“American Vandal,” a Netflix original series, puts a comedic spin on documentaries by making theirs into a “mockumentary,” following high school senior Dylan Maxwell who is wrongfully accused of spray painting phallic images onto 27 staff cars in the faculty parking lot.
The documentary shows why Maxwell was the clear suspect of this obscene prank, as he was a known “dick drawer” in his classrooms. The footage features his Spanish class where he repeatedly recreates these images as a joke and to, one time, win back his girlfriend, Mackenzie Wagner.
His classmates are quick to throw him under the bus by dismissing any doubt that it was anyone but him. It was his reputation, his brand and being known as the “idiot stoner” that fit the profile, along with National Honor Society senior Alex Trimboli as witness to his crime.
Unfortunately, his whereabouts at the time of the crime, 1:59 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., are unclear, as his friends, the WayBack Boys and his girlfriend both have different accounts; however, from the start, Dylan is adamant that he was wrongly accused.
Dylan even goes to lengths of mentioning that he’s not smart enough to delete the security footage, which two sophomores who work on the morning news show with Dylan, Peter Maldonado and Sam Ecklund, accept this as a believable possibility. Peter and Sam become determined not only to prove Dylan’s innocence, but find out who the actual culprit is by investigating everyone with the slightest motive, even themselves.
As the season progresses, Peter and Sam uncover secrets and lies about their peers. Alex Trimboli isn’t as reliable of a witness as they thought; he’s prone to embellishing for attention. The Spanish teacher who accused Dylan of targeting her lied about someone slashing her tires; the tire needed to be patched because she drove over a nail.
The show starts to take a serious turn in episode four. A character makes a reference to how the documentary in the show is a commentary on the justice system because Dylan is guilty before proven innocent, instead of being innocent until proven guilty.
That moment in episode four steers the viewer into the tone for the remaining two episodes as it focuses on free speech and how we tend to create reputations for others we don’t know well in high school.
Free speech is brought into play when the creator of the documentary searches for the school’s faculty complaint files to figure out which teacher was targeted in an attempt to exonerate Dylan, but is suspended by the vice principal when he tells him it’s illegal not to have updated the records for public viewing.
Censorship becomes a problem when Vice Principal Keene tells the creators of the documentary, Peter and Sam, that they can no longer film their documentary on school property, which outrages many of the students who argue that it’s censorship.
The show is left on a cliffhanger after episode eight when the school is at a house party and senior Ming becomes unconscious after funneling a six-pack of beer.
While this might not have sounded like a big deal, it played a crucial role in setting the stage for a potential season two. Senior class president Christa Carlyle is recorded asking “does anyone know CPR?” This statement opens a new possibility for a suspect as her alibi on the day of the vandalism disintegrates when Peter and Sam discover Christa’s boyfriend, Van Delorey, forged her CPR training certificate.
At the end of the season it’s clear to viewers that the show is more than a satire poking fun at documentaries, but also a social commentary on high school. In a joking, light-hearted manner, it takes real issues about false accusations and profiling and brings them to viewers’ attention in a subtle manner. For now, we’re left with the same question as the administration, “who drew the dicks?”
habersk15@bonaventure.edu
