I see this has come up again.
People talking about the horror of double standards are ironically the ones that enforce them the most. *roll eyes*
Like I said in the last entry; my issue comes in when people say Dean and Sam are 100% right in doing what they do every time and could not have ever handled anything better.
Really?
It's just a huge pet peeve of mine when people excuse everything Dean in particular does because of his hard life and sucky childhood. That is not an excuse to treat people badly. In real life, people have unfortunate lives too but I'm sure most of us are not gonna give them a free pass to deal with it by treating other people like crap. Also it's poor character development in my opinion when after 7 seasons, Dean still thinks this is the best way to deal with problems. Maybe John was hard on him the same way; well obviously his life is a testament that was a bad idea. Yelling and belittling people is probably not a great way to get them to trust and listen to you. After 7 seasons; I expect him to be able to adapt and come up with better ways to handle situations and deal with things. Is that bad thing? Wanting him to grow as a person? Is irrational to be disappointed the Show doesn't work harder to let him do this? After having been through it multiple times and seeing it's not working that way? Is it that strange I'm disappointed that S6/7 were a total reversal in terms of his previously awesome gradual development during Season 5? Why is this such a touchy subject for people? Don't you want to Dean to be better adjusted and overcome his demons? What's there to be upset about in that? It's like "Oh yea he did that and that was kinda a mistake buuuutt he doesn't know any better! *cites millions of daddy issues..etc*" Well, can't he at least try? Is it that impossible? Like, I'm a big fan of psychology and fandom meta, ok? I get how problems like that can effect the way people live and handle life. I know you don't just get over it overnight. I'm not belittling that or dismissing his issues. But I don't think I'm being unreasonable.
It's like if you even slightly criticize anything Dean does you're a terrible person and ' hater'. What? Just because I can admit he could handle some thing differently? EVERYONE on Supernatural needs a pop upside the head now and then. It's not an insult to anyone's character to admit they sometime act like jerks. I, myself, can be a uber you know what sometime but I don't think that makes me a bad person. I have friends I love and sometimes they handle situations poorly. Doesn't mean I love them less or am insulting their character. But people act like you're saying Dean is the worst person ever if you even blink at anything he does.
But I honestly don't get this fandom perspective. It's a pretty huge and unfair double standard, tbh. If Cas and Sam can't be excused for making bad decisions because they're 'not human, at war' or 'young and confused, being manipulated..' respectively then Dean also should take responsibility for acting like a jerk sometime. And him acting like a jerk doesn't make him a bad person. He's a great, complex, loyal, dedicated and amazing character. He's my second favorite on the show. Yes, he's jaded too and sometimes he acts like a douche. That doesn't mean I love him less or that I think he's a bad person. I don't why people can't understand that. If anyone says Dean made a mistake it's like people freak out and the same excuse they claim cas!fans make for him, they make for Dean. Huh? They say excusing Cas or Sam in any way by saying THEY had hard lives/decisions is an insult to them and they should take full responsibly for things yet they don't let Dean do the same.
And off topic a bit but, I'm also sick of people constantly harping on Cas and his 'betrayal' like it's the worst thing that ever happened on the show. It's like all the years and previous seasons where he did all these awesome and amazing things for them are just totally overlooked now. I don't expect it to just be forgotten by fans or in canon on the show; it was big deal. However; I don't feel like they dealt with this properly on the show. I felt like Sera should have sucked it up and let Cas stick around more and let us really get into this 'redemption arc'. 7.17 was good but I just felt like something like that should have a had a bigger role within the latter half of the season. But I feel like that's all people see Cas as now. This betrayer that 'ruined their lives'. That bugs me. When is he ever going to redeem himself enough for people? He messed up (look! I can admit that & still be a fan!) but he's no more a horrible person than Sam or anyone else who's messed on the show.
Cas is not a saint. Sam is not a saint and neither is Dean. Why is that so hard to accept? They all have situations they could have handled better. They're all broken and lost. That's why we love them right? We want to overcome and rise above the circumstances, don't we? We are sensitive to their circumstances and don't judge them too harshly because we know they have all had hard lives but that's not the same as making excuses for them. But that's what some people do for the Winchesters and Dean especially, imo.
And yet they say that love everyone on the show equally. Sorry, but I've never seen these same people doing this for anyone else. It's OK if you like Dean best, I don't see why some people act like it's a fandom crime to admit you have character preferences. Maybe they don't even realize their doing it. I dunno. It just bugs me when people claim they know Dean's not a saint but they treat him like one anyway. They get mad if you say Dean influenced Cas in any way and claim Cas should own up to all that himself. But with Dean they get all up in arms and start quoting all his problems as a reason why he can just do whatever he wants and treat people as he pleases since 'he doesn't mean it, he doesn't know better, that's what his dad did, that's how he deals with emotion' and apparently we should just accept he can never change and that's the best he can do. I respect he has problems but some people put him on a pedestal and give him a free pass because of it.
Cas is my favorite. Yes. I'm very bias towards Cas and I totally admit that. But I don't act like he never made a mistake. I have opinions on it and I admit I'm more sensitive to his circumstances but I try to stay away from acting like "CAS IS GREAT AND HE NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG!" I can acknowledge he had a hard life too (yea, join the club Dean) without using that to act like he's perfect. There's a difference.
Dean is my second favorite on the show. I care a lot about him and will defend him if I see him getting hate. But I'm not hating on him or judging him. I'm just not happy with the bias way people tend to baby him when he does something wrong.
I personally REALLY hope next season we get a more Dean central storyline where we see them finally dealing with Dean on personal level about his problems rather than just having him be there to react to Sam's problems or angst over Cas. I want more Team Free Will and I want him to mend things with Cas but I also want some good central storytelling that will allow him to grow in a way I think he was denied in Season 6 & 7. I feel like Sera's characterization of him was a big problem for me and I hope that changes next season. I LOVED that Carver kinda addressed that and implied there were plans to show how Sam, Cas and Dean developed and matured on an individual level. I really hope he can make the necessary changes to make me love this show they way I used to. *Crossing fingers*.
Like I said in the last entry; my issue comes in when people say Dean and Sam are 100% right in doing what they do every time and could not have ever handled anything better.
Really?
It's just a huge pet peeve of mine when people excuse everything Dean in particular does because of his hard life and sucky childhood. That is not an excuse to treat people badly. In real life, people have unfortunate lives too but I'm sure most of us are not gonna give them a free pass to deal with it by treating other people like crap. Also it's poor character development in my opinion when after 7 seasons, Dean still thinks this is the best way to deal with problems. Maybe John was hard on him the same way; well obviously his life is a testament that was a bad idea. Yelling and belittling people is probably not a great way to get them to trust and listen to you. After 7 seasons; I expect him to be able to adapt and come up with better ways to handle situations and deal with things. Is that bad thing? Wanting him to grow as a person? Is irrational to be disappointed the Show doesn't work harder to let him do this? After having been through it multiple times and seeing it's not working that way? Is it that strange I'm disappointed that S6/7 were a total reversal in terms of his previously awesome gradual development during Season 5? Why is this such a touchy subject for people? Don't you want to Dean to be better adjusted and overcome his demons? What's there to be upset about in that? It's like "Oh yea he did that and that was kinda a mistake buuuutt he doesn't know any better! *cites millions of daddy issues..etc*" Well, can't he at least try? Is it that impossible? Like, I'm a big fan of psychology and fandom meta, ok? I get how problems like that can effect the way people live and handle life. I know you don't just get over it overnight. I'm not belittling that or dismissing his issues. But I don't think I'm being unreasonable.
It's like if you even slightly criticize anything Dean does you're a terrible person and ' hater'. What? Just because I can admit he could handle some thing differently? EVERYONE on Supernatural needs a pop upside the head now and then. It's not an insult to anyone's character to admit they sometime act like jerks. I, myself, can be a uber you know what sometime but I don't think that makes me a bad person. I have friends I love and sometimes they handle situations poorly. Doesn't mean I love them less or am insulting their character. But people act like you're saying Dean is the worst person ever if you even blink at anything he does.
But I honestly don't get this fandom perspective. It's a pretty huge and unfair double standard, tbh. If Cas and Sam can't be excused for making bad decisions because they're 'not human, at war' or 'young and confused, being manipulated..' respectively then Dean also should take responsibility for acting like a jerk sometime. And him acting like a jerk doesn't make him a bad person. He's a great, complex, loyal, dedicated and amazing character. He's my second favorite on the show. Yes, he's jaded too and sometimes he acts like a douche. That doesn't mean I love him less or that I think he's a bad person. I don't why people can't understand that. If anyone says Dean made a mistake it's like people freak out and the same excuse they claim cas!fans make for him, they make for Dean. Huh? They say excusing Cas or Sam in any way by saying THEY had hard lives/decisions is an insult to them and they should take full responsibly for things yet they don't let Dean do the same.
And off topic a bit but, I'm also sick of people constantly harping on Cas and his 'betrayal' like it's the worst thing that ever happened on the show. It's like all the years and previous seasons where he did all these awesome and amazing things for them are just totally overlooked now. I don't expect it to just be forgotten by fans or in canon on the show; it was big deal. However; I don't feel like they dealt with this properly on the show. I felt like Sera should have sucked it up and let Cas stick around more and let us really get into this 'redemption arc'. 7.17 was good but I just felt like something like that should have a had a bigger role within the latter half of the season. But I feel like that's all people see Cas as now. This betrayer that 'ruined their lives'. That bugs me. When is he ever going to redeem himself enough for people? He messed up (look! I can admit that & still be a fan!) but he's no more a horrible person than Sam or anyone else who's messed on the show.
Cas is not a saint. Sam is not a saint and neither is Dean. Why is that so hard to accept? They all have situations they could have handled better. They're all broken and lost. That's why we love them right? We want to overcome and rise above the circumstances, don't we? We are sensitive to their circumstances and don't judge them too harshly because we know they have all had hard lives but that's not the same as making excuses for them. But that's what some people do for the Winchesters and Dean especially, imo.
And yet they say that love everyone on the show equally. Sorry, but I've never seen these same people doing this for anyone else. It's OK if you like Dean best, I don't see why some people act like it's a fandom crime to admit you have character preferences. Maybe they don't even realize their doing it. I dunno. It just bugs me when people claim they know Dean's not a saint but they treat him like one anyway. They get mad if you say Dean influenced Cas in any way and claim Cas should own up to all that himself. But with Dean they get all up in arms and start quoting all his problems as a reason why he can just do whatever he wants and treat people as he pleases since 'he doesn't mean it, he doesn't know better, that's what his dad did, that's how he deals with emotion' and apparently we should just accept he can never change and that's the best he can do. I respect he has problems but some people put him on a pedestal and give him a free pass because of it.
Cas is my favorite. Yes. I'm very bias towards Cas and I totally admit that. But I don't act like he never made a mistake. I have opinions on it and I admit I'm more sensitive to his circumstances but I try to stay away from acting like "CAS IS GREAT AND HE NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG!" I can acknowledge he had a hard life too (yea, join the club Dean) without using that to act like he's perfect. There's a difference.
Dean is my second favorite on the show. I care a lot about him and will defend him if I see him getting hate. But I'm not hating on him or judging him. I'm just not happy with the bias way people tend to baby him when he does something wrong.
I personally REALLY hope next season we get a more Dean central storyline where we see them finally dealing with Dean on personal level about his problems rather than just having him be there to react to Sam's problems or angst over Cas. I want more Team Free Will and I want him to mend things with Cas but I also want some good central storytelling that will allow him to grow in a way I think he was denied in Season 6 & 7. I feel like Sera's characterization of him was a big problem for me and I hope that changes next season. I LOVED that Carver kinda addressed that and implied there were plans to show how Sam, Cas and Dean developed and matured on an individual level. I really hope he can make the necessary changes to make me love this show they way I used to. *Crossing fingers*.