His character wasn’t the first pop culture bad boy, of course. Dylan (his hair included) was modelled, to some extent, on James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause — both California teens fighting, often just because, against the arbitrary rules made by adults. He smouldered and was the guy Brenda gave her virginity to on prom night, which was a huge deal. It was my formative crushes on guys like Dylan that eventually taught me not to have crushes on guys like Dylan. I feel lucky that I got to experience some of that misdirected teenage rebellion thanks to the antics of the 90210 crew, and get the Dylans, Jordans, and Angels out of my system with no major harm done.