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In the Season 3 finale of “Dawson’s Creek,” titled “True Love,” the show’s main characters take control of their own love stories. Joey sails off with Pacey for the summer, while Jen follows Henry’s football camp bus to loudly declare her feelings. Showrunner Greg Berlanti, who is part of the LGBTQ+ community himself, was determined to make Jack’s storyline just as romantic and important as that of the straight couples, and this would include physical intimacy.
“If we were going to bring the character out, it seemed silly to me that he couldn’t kiss,” Berlanti told The Hollywood Reporter. “There hadn’t been a gay kiss that was romantic on primetime TV,” he explained to Vanity Fair. “There had been joke kisses, but there was never a romantic kiss between two characters, let alone two high schoolers.” On “Melrose Place,” Matthew and Rob’s allegedly scandalous kiss was cut away from entirely, while “That ’70s Show” had the audience in stitches over Eric’s over-the-top disgust when Buddy kissed him.
In “Dawson’s Creek,” Jack drives to Boston to prove to Ethan that he isn’t afraid to be out or kiss a man in public. As staff writer Gina Fattore recalled, Berlanti was adamant that the scene be done right, saying, “I want this to be a great kiss. I want there to be close-ups, and I want it to feel romantic.” (via Vanity Fair). Berlanti believed in this moment so much that he was willing to quit to make it happen, refusing the network’s absurd stipulation that it be “filmed across the street from a very, very wide shot” (per Vanity Fair).
Fattore admitted that there was no backup plan for Berlanti (via Us Weekly). The kiss would sweep audiences away or he was out.
Jack’s romances paved the way for other LGBTQ+ characters
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Actors Kerr Smith and Adam Kaufman had to fully commit to Greg Berlanti’s vision, in which Jack cups Ethan’s face and tenderly says, “I finally have the courage to do this,” before their passionate kiss. Smith brought an anticipatory excitement to the moment.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the historic scene, Smith told Us Weekly that it was unnerving to be part of the first heartfelt gay kiss on television. “Nobody had really done it before, and I was being asked to do this,” he explained. “I said, ‘All right, let’s make some history. Let’s change the way people think.'”
Kaufman, who played Ethan, recalled meeting one viewer who was deeply moved by the scene because it reminded him of his own coming-out experience. “[This scene] gave millions of people a story line that was reflective of their reality. I’m so honored to have been a part of that,” he said. Its impact clearly rippled through popular culture and real people’s lives, showing that it’s possible to live openly and proudly as a gay person.
Thanks to Berlanti’s insistence, Jack’s romance storylines became fully dimensional — both physical and emotional — helping make him not a stereotype, but a real person. After “Dawson’s Creek,” romantic kisses between same-sex couples became far less taboo, paving the way for other great teen dramas like “One Tree Hill,” “The OC,” “Glee,” “Riverdale” (which reunited executive producer Greg Berlanti with Smith, who played high school principal Mr. Honey), and others, where LGBTQ+ characters and their relationships could truly shine in the spotlight, and be considered some of the best teen television couples, too.
