Did Dylan Draw Dicks?

American Vandal is a satirical series about a case of vandalism at Hanover High School in California. In the first episode, “Vandalism and Vulgarity,” we find the main character, Dylan Maxwell, accused of painting dicks on the high school staff’s cars. However, Dylan and his friends claim that he was nowhere near the scene at the time of the incident. The school board investigated and decided to expel Dylan on the accounts of his class behavior and an apparent witness. Peter Maldonado works to find evidence of Dylan’s innocence.


“Vandalism and Vulgarity” utilizes an unsteady camera for the majority of the episode. Outside of the television reports of the vandalism, it appears as though someone is simply holding a camera. This homemade feeling makes the series more personal. It feels as if we are watching a serious interview made by a real student.


This episode opens with an interview. With a defeated look on his face, Dylan answers questions about the vandalism. The tone of his voice reveals his dejected spirit and annoyance towards the school. In the scattered pieces of this interview, he remains calm, but is clearly feeling hopeless. Jimmy Tatro, the actor that portrays Dylan, does an amazing job of convincing the viewer that he was truthfully by a classmate.


Because it is a satire, American Vandal adds subtle yet clever humor to break the otherwise serious vibe. For example, when the character Alex Trimboli recalls what he had apparently seen, the repeated phrase “*spray-paint noise* Dick,” just crosses the line into the territory of a humorous gag. The line itself could feasibly be said by a high school student being interviewed as a witness to a crime, but the duration lets the viewer know it is meant to be laughed at.


As well as drawn-out jokes, this mockumentary reveals its true intentions by exploiting a few stereotypes. First, we see they typical prankster of every high school: Dylan. He clowns around in and out of class and is a little too dense to consider the consequences of his actions. The other students interviewed for the character and narrator Peter’s investigation also fall into a stereotype. Most people think of teens as only interested in gossip and their image. All of Hanover High’s students fit this mold. Every interview shown shows an outwardly confident kid that is more than willing to spill the tea over the latest big event. These character tropes add an element of humor to the show to help poke fun at true crime documentaries.

Overall, “Vandalism and Vulgarity,” from American Vandal, does an excellent job of creating a satirical crime documentary.





Works Cited

“Vandalism and Vulgarity.” American Vandal, created by Dan Perrault, and Tony Yacenda, season 1, episode 1, Netflix, 15 Sept. 2017.

Trailer Park Boys Out of the Park: Europe

Even as someone who has watched the series beforehand and loved it, I was unaware of this little "spin-off" of the show until I saw it on the Netflix Originals page on Wikipedia. Now, I have to admit again, Trailer Park Boys technically isn't a Netflix Original either (it was first premiered on Canadian TV channel Showcase), but the show, like Arrested Development, got a lot more popular globally once it aired on Netflix (although unlike Arrested Development, TBP was popular while it was still running (though mainly in Canada,), even getting its own movie in 2006), thus making Netflix commission not only a few extra seasons, but also 2 more movies and apparently a spin-off miniseries, which we will talk about now.

For those out of the know, Trailer Park Boys is (also like The Office) a mockumentary about a group of people living in a Canadian trailer park (some ex-convicts). And this miniseries in particular centers around the 3 main protagonists of the show, Ricky (a fun-loving, dim-witted lowlife) Julian (who is probably the most selfless and honorable out of all of them, though he commits the same amount of crimes with Ricky), and Bubbles (who I honestly can't even describe because he's just so weird), as they were supposedly getting a paid vacation to Europe. Or so they thought, as Julian failed to realize that they were to perform a series of tasks for money, due to him failing to read a contract all the way through. So, the first episode, being set in London, has the trio doing numerous ridiculous tasks, including imitating the famous Beatles walks on the Abbey Road crosswalk, attempting to get an autograph from famous British comedian Noel Fielding (whose performance in this I dare not spoil), and even stealing Queen Elizabeth's underwear.

The show's style is, as established, largely a mockumentary, with cameramen being acknowledged and even excess cameras (hidden cameras, security cameras, etc.) being used. The humor is equally as raw. To put it lightly, the show is vulgar as fuck. The main trio used the F word like it was the word "the," along with other swear words. But the humor is very much like that in It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, where the characters act hilarious stupid/oblivious or do something horrible that's bound to give them their comeuppance. So the humor usually relies on vulgar humor, black humor, or just general stupidity. However, whereas Always Sunny's main protagonists are outright horrible people with almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever, TBP's protagonists are generally more sympathetic and human.

Overall, TBP OotP: Europe (as well as the general show to a lesser extent) is possibly one of the best modern comedies running today, combining the worlds of other comedies like The Office and Arrested Development with Always Sunny. And the best part is, it did this LONG before any of these shows (it premiered in 2001, with the movie it spawned from in 1999), so it may have very well been the inspiration of these comedies. It's a show that I very much enjoy and my brothers very much enjoy. And hopefully, if you like the sound of a vulgar/black comedy mockumentary, you'll enjoy it very much.