Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam

[bowtrunckle]

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.

Comments

[redrikki]

This is probably one of the most well thought out and think-y meta posts I've read in this fandom, and, more importantly, I agree with pretty much all of it. In the commentary for the first season, Kripke claims that Sam was supposed to be the entry everyman character and Dean was the cool older brother we had to learn to love as more than a cool leather-wearing badass. That's why episodes about Dean's character tend to be more in your face than Sams. But, interestingly, even in those in-your-face Dean episodes we still get plenty of Sam characterization. If Faith is all about Dean's Jesus complex, than it's also all about Sam's single-mindedness, self-righteousness and devotion to his brother. Furthermore, I think the perception about the show being all about Sam stems in part from Sam and Dean's preception of it being all about Sam. Sam repeatedly makes the claim that people die as a direct result of him being there (Hookman, Home, Provenance, Devil's Trap, etc.) and even Dean in DaLDoM admits that Sam has always been the focus of his life.

So, in short, I agree with you completely about what kind of tigers they are, and rambled a bit besides.

[kuromatic]

*RANTING REPLY IN CAPS LOCK*

Just kidding!

omg! You've written a book. A very interesting book. It has left me now totally imagining Sam and Dean as tigers O_o

But seriously, that's a great analysis. I lose at the whole "realize this myself" part but I'm really grateful to read meaty meta like this that makes me go, yes!

[bowtrunckle]

ROFL!!!!! I was waiting for someone to write that! :D Only after I posted did I realize that was like a red bull's eye, just begging for some caps lock replies lol.

It has left me now totally imagining Sam and Dean as tigers O_o

Heh. Tiger!Sam and tiger!Dean trapped in the jungle and stalking an impala, what a cracktastic fic that would make. Of course tiger!Sam and tiger!Dean would have roaring competitions, and tiger!Dean would eat everything in sight while tiger!Sam sat around in a bush and rolled his feline eyes. What pretty cats they'd make.

[bowtrunckle]

I made some Sam and Dean tigers for hugemind and I thought you might want one, too! :)



Fuzzy feline Sam-and-Dean, ftw! This is just totally cracking me up XD!

[kuromatic]

*grins*

So very apropos!!!

*grabs and saves*

[bowtrunckle]

Thank you so much for you kind words. This fandom is full of such great ideas and idea-sharers that what you wrote is a huge compliment. :)

even in those in-your-face Dean episodes we still get plenty of Sam characterization.

Yes, "Skin" and "CWPWDT" also come to mind. In fact, I think it would be pretty hard to come by a Dean or Sam-centric episode where we didn't learn a tiny something about the other brother OR their plot wasn't advanced. The only two episodes that may be the exceptions are "WiaWSNB" and "Mystery Spot" where the purpose of the other brother was to either not be them self or not to change and, subsequently, their plots were also put on hold.

I think the converse also holds true; there are few Sam-centric episodes were Dean isn't also served in some capacity. Even "Heart" gave us some pretty heavy Sam and Dean dynamic in the last five minutes.

I think the perception about the show being all about Sam stems in part from Sam and Dean's preception of it being all about Sam.

Good point. When everyone else (the characters) are staring at something (Sam) and saying "it's all about him", then of course the audience is going to become hyper aware of that. And artfully manipulating the audience and directing the focus is part of the writers' job. When done properly, they create a semi-transparent smoke screen whereby we're too busy watching other things (the things they want us to watch) to consciously notice them laying the foundation for future plot points. So when they're revealed, they're surprising but, upon inspection, aren't completely out of left field (of course, the semi-truck bashing the Impala S1 was pretty left field ... literally, heh).

I'm curious to see if the repeated "it's all about Sam" lines are part of the distract and deflect routine or not. Part of me thinks Kripke wouldn't jerk us around like that, but then again reversals seem to be gaining in popularity ... and irony rules.