When a friend asked me if I had seen American Vandal Season 2 the other week I was both annoyed that I had missed its release and excited about getting home to binge watch it. The show is without a doubt one of the most unique and refreshing comedies being made on Netflix at the moment and I’m astounded that it isn’t as celebrated as it should be.
Last year, I saw a trailer for a show circulating on Facebook which mocked the drama of riveting documentaries such as Making a Murderer and Serial; meticulously investigating a small scale vandalism case of 27 phallic symbols spray-painted onto the cars of an American high school’s staff car park. The idea initially amused me: treating the juvenile felony with the same gravitas as a horrifying murder and characters obsessing over the pubic hairs of the spray painted phalluses among other minute details. It got a chuckle out of me, but I then dismissed it as I only saw it as a sketch and believed that to be the case until a few weeks later when American Vandal appeared on the front page of my Netflix dashboard. I was surprised to find out it was an 8 episode long series and my mind returned to the question I was thinking of when I originally saw the trailer:
How far can they take this joke?
The answer? Very far indeed, and way further than what you could imagine.
American Vandal is much more than a mockumentary. What you’ll find underneath the sharp comedy is a profound look at how the media presents suspects, a deeply developed look into the world of Hanover High School, a modern look at American high school culture and so much more.
I always recommend people go into watching American Vandal blind. Going into it thinking that it’s a serious documentary (for a couple of minutes anyways) makes it so much funnier. Obviously, at the core of the show’s comedy is the treatment it gives to the cinematic investigation of a rather crude crime. It uses everything in the crime documentary toolbox – CGI recreations, slow panning establishing shots of the crime scenes and the suggestion of a cover up from institutions.
American Vandal‘s Hanover High School is packed full of social media obsessed teenagers, which provides a refreshing take on the ‘American High School’ drama that seems to be stuck on cliques, rebellion from teachers, bullies and all the other cliches that film and television makers have been obsessing on for years. This is still a cartoonish version of what it’s like to be a teenager in America but although this is the case (and bear in mind that I haven’t actually experienced American high school first hand myself) you can’t help but feel as though it’s a whole lot more grounded than the easy option of going for an typical high school social setting.
In American Vandal, the show is unflinching in its use of social media, a format that this generation spends more time on than watching TV. The ‘investigation’ takes its premise ten steps further by committing to obsessing over Instagram etiquette, texting culture and Snapchat videos. That last one is particularly significant in one episode focusing on a popular house party, as the two teenage investigators piece together the events that happen that night. The whole sequence and episode is so brilliantly constructed – when you’re not laughing at the behaviour of the amazingly developed world and characters they’ve introduced you to, you’ll be in awe of the spectacle of its style.
But beyond the use of a medium that the characters use, the show still feels grounded from a dialogue stand point. The consistently talented and surprisingly unknown cast, all chosen for their abilities to improvise and bring these characters to life feel so genuine. This is all coupled with the departure from a stereotypical high school drama. In the show, many teachers get along with students well, and the teenagers understand the value of school and also of each other. Americal Vandal really strikes a chord with me, as it reminds me that in school, as you get older, most people realise that they aren’t that bothered about fitting into a clique at all. Most people just want to be liked, to be found funny and to (most importantly) move on towards the next stage of their life.
And this is where American Vandal really grows beyond its labels that I and many others give it. It’s so much more than a high school comedy. It’s a look at the problems that modern day teenagers face and the dangers of what they can do to each other. Give or take a few cartoonish moments, both seasons culminate in a shockingly dramatic conclusion and emotional punch that will make you have a good long think about these characters and their problems…as well as trying to figure out who drew the dicks.
minutiae+musings 