Contemplating a Leather Jacket
I don't know why, but this morning as I was getting ready for work, I was thinking about the significance of Dean's leather jacket, and what I'd like to say about it to Jensen if I ever got the opportunity. As I don't expect to ever be able to attend a convention, I don't expect I'll ever actually get the opportunity to say this. So I'm writing it out here. Behind the cut for those not interested in thoughts on leather.
Hi. Jensen? If you'll bear with me a moment, I'm going to ask you to do something. Don't freak out. It's nothing embarrassing. It's actually not anything you can do in front of us here. No, I promise it's not embarrassing or personal.
It's about The Jacket. I know the real life reason we haven't seen the leather jacket in a long time is because some selfish idiot stole it. I'm actually more angered on your behalf--because I figured you'd want to take it with you when the series wraps--than I am as a fan of the show or character. But from a storytelling standpoint, I think it works that we haven't seen the jacket in a long while, and here's why.
When the series started, and in the early days of the show, Dean was very much about the hero worship he had for John, and being his dad's "good son." But as the series progressed, and especially when we got into Season 3, Dean's resentment started to show, his resentment for being forced to grow up so fast, and for John always being gone. And we see that resentment carried through for a couple seasons. But this past season, Season 6, we see Dean reconciling those conflicting emotions and gaining a balance of perspective. Dean doesn't want to become the paranoid, obsessed hunter that his dad was, but he holds on to what John taught him about the importance of family, and how to do The Job.
So Dean's leaving the leather jacket behind in the crate in Lisa's garage is like a laying down of that old dependency as well as that resentment. Dean has come into his own where his father is concerned, and it seems fitting that he should take off and put aside the coat that once was his father's, that enveloped him for so many years while he grew into his own.
Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket. So here's what I'm asking you to do: Ask your costume and wardrobe ladies to get Dean his own leather jacket. One that is his, for the man he's become. Because quite frankly, dude, you look hot in leather. It just needs to happen.
Hi. Jensen? If you'll bear with me a moment, I'm going to ask you to do something. Don't freak out. It's nothing embarrassing. It's actually not anything you can do in front of us here. No, I promise it's not embarrassing or personal.
It's about The Jacket. I know the real life reason we haven't seen the leather jacket in a long time is because some selfish idiot stole it. I'm actually more angered on your behalf--because I figured you'd want to take it with you when the series wraps--than I am as a fan of the show or character. But from a storytelling standpoint, I think it works that we haven't seen the jacket in a long while, and here's why.
When the series started, and in the early days of the show, Dean was very much about the hero worship he had for John, and being his dad's "good son." But as the series progressed, and especially when we got into Season 3, Dean's resentment started to show, his resentment for being forced to grow up so fast, and for John always being gone. And we see that resentment carried through for a couple seasons. But this past season, Season 6, we see Dean reconciling those conflicting emotions and gaining a balance of perspective. Dean doesn't want to become the paranoid, obsessed hunter that his dad was, but he holds on to what John taught him about the importance of family, and how to do The Job.
So Dean's leaving the leather jacket behind in the crate in Lisa's garage is like a laying down of that old dependency as well as that resentment. Dean has come into his own where his father is concerned, and it seems fitting that he should take off and put aside the coat that once was his father's, that enveloped him for so many years while he grew into his own.
Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket. So here's what I'm asking you to do: Ask your costume and wardrobe ladies to get Dean his own leather jacket. One that is his, for the man he's become. Because quite frankly, dude, you look hot in leather. It just needs to happen.