"You Were The Man in Angus."

March 16, 2024 was an exciting day for Ed Scanlon and I. Along with Jen, we traveled the three hours to Hartford, CT to see the mini Dawson’s Creek panel with Kerr Smith and the GOAT - our GOAT - James Van Der Beek.

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You see, if it wasn’t for Eddie bestowing the virtues of Dawson’s Creek, I’d never have known who James Van Der Beek was. For literally two years, Ed would try to get me to watch the show on TBS in the mornings. I, ever “with it” with pop culture, was so knee-deep and obsessed with pro wrestling that I missed out on a lot.

But Eddie was persistent. So, one day, I gave in. He let me borrow Dawson’s Creek Season 1. 3 Discs. I figured it would take me a week to watch.

I polished off the season in one night. Stayed up all night and went to work at Target mere hours later.

I wound up watching all the other seasons over the next month or so.

In my opinion, many people are wrong about the Dawson Leery character. I’ve had quite a few people say to me, verbatim, “Dawson is a whiny bitch.” And I say that is absolutely hogwash.

Take away some of the big words, including the “This doesn’t provide me any solace,” which is the worst damn quote in history, and you have a multi-layered character with a great arc. Dawson Leery was a naive dreamer, living in a fantasy world. He thought he could control his life like a story in a movie script.

But after Dawson watched his parents get divorced, the girl down the Creek fall for his other best friend, and his film inspiration go up in figurative smoke, Dawson came to a point of acceptance. He began to really grow up. He began to put work into his purpose and dreams. After meeting AI Brooks, he rediscovered his love for film. He went to LA to chase Hollywood. And sure, he chased Joey, but after losing his father, he began to put his life into perspective and get back into his dream. By the end of the series, he was the executive producer of his own show.

To me, the character went deeper than “the crying face” at the end of Season 3, and it was a testament to James Van Der Beek for pulling it off.

Even more so, I finally put two and two together and realized that he was the main villain of the Harder Family cult favorite movie Angus. He played such a smarmy jerk and was the lynchpin in such an underrated flick. People NEED to see this movie.

On top of that, I always felt that the Jonathan Moxon character from Varsity Blues walked so Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights could run. And need we remember his wacked-out role in The Rules of Attraction? And don’t get me started on his awesome cameo with Jason Biggs in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Reboot.

I’ll say this. I was a big fan of the actor.

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Me and Eddie get on a LONG line at 90s Con for our signing. Mind you, as a rib to ourselves, we tortured poor Jen with what questions we would ask him getting the autograph. I’m not a big picture or autograph guy, but Eddie, the master of those conventions, knew how it went.

After 45 minutes, we got to the front, and we walked up. Dude was a little shorter than I thought, but seemed like a genuinely chill human. We get in front, say what’s up, and get into a primo pose position.

I finally blurted it out, to bring some levity, at least in my anti-social mind.

“You were the man in Angus.”

Camera Flash

“Thanks a lot,” followed by a genuine chuckle.

That was it.

It was cool to see how big of a fanbase James Van Der Beek had at this thing. He really did his job well. Plus, seeing how he came off nice enough, me and Eddie were truly solid with the experience. It was totally worth it.

Then literally, a few months later, he got sick.

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To me, colorectal cancer hits close to home. My old man passed away from it, and I remember how much he suffered from it. At the same time, he didn’t take care of him the way he should have.

For James Van Der Beek to fight valiantly for close to three years with this illness is a testament to his strength and will power. On top of which, he stayed positive and not bitter about his situation. That’s real life stuff.

Although the fandom of Dawson’s Creek is how I knew of him, his battle with disease and still trying to be a positive person showed me how much of a good human he had to have been. What gets me, and what will forever get me, is the fact he is survived by his wife and six kids. That is where I will always be saddened. I feel for his family. That’s his true legacy.

Rest In Power, James Van Der Beek. You truly were the face of a generation.

And yes, for all time, “You Were The Man In Angus.”

Jon Harder

Jon@HardwayHQ.com 

Please donate to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance: https://colorectalcancer.org/