Of course, though, it leads me into wanting more of your thoughts on the concepts of knowledge and memory within the show. If you've already written about it and have a link handy, I'd jump right into it!
As has been pointed out, we've had spirits who don't know what they are. Molly believed she was still human and the priest from Houses of the Holy believed himself an angel. But, Ruby claimed (to Dean) that she was different from other demons because she REMEMBERED being human. Heck, Anna was an angel who understood herself to be a girl until she REMEMBERED her fall. Where do false, repressed, or shifting memories come in?
The show has certainly made memory an ongoing issue with Sam's wall (which in itself isn't new since young Sam was also kept from the truth). The idea has been broadened to include actions like Dean asking to be wiped from Lisa and Ben's history. We also had Zachariah sticking traumatized Dean into the Terrible Life AU and trusting Dean to eventually REMEMBER his calling as a hunter.
It's practically a show mantra that the boys excuse each other with "You didn't know" even while they did know - perhaps not the specific consequences but definitely the morality of their choices.
Right now, I believe a LOT of the story revolves around the concepts of who knows what when and who gets to say what it's okay to know. As much as the guys have reversed roles over the seasons, I think Dean remains the "Bury it!" champion of the entire universe and Sam has to dig until he knows.
Hmm; don't know that I've written specifically on memory and knowledge, although I do know concepts have come up in certain episodes and I've played with them there at least in brief. Big problem is, I've written so much over the years that it's hard even for me to track one thread, particularly since so many of my meta pieces got wrapped up into my episode reviews. Oopsie! If you'd like to check for specifics on an episode, I've got a master list of links to all my reviews pinned near the top of my journal, and I've also got a master list of my freestanding meta. And I'm unfortunately typing this on the new iPad I haven't fully figured out how to use, so I can't stick in the links right here. Sorry!
You're bang-on in pegging Dean as the burying champion and Sam as the champion digger, though!
Of course, though, it leads me into wanting more of your thoughts on the concepts of knowledge and memory within the show. If you've already written about it and have a link handy, I'd jump right into it!
As has been pointed out, we've had spirits who don't know what they are. Molly believed she was still human and the priest from Houses of the Holy believed himself an angel. But, Ruby claimed (to Dean) that she was different from other demons because she REMEMBERED being human. Heck, Anna was an angel who understood herself to be a girl until she REMEMBERED her fall. Where do false, repressed, or shifting memories come in?
The show has certainly made memory an ongoing issue with Sam's wall (which in itself isn't new since young Sam was also kept from the truth). The idea has been broadened to include actions like Dean asking to be wiped from Lisa and Ben's history. We also had Zachariah sticking traumatized Dean into the Terrible Life AU and trusting Dean to eventually REMEMBER his calling as a hunter.
It's practically a show mantra that the boys excuse each other with "You didn't know" even while they did know - perhaps not the specific consequences but definitely the morality of their choices.
Right now, I believe a LOT of the story revolves around the concepts of who knows what when and who gets to say what it's okay to know. As much as the guys have reversed roles over the seasons, I think Dean remains the "Bury it!" champion of the entire universe and Sam has to dig until he knows.
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You're bang-on in pegging Dean as the burying champion and Sam as the champion digger, though!
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