warning: this page contains discussion of school shootings, bullying, suicide, & homophobia, as well as major spoilers for the dirties. if you need to leave, you can go back home here.
we're just here for the bad guys
the dirties is a 2013 non-coming-of-age film directed by matt johnson. it follows matt (matt johnson) & owen (owen williams), two best friends who make a movie about killing their bullies for a media class. but for matt, life quickly starts to imitate art. it premiered at the slamdance film festival on january 19 2013, & won the best narrative feature & filmmaker choice awards.
this page functions as a collection of rambles about the dirties, so its not very cohesive. a lot of what i say here is my specific interpretation of the film & my subjective opinon, so dont take everything i say as a declaration of fact in the text (translation: dont get mad at me for saying matt & owen are gay).
mattowen
matt is clearly in love with owen. like, insanely in love with owen. but its not a typical heteronormative "lets fall in love, get married, adopt, & move into the suburbs together" kind of crush, its like a "i want to crawl into your skin" kind of crush, which is very accurate to the mentally ill gay experience. unfortunately, owen williams is probably the most cookie cutter straight boy i have ever seen in my life. but that isnt a problem for matt, because he doesnt want to change his relationship with owen at all. hes happy right where he is, attatched at to owen at the hip. which is why they were doomed from the very start, because that kind of relationship can never last (though nirvanna the band is an antithetical exploration of if it could).
also, matt is transgender.
(if i was the last woman on earth? youd still be a man.)
the soundtrack
its fucking killer. the opening montage is set to when im with you by best coast, which is such a nostalgic yet haunting song to choose for the first needledrop. that montage is lead into directly by matt saying that they should do a "we did it" type montage for the end of their class film, which is the first instance of blurring the lines between fiction & reality in the film. that haunting quality that when im with you has can also be said of the end credits song, dont tell me by tigs. Just some really good shit
i run a fanlisting for the dirties! check it out below & consider joining if youre a fan!! :)
