A professional meta article on Show that is actually good.

[blacklid]

That contest as it is presented in Supernatural reflects a provocative meditation upon the vexed relationship between secular and sacred time, historical reality and millenarial longing, dreams of unfettered progress and the deadening hand of past trauma. In short, the series in its composition and concerns is a manifestation of the collective

Comments

[fannishliss]

thanks very much for this recc. this meta nails it.

I think there is a portion of fans who really dig the metaphysical dimension of Supernatural, I am certainly there, but I'm not sure how many share that feeling outside you, me, and Tahiri, even tho I don't always quite follow you! :P

I think spn is both subtle and deep. I really dig how this dude thinks about the metaphysical alongside the images of "America" in all her wild and wacky glory that show presents to us. For my taste, there is also a real and present gender critique, to be sure, a critique of what it means to be a Man in today's America, that dude didn't quite lay hold of. but that is my bugbear to wrestle. ONE DAY.

thanks again, I really enjoyed it!

[blacklid]

I think there might me more of us that you think! Although I'm curious how you go from a zeitgeist to a gender-based analysis, so I'm very interested to hear what that's about. I would point you here for some good words on that aspect: http://themonkeytwin.livejournal.com/24670.html

Your icon still confuses me udderly. So here is one of mine that is just as perturbing (no self-respecting unicorn should have to wear Garry Shandling's face, you know?)

[fannishliss]

Well, my icon is easy to explain. It is the cover of Man Eating Cow #1, a spin-off from the Tick Comic Book by Ben Edlund. I would never have begun to watch Supernatural except that I was googling Edlund one day to see what he was up to and saw that he had written several eps for s2. So the first ep I ever watched was "Nightshifter." :D

[blacklid]

Uhhh.... all anti-heroes have extreme penis, there is no God, and Pink Floyd was romanticizing fascism?

[fannishliss]

I can't tell if you are mocking me, or if you were asking something?

[blacklid]

There's not enough clarity on your other points for me to respond in complete seriousness, so yeah, it's my zany attempt at a summary of what I thought you meant.

Mockery? Only in that if you get stuck on a gender bent regarding Hunter vs. Warrior, you're discounting the role of women in both categories (invisible/dead/otherwise) and that is tantamount to sexism. Right?

[fannishliss]

okay,well, never mind then.

[tahirire]

Hmm.I don't think meta is as hard as we sometimes make it out to be.

A large chunk of the meta for Show is based on the warrior/soldier analogy, yet so few people compare Show to anything of the sort. I think that, rather than basing all the elements of Show on gender, if we took it as the story of a group of warriors instead (Ellen and Jo and Pam were warriors, and Sam and Dean come from a line of warriors, at least %50 of which were women), it doesn't highlight Show as having a gender-based meta structure. In fact, I think it ERASES the gender card from the meta structure completely.

For the best example ever written, read Ender's Game, by Orson Scott card. THEN meta about a soldier's choice in war.

[fannishliss]

In the particular case of this meta, the millennial viewing, the author Williams tries to assert that certain archetypes are universal -- the gunslinger, the loner, the stranger who saves the day. But no -- those are actually masculine archetypes. And yes, Dean and Sam had women warriors in their lineage, but they didn't get to actually LEARN from those women. The whole woman side of their heritage is stolen from them. That's why they lead such hypermasculine lives. The women on show make different choices -- that's why Dean is so starved to just settle down for a while, why he can make no other choice than to go to Lisa (*not* Bobby) when Sam goes down. Dean has been Batman for so long, while continuously longing for the woman's side of things, which he has only been able to connect with through his horndog activities. Sam, for his part, made a good try at getting the "normal life" (ie, one with women in it!) but he divorced his family to get there. By the time he re-commits, he has a pretty nihilist viewpoint that insulates

[tahirire]

I'm also interested to see how s6 goes, but I'm already cringing over fandom's predictable reaction to it. No matter what Sera does with Lisa, they will not be happy.

If Dean fights to stay with her, they will be all offended and demand that Show get rid of her because she is not TEH BOYZ OMG, and if they find a way to get rid of her they will be all MISOGYNYWTF!!11!!!

*extreme eyeroll*

I certainly agree than men are portrayed as being different from women on the show. I guess I just always assumed that was pretty accurate, given that men are different from women in rl. O.o

[fannishliss]

One person on my flist was all LISA STFU AND GTFO and I almost defriended, because that's just the unthinking misogyny everyone is always screaming about. Make no mistake, I'm ready to yell misogyny, SHOULD IT OCCUR.

Men and Women are different, which is why it's so important to look at storytelling through the lens of gender-- to understand how our culture is reflecting on those fluid and fluctuating differences. Samndean aren't just ordinary guys-- they were RAISED AS WARRIORS. To me that's vital -- I'm extremely interested in studying the stories the country is telling itself right now. Just finished s1 of Prison Break, and wow, that was riveting, and it parallels spn in a crazy number of ways. My husband laughs, because my tastes are much more butch than his. :)

[tahirire]

Make no mistake, I'm ready to yell misogyny, SHOULD IT OCCUR.

Lol. Oh, I know you are. *smish*

Ooooh. Prison Break was my major obsession before Supernatural. Can I just warn you that seasons 1 and 2 are insanely badass, and it goes to crap after that? I loved those characters so much I literally wished I hadn't watched the last 2 seasons. That's what happens when a show keeps going b/c the ratings are good, but they don't have an arc pre-planned.

Oh, wait. Oh, crap. O.o (lol)

[fannishliss]

so, I just finished s1 of Prison Break last night. Is it safe to watch s2? I really enjoyed s1 a great deal. It's so much like spn it's insane. :D

Plus Wentworth is so not hard to look at. YUMMM.

And unlike SOME BOYS, he's only 4 years younger than me!!

[tahirire]

Oh yes. S2 is almost just as awesome as s1. After that, though - proceed with caution.