Today I am joined by old friend Pearse Redmond to review and discuss the Netflix TV series American Vandal, a mockumentary that satirises the true crime genre. Pete Maldonado is a student at a high school in California who starts making a documentary about a fellow student, Dylan Maxwell, who was expelled for graffitti-ing dicks on 27 teachers cars. He soon finds that Dylan is probably innocent, and he and his co-producer Sam set out to find the true culprits and figure out what is really going on. In our discussion Pearse and I get into some of our favourite moments and characters, the style which shifts throughout the series from comedy to drama, the lessons for amateur detectives and the role of social media. We also touch on why true crime is popular and ask whether it merely provides a vicarious thrill or whether it inspires people to become hobby investigators.(Read more...)
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