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American Vandal In The Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in American Vandal [V]

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formerlyfreedom

formerlyfreedom

I'm strangely excited about this show, and it seems to be getting not-bad buzz.

The Hollywood Reporter;

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Netflix's satire of the true crime documentary genre proves surprisingly effective as both a mystery and a high school comedy.

When reviewing Netflix's American Vandal, the biggest dilemma is how much to tell you about Netflix's American Vandal.

The Keepers and Making a Murderer have been word-of-mouth hits for Netflix, coming in with relatively little promotion and generating a relatively long tail of viewer discovery, as opposed to the streaming giant's more familiar star-driven mega-promoted vehicles that sometimes have a weekend of attention (or not even that, if you're Gypsy) and then vanish.

From Polygon;

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Netflix’s American Vandal is proof that dick jokes can be done in a smart, thoughtful and hilarious way.

The eight-part mockumentary miniseries, which makes its debut later this month, is a satirical take on the true crime genre. There are hints of Sarah Koenig’s Serial and Netflix’s Making a Murderer sewn into the core of American Vandal. The brilliance of American Vandal is its ability to walk the line between not taking itself seriously and treating its subject matter like an actual murder case.

From Movie Pilot;

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We're well into 2017 and Netflix is continuing its winning streak by illuminating the truth in their astonishing true crime docuseries'. From Making A Murderer, Amanda Knox, The Imposter and the journey to uncovering the secrets behind Sister Cathy's death in #TheKeepers, fewer sub-genres of non-fiction have been as popular as the streaming service's offerings in recent years. And come September 15, #Netflix looks to be cranking it up a notch.

A new show is currently creeping up on the horizon and it's called #AmericanVandal. Yet, while it is classed as another true crime docuseries, it promises to be so much more than that, zoning in on all the aspects that make the sub-genre so powerful in the first place and then slowly twisting them for our entertainment. And all of this is done through a compelling story about a silly student prank that vandalizes 27 faculty cars with phallic imagery at Hanover High School, leaving everyone with one question on their lips: "Who drew the dicks?"

and from IndieWire;

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One of the first (and best) jokes in “American Vandal” is a name on a screen: In the opening credits of the series’ show-within-a-show, one of the listed executive producers is “Mr. Baxter.” As a true crime docuseries satire, made through the eyes of a high school student, tiny comic touches like that are merely part of the comprehensive commitment to the bit that makes this series nearly too good to be true. “American Vandal” is that purest form of faithful recreation; a meticulously scripted tribute to true crime pop culture powerhouses. As a result, it’s a series worthy of becoming a phenomenon on its own merits.

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formerlyfreedom

formerlyfreedom

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A- in their review;

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But as an examination of today’s teen culture, it’s surprisingly perceptive. The series, created by Funny or Die’s Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, works as a story-within-a-story: On one level it’s a documentary being filmed and edited by Hanover High’s finest mini-Andrew Jareckis, a pair of students named Peter and Sam, who want to find out whether the class doofus Dylan really spray-painted 27 you-know-whats onto the cars in the faculty parking lot of their school. On a more meta level, their actions wind up influencing their classmates’ reputations, along with their own.

And that’s where the series shines. The vast cast of characters — ranging from the protest-happy senior class president to the attention-seeking loner who’s still wearing braces, from the unanimously considered hottest girl in school to the nerdiest-looking kid who gets along with everyone, from the no-nonsense football coach to the overeager young history teacher — all have secrets and potential motives for either pulling the penile prank or throwing Dylan under the bus.

Vanity Fair discusses it in American Vandal Makes Fun of Making a Murderer, with Netflix’s Blessing;

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Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda explain their profane new Netflix series, a mockumentary inspired by Netflix’s own true-crime hits.

And the LATimes review, How to satirize true-crime series: With 'American Vandal,' school is in session;

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Much care has been taken to get things right — or, rather, the right amount of right. "American Vandal" is presented as the work of smart kids who perfectly understand the language of the series they're emulating but are still limited by their circumstances; they are not the horribly precocious twentysomethings in teenagers' clothing who inhabit many high school series.

Indeed, few shows I've seen catch high school society, with its self-contained seriousness, as well as "American Vandal" does, as well as the mix of innocence and experience, confusion and certitude that mark that age. It’s as engrossing as the series it set out to satirize and moving in ways you would not expect. A story well told is a story well told, however it comes together.

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formerlyfreedom

formerlyfreedom

It's details, not dicks, that make American Vandal a masterpiece.

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Nothing about the premise of American Vandal prepares you for American Vandal. It is easy, even once you flip to Netflix and start watching the show, to imagine it to be the ultimate fool’s errand: yes, true crime documentaries like Serial and Making a Murderer are inviting subjects for parody, but an eight-episode series about an investigation into spray-painted dicks?

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Duke2801

Duke2801

On 10/26/2018 at 9:41 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Honestly, I'm not surprised. What more can they say about high school that they didn't already say?

Whose to say they have to stay in high school? 

I really enjoy this show and hope it gets picked up by that other outlet that the article references. 

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