[Live Musings] SPN 5.2 "Good God, Ya'll"
Basically all I have to say about this episode is: saw the plot coming in the teaser. Wasn't expecting Ellen and Jo, though - that was a lovely surprise!
Also - I love, love, love Ellen's interactions with Dean. They are perfection of all the perfect scenes of all. I love that she shows so very little interest in Sam, that she immediately is angry at Dean for not keeping in contact. There's family there, but that doesn't matter to Sam nearly as much as it does Dean - and I love that Ellen knows that so well.... there's more below about this. But. LOVE. Kids. I love this show sometimes.
Rating: 3/5 - extra points for Jo&Ellen and Ellen&Dean fancy
Favorite boy: Dean. (I may stop doing this ... )
And now... An email I sent myself earlier in the week::::
A thought I just had - re: early S5 SPN
I read Dean as female. I've made this statement before, and I stand by it. In a perfect world, Dean would have been Deanna and she would have been kick-ass. As it is, Dean is consistently represented as the domestic brother - the caregiver, the compassionate, the self-sacrificing. He is the character who puts the most emphasis on family and the livelihood of the people he cares for. Ellen doesn't slap Sam for not keeping in contact - she turns her anger on Dean, she knows he is the one who is supposed to care, who is supposed to call. (oh there's so much to say about that dynamic I can't even....)
Anyway, it has NEVER been more clear in this series that Dean = feminine and Sam = masculine. Why, you ask?
Right now we're in a two-season arc of body-control or lack thereof. This series generally works in this way, one issue will be presented over a season - and the next season will take the opposite tact. S2- dad sacrifice, S3 - Dean sacrifice. Now we're in the follow-up to season 4's "Sam's addiction" with this problem: Dean as possible body for Gabriel. What we have to fight this season (besides Sam's continuing addiction to demon blood/drugs) is a hovering threat of rape. Yes, folks, because that's what is essentially at stake. Sam's lack of control over his body presents itself in an addiction (*coughbuffyseasonsixcough*) - but Dean's lack of control over his body presents itself as a threat of penetration - a threat of his body being used by a (male) someone bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than him.
Guise. This is epic huge. This is big stuff. And the writer's don't even mess around with this. It's straight up clear that Dean is the feminine element that the show seems to lack. Problematic? Hell yeah... especially since I know that Jo is doomed to die (probably in this season). And quite frankly, Jo should be a Winchester - I know it's more interesting for the writers to have sexual chemistry between Dean and Jo - but come on! Little Sister Jo would be so much more interesting than Potential Frack Jo. Any day. In my head - they are siblings. And Dean will end up when it's all over with his Reaper (their love is REAL)... or Anna. Hell, I don't really care which. The point is - the only way we're ever going to come to a point in which this show has anything redeeming to say about gender is if we let go of Jensen Ackles and embrace Dean as he is = the feminine.
These are my thoughts.
And they are making me wonder if, once I get through SPN and am caught up - if there is a parallel between this dynamic with the Salvatores (or even the Originals... 'cause let's face it, Klaus and Elijah are just another set of Salvatores) in terms of control and gender. tVD is tricky, because it's so much more complex. mmmm.....
Also - today feels like Friday and Friday felt like Monday... my days are all wacky and I want the world to be orderly again!
Also - I love, love, love Ellen's interactions with Dean. They are perfection of all the perfect scenes of all. I love that she shows so very little interest in Sam, that she immediately is angry at Dean for not keeping in contact. There's family there, but that doesn't matter to Sam nearly as much as it does Dean - and I love that Ellen knows that so well.... there's more below about this. But. LOVE. Kids. I love this show sometimes.
Rating: 3/5 - extra points for Jo&Ellen and Ellen&Dean fancy
Favorite boy: Dean. (I may stop doing this ... )
And now... An email I sent myself earlier in the week::::
A thought I just had - re: early S5 SPN
I read Dean as female. I've made this statement before, and I stand by it. In a perfect world, Dean would have been Deanna and she would have been kick-ass. As it is, Dean is consistently represented as the domestic brother - the caregiver, the compassionate, the self-sacrificing. He is the character who puts the most emphasis on family and the livelihood of the people he cares for. Ellen doesn't slap Sam for not keeping in contact - she turns her anger on Dean, she knows he is the one who is supposed to care, who is supposed to call. (oh there's so much to say about that dynamic I can't even....)
Anyway, it has NEVER been more clear in this series that Dean = feminine and Sam = masculine. Why, you ask?
Right now we're in a two-season arc of body-control or lack thereof. This series generally works in this way, one issue will be presented over a season - and the next season will take the opposite tact. S2- dad sacrifice, S3 - Dean sacrifice. Now we're in the follow-up to season 4's "Sam's addiction" with this problem: Dean as possible body for Gabriel. What we have to fight this season (besides Sam's continuing addiction to demon blood/drugs) is a hovering threat of rape. Yes, folks, because that's what is essentially at stake. Sam's lack of control over his body presents itself in an addiction (*coughbuffyseasonsixcough*) - but Dean's lack of control over his body presents itself as a threat of penetration - a threat of his body being used by a (male) someone bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than him.
Guise. This is epic huge. This is big stuff. And the writer's don't even mess around with this. It's straight up clear that Dean is the feminine element that the show seems to lack. Problematic? Hell yeah... especially since I know that Jo is doomed to die (probably in this season). And quite frankly, Jo should be a Winchester - I know it's more interesting for the writers to have sexual chemistry between Dean and Jo - but come on! Little Sister Jo would be so much more interesting than Potential Frack Jo. Any day. In my head - they are siblings. And Dean will end up when it's all over with his Reaper (their love is REAL)... or Anna. Hell, I don't really care which. The point is - the only way we're ever going to come to a point in which this show has anything redeeming to say about gender is if we let go of Jensen Ackles and embrace Dean as he is = the feminine.
These are my thoughts.
And they are making me wonder if, once I get through SPN and am caught up - if there is a parallel between this dynamic with the Salvatores (or even the Originals... 'cause let's face it, Klaus and Elijah are just another set of Salvatores) in terms of control and gender. tVD is tricky, because it's so much more complex. mmmm.....
Also - today feels like Friday and Friday felt like Monday... my days are all wacky and I want the world to be orderly again!