On July 14th, 1999, the world of pop culture was blown wide open. Move over, Detective Munch, and take a seat, Tommy Westphall! A little cameo brought together one of the hottest dramas on television with the timeless world of the Muppets when Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes appeared as Pacey and Joey from Dawson’s Creek in Muppets from Space.
So to celebrate the movie’s silver anniversary, I thought I’d explore the implications of Dawson’s Creek existing within the world of the Muppets. But here’s the thing: I’ve never actually watched Dawson’s Creek. But for the sake of research, I did what any good writer would do: I went to Wikipedia and read the descriptions of every episode in the first two seasons. (Muppets from Space was released between seasons two and three, so I figured that’d be enough. Journalistic integrity is all well and good, but my attention span can only take so much. This is why I gave up on Glee.) Basically, Pacey and Joey are high school sophomores navigating some pretty complicated relationships with their friends and families. Okay, it’s nice that they get to have a little fun hanging out with Clifford and Pepe. Life’s hard, if you can party with Muppets, do it! Now let’s look back at that moment:
Whoa, whoa, WHOA. It seems the big implication of putting these two franchises together is that Clifford and Pepe act like total creeps! These kids are sixteen. It’s Dawson’s Creeps up in here! Not only do both characters get way too handsy with Joey’s arms, Clifford invites her to join them in a hot tub! If Muppet movies are more realistic, then she should be walking off to a police station. I give Joey credit for showing restraint and knowing when to leave. Otherwise, Miss Piggy might not have had the best fight scene on the beach that night.
And Pacey should be ashamed of himself, not standing up for his friend. After all, he knows what that’s like, considering he (flips back to Wikipedia) initiated a sexual affair with a teacher.
Oh no. All kinds of no. Whose idea was it to bring, of all the characters from the show, the one involved in that kind of relationship? And it’s not like the teacher seduced him, he seduced her! It feels like a big mistake for a Muppet movie. I think it’s fair to assume at least some folks who watched the show went to see the movie. What must they have thought about how Clifford and Pepe react? I’d like to think they would’ve known something was unsettling.
Now perhaps I’m overreacting. Katie Holmes was 19 when production began on the movie. And Pacey is only a fictional character; Joshua Jackson shouldn’t be punished by denying him a cameo. Still, it feels weird, knowing what I now know, to bring these characters into this film. It would certainly be less creepy if they had just had them play different characters, or just play themselves and joke about Dawson’s Creek. It worked for Hollywood Hulk Hogan! Still, while I think the debate is still open about what the worst Muppet movie is, the debate about the creepiest one just ended.
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by Matthew Soberman – Matthew@ToughPigs.com
