Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam
I wrote a meta thingy! :)
There’s been avid discussion about Sam and Dean and which of them, if either, seems to be favored by Kripke as well as debate about “who is the story really about”. I’ve noticed there’s been a propensity for some self-proclaimed “Dean girls” and “Sam girls” to run circles around each other, trying to prove their points. ( Read more... )
There’s been avid discussion about Sam and Dean and which of them, if either, seems to be favored by Kripke as well as debate about “who is the story really about”. I’ve noticed there’s been a propensity for some self-proclaimed “Dean girls” and “Sam girls” to run circles around each other, trying to prove their points. ( Read more... )
Ah right, yes, that is a problem.
I did think they were gay. When I discovered they were brothers twenty minutes or so later, I had a serious "Oh!" moment.
LOL! I'll bet. Oh that's funny. You know, a few months back a friend who doesn't even know the show exists stopped by my LJ while we were on the phone and said "Why do you have two gay guys on your page?" I don't think she understood why I found that so amusing.
"Bibrolar" seems very apt. I think it should go into the SPN lexicon.
Too bad I already wrote this meta otherwise I would add that as a corollary
Next year you can revisit the post -- then you'll be able to add all sorts of corollaries :D
Even though I think these comparisons aren't true, I think they're made because it's natural to think of pairs of two as being opposites ends of the spectrum (even if they're not) because there's not a third or fourth party to provide another measure of relativity.
Very good point, yes. It's the same sort of thing that happens to female or minority characters in shows when they're the only one (or two) representatives. They get loaded with all sorts of baggage that doesn't allow the characters to be individuals. Although I find it kind of amusing in a way, because it's what also seems to happen in families. Someone gets labeled the "smart kid" or the "pretty sister" or the "troublemaker" or "the athlete" or whatever, as if only that sibling has the attribute. It's one of the things that makes twin studies so fascinating to me, that inevitably twins raised apart are more similar than if they were raised together, because they felt less pressure to differentiate themselves in ways that weren't as true to their nature.
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I just peeked at your header. LOL! Wow, your friend got the gay vibe from just that picture (it's a lovely picture, btw)? The boys' chemistry seems to just radiate off of them. Actually, the reason I thought they were gay (for 20 minutes) was the distinct Scully/Mulder feel of their relationship ... almost UST, but more snarky and exasperated rather than full-out denial/suppression. Heh.
They get loaded with all sorts of baggage that doesn't allow the characters to be individuals.
Yes, OR worse, they're type cast. I was channel surfing last week and ran across a scene on some show with a middle-aged black woman with short hair, wearing stone earring and talking in a mystic voice. She was a psychic. Good old Missouri reincarnated (or maybe Missouri was reincarnated). It made me chuckle, then wish Missouri would show up and heckle Dean some more.
But perhaps the comparison game is just a natural human propensity? We're taught in school to "compare and contrast" as well as "summarize and generalize" from a very early age. Maybe we can just blame the school system for some of fandom's perceptions. ;)
inevitably twins raised apart are more similar than if they were raised together
Interesting. I learned something new. Fandom is good for amassing all sorts of disparate tidbits. :)
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or maybe Missouri was reincarnated
Good God, yes, although had the part been cast differently I suspect it would have been more archetypal than sterotypical.
then wish Missouri would show up and heckle Dean some more
Hee! I got this image of Missouri saying nothing (but picking up everything about the Deal), just standing there with her hands on her hips, staring at Dean disapprovingly until he began to squirm and bark "What?"
We're taught in school to "compare and contrast"
I could even see it being a genetic tendency, so that individuals in groups specialize and become particularly skilled in valued traits, then pass those traits and lessons on to future generations.
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Duran Duran has a fandom or would that be "bandom"? ;) I actually love Duran Duran. In fact I'm listening to "Come Undone" right now ... a song I associate with "Mystery Spot" because of the lyrics. I never thought of the young le Bon/Ackles resemblance, but their mouths and cheekbones are similar.
The other day I was thinking how much John Edwards and John Barrowman look alike.
No. Really? *does a google image search*
OMG. That is uncanny. LOL!!!
There are some truly strange pictures of Capt. Jack out there on the internet. In particular one of him (apparently) in a production of "Hair".
Kuromatic and I came to the conclusion while back that Sam and Dean have a long lost uncle ... Javier Bardem.
standing there with her hands on her hips, staring at Dean disapprovingly until he began to squirm and bark "What?"
*snork*
Of course Dean would squirm and probably scratch the back of his neck like he does when he knows he's been caught. Then he'd shove Sam forward. "Use your psychic thing, Sam, and make her stop doing ... whatever it is you psychics do." Aww, Dean. :)
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So I'm not the only one who thinks so then! I first noticed it when I was watching the Colbert Report. (He did a great job doing his version of Colbert's the Word). Yeah I could see Javier Bardem. I did think he looked rather like JDM.
Duran Duran has a fandom or would that be "bandom"?
Oh it does/did. Back in the 80s there were zines, both news oriented and fanfic ones. Rumor was the band members had copies in their homes too. One fan doing an interview reported that JT had a zine on his coffee table that had a romantic manip of him and Nick Rhodes on it. This is the oldest site I know of: http://there.indyramp.com/
young le Bon/Ackles resemblance, but their mouths and cheekbones are similar.
To be honest, I'd never noticed it until I saw my header. I'd say it was their eyes as well, both of them have huge ones and look most alike when they're being intense. Some comparisons: http://www.kraftykards.com/images/music/Simon31.jpg and http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/5065/img002df0.jpg
or http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1945000/images/_1947857_duran_pa_150.jpg and http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/5868/img004vz2.jpg
Hee! Squirmy, uncomfortable Dean is pretty amusing.
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Jet ski! Someone on my flist circulated that video. I was highly amused.
JT had a zine on his coffee table that had a romantic manip of him and Nick Rhodes on it.
Heh. That's fan appreciation for you. Almost along the same lines of Jim Beaver's "I read John/Bobby" shirt.
I'd say it was their eyes as well
O.O Mmm. *nods* That first picture is very nice. You know, I think it's the cheekbones. I really noticed JA's lovely cheekbones because of the lighting in the Dean vs. Dean dream sequence.
Thanks for the eye candy. :)
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I was floored by that one. Who knew he had that much of a sense of humor? I laughed pretty hard over Sandy's "cries his way through sex" shirt too.
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