 15, 2018