MovieChat Forums > Dawson's Creek (1998) Discussion > Does anyone else agree

Does anyone else agree

posted 7 years ago by pennilayne
6 replies | jump to latest

So a lot of people... even though Joey and Pacey end up together, they say that Dawson was still Joey's first love. But I disagree. I think Dawson was her crush/infatuation/puppy love and first "boyfriend" but actually in my eyes Pacey was her first love, first *real* boyfriend and then ended up being the love of her life. She even said she felt "alive" for the first time when Pacey touched her arm accidentally before they kissed for the second time ever. And she lost her virginity to him. Dawson seemed to always be this "great idea for love" in her eyes, but as they put it in the finale, definitely soul mates and best friends but not REALLY actual true love. I think Joey was Dawsons first love, and Pacey was Andi's first love-- but unfortunately for Andi and Dawson--- it ended up being that Pacey and Joey were eachothers first real loves in life.

[–] rainbow26 7 years ago

I agree. Joey and Dawson were barely ever in a relationship, and even in their brief time dating Joey always seemed ready to break up with him. They never had a real relationship, and were never compatible enough to seriously attempt one.

As for Pacey and Andie, she was a crucial part of Pacey's story but I always thought she loved Pacey more than he loved her. Also, the way their relationship began always made it seem like he settled for her. After the dance with Kristy, he was like he realized he was never going to have the beautiful popular girls he dreamed about so he decided to go for Andie.

[–] pennilayne 7 years ago

Exactly to all! And yes omg, don't get me started on the way that Pacey and Andi started. after that Kristy dance! Dude. That episode infuriates me. They tried to play it off like when he "chased after her" he said "Why do you like me??" like he was so insecure and wasn't taking her seriously because he didn't feel good enough but that is BS because it was clear from Episode 1 Pacey didn't *really* have issues at least going after a girl. Once he had her, yes he could be insecure if he really cared buuuut he had just been confident enough to have a sexy slow dance with Kristy. So that pissed me off. It really did seem like he was settling for her. He couldn't have the teacher (that story line was dumb) he couldn't get popular girls like Kristy so the girl that actually showed a ton of interest he dated. They were cute in their friendly bantor, but had he been able to be with Tamara openly or Kristy (and of course Joey) he never would have dated Andi. And he didn't love Andi for how she made him FEEL he loved her for making him feel good about HIMSELF. Like his grades and that he was able to help her when she was having episodes of panic or depression etc. I felt bad for Andi. She was so in love with him and he loved her but was never *in* crazy love with her back. He was infatuated with Kristy, infatuated with Tamara, loved Audrey, but was HEAD OVER HEELS for Joey. And I think he was almost head over heels for Melanie but Melanie was too busy for him so they never got too close. She had a guard up to him because she was too good for him in her eyes, being rich and in law school.

[–] thetruejaydubb 7 years ago

This has always been my issue with Dawson and Joey. They were told to be this epic and deep soulmate love, yet they barely dated longer than a month or two. I think the problem is, the writers got them together so quickly that they then had to just as quickly break them up to keep the drama going. It was a stupid move because, ultimately when it came down to Joey choosing between the two, she had no real reason NOT to pick Pacey over Dawson.

With that said, I was always a Joey/Dawson person.....until I rewatched the series as an adult and realizes that Joey should have ended up alone because she wasn't particularly great girlfriend to Pacey, and was a generally poor friend to Dawson as she always expected him to be "better" than everyone else; holding him to expectations that she never held to anyone else. More than that, I always felt like Pacey was "lessened" by his relationship with her. He seemed more beat down and less sure of himself. Where his relationship with Andy seemed to build him up, Joey seemed to tear him down.

Again, I think the main problem are the writers. They're so busy trying to create drama that inevitably they have to tear down the relationships they build up. In breaking up Pacey and Andie, they completely destroyed her character to the point where there was no redeeming her (and this coming from someone who loved Andie's character). I do think Pacey and Andie was a great love, but with the damage they did to Andie (and the great potential of the triangle between Pacey, Dawson, and Joey) that was never going to happen. I also know that, at the end of season two, they were debating whether or not to break Dawson and Joey up or keep them together, and they chose the former. The producer actually said they wish they had done something different.

More than that, I know that when Kevin Williamson came back to write the finale, he had fully imagined Dawson and Joey being together as that was always the plan. Unfortunately, he realized that, upon looking at the show, he couldn't do that because the show never really built them up the way they should have to ever make it a choice.

I know I rambled on, but I just found the back and forth relationship drama extremely boring after a while (and the idolizing of Joey) when I much preferred Jen and Jack. I love the first season and part most of the fourth (despite the Joey/Pacey drama), but the writers never really knew what to do besides breaking people up for stories.

[–] melco92 7 years ago

as they put it in the finale, definitely soul mates and best friends

I wouldn't even agree that Dawson and Joey were soul mates, even in a strictly platonic way. I feel like the only time they were ever that connected was before the show started, when they were kids. During the times when they were broken up, they barely interacted with each other. And during the five years before the finale they didn't speak. I don't think, as friends, they were ever really close enough to call each other soul mates. I think when they had that conversation they were still holding on to what they used to be.

Pacey and Joey were eachothers first real loves in life.

I disagree about Pacey. I think he truly did love Andie.

Reportin' live for Black TV: White folks are dead, we gettin' the f*@# outta here!

[–] timpolcha 7 years ago

I couldn't agree more. Dawson was some kind of puppy love crush she had due to him being safe and familiar to her as she grew up and life got complicated. Pacey was her true love and I think they made it a point to tell the audience that when she ultimately chose him in the end.

[–] mistymturnerhustad 7 years ago

I never thought of it that way. I always just took it as fact that Dawson was her first love. However, I have said in other threads the reason Dawson never made Joey happy was because he was a childhood fantasy that she had built up so much in her mind that he never lived up to that fantasy when they were together in real life. That does suggest more of an infatuation than real love. I do think Pacey did love Andie in a way, but it ended up not being as much as I thought when he couldn't forgive her for cheating when the situation was so horrible. I still think he did love her in a way, but I always thought part of what initially attracted him to Andie was that she reminded him of Joey. She was super smart, acted like she couldn't stand him in the beginning, they had the same kind of banter, she was from a disfunctional family, all kinds of similarities. I think in a way he did love Andie, but I think a part of him always wanted Joey and that was why he was able to move on so quickly from Andie to Joey. I always thought that was the reason.