#TBT: Joey’s Big Moment on Dawson’s Creek

Dawson’s Creek was revolutionary when it premiered. I was in 8th grade, and there was no other teen centric show on air that presented highly intelligent (and, yes, sometimes pretentious) dialogue on topics every teen deals with (except maybe having an affair with your teacher…that one isn’t so common). Plus, it didn’t hurt that the cast were young and attractive (Joshua Jackson as Pacey will always be a heartthrob), too. I can still hear Paula Cole’s voice sing out “I Don’t Want to Wait” and immediately picture the opening credits. I still also have a secret desire to go to North Carolina just to soak in the place where Dawson’s Creek was filmed and brought to life.

Of the four main characters, Joey Potter (Katie Holmes‘s breakout role) was the one I identified with the most (and I am sure that was the case for countless other young fans of Dawson’s Creek). Joey was the girl next door; she was pretty, but not too pretty. She was the reliable friend supporting and pining for the oblivious Dawson. She was fiercely independent and tough on the outside but a softie at heart. She was the tomboy we all wanted to be.

One of her defining moments happened in season 1 episode 12. Joey enters the local beauty pageant in hopes that she will win the scholarship prize money to use for college. She uncomfortably puts on makeup, wears a dress (remember Dawson’s face when he sees her? Yes, Dawson, she is a beautiful girl who was under your nose the whole time!), and sings a vulnerable rendition of “On My Own” (obviously directed at Dawson). Then, she makes one of the best short speeches a teenager girl on television can make during the last round of the pageant. It’s a speech that I immediately videotaped (yes, you read that correctly: videotaped) upon the re-run airing (I tracked when it would air, waiting for the moment I could hit record). The speech starts at 1:45 in the video below.

Joey expresses what every young teen girl–who is not the most popular or most pretty–dreams of saying to those girls and guys who have it all and think being popular and pretty is the most important and defining thing in life. I had dream sequences of Joey spouting this speech during one of my school functions and putting some of my classmates in their place. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one having that dream.

Then, as if that speech weren’t enough, her words of wisdom continue after the contest when she talks to Dawson. Joey says:

“Dressing up and playing princess…this isn’t me….I thought that was what I wanted. For you to see me as beautiful. For you to look at me the way you look at Jen. But the truth is, I don’t want that at all Dawson. I want you to look at me and see the person you have always known and to realize that what we have is so much more incredible than some passing physical attraction…because you know what Dawson? It’s just lipstick. It’s just hairspray. Tomorrow I’m going to wake up and just be Joey.”

Joey showed girls that it was admirable to stand up, say what is right, and to always be yourself. To this day, re-watching this scene stirs my “you go girl” spirit.