SPN and the underclass
Part 1
Disclaimer: this is pretty much my reading of Supernatural and one of the biggest themes if keep seeing. This will be very subjective, depending on your life exprience, class status, ethnicity, culture, etc, so on and so forth. You may think "Like hell," after you read this. That's fine, you've got your own reading, and I'm not about to tell you you're wrong. Please extend the same courtesy to me.
All of the meta contained herein is derived from my belonging to this non-urban underclass society, and as a daughter to a pair of parents John Winchester's age.
One of the biggest driving forces that I've identified behind the majority of the Winchester clan's is, and you might laugh, their social position in American society.
Before you roll your eyes and hit the back button, think about that for a second.
Supernatural is a series very heavily steeped in American culture, in ways both obvious and intrinsic.
But more importantly, Supernatural, or more specifically the Winchesters, is about a part of American culture that is, if not already a relic, something that is directly inaccessible to the majority of viewers.
Great, you think. More elitism crap in fandom, just what I need. Surprisingly, it's sort of the opposite of that. What I mean by that is there are a variety of generational, economical, and class-related factors that combine to represent something that is actually pretty easy to miss.
The fact is, at least for the first few seasons, Supernatural is about a class of Americans that pretty much for the most part, nobody likes to think about in reality. It's cool to see on TV, safe and viewable from a proper distance. It's another thing to be near one, as I can attest to the number of middle-upper class who've happened to stand near me in the general store when I'm dressed in barn clothes. Basically, it's a whole other thing to be one.
Basically, we see the show through the eyes of a few guys who started out in their twenties living an itinerant life, having been raised in the same fashion by an vet from the Vietnam war who used to be a mechanic. A lot of references to American culture are rooted to class and generation, and a lot of the times, the link between the two. What a middle class person John's age experienced in their youth would be very different, even before Mary. What a middle class kid today experiences is different from the boys, and from Jo.
The Winchester family and the hunters that the show concerns involves largely the lower class, the working class: the underclass. Belonging to the underclass involves a lot of socio-cultural stuff that trying to explain would kind of drive me crazy. Basically, this article is a really good start to sort of understand what it is I mean.
Summed up, what I mean is that we're talking about a group of people that for the most part go widely unacknowledged and forgotten about. It is largely centered around family, birth place, and jobs. If you were born to a family in the lower social strata, the likelihood is you will remain there, staying in the same social strata (Dean did; Sam tried not to).
There are various levels to the underclass, as we down there will tell you, and being there doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. Some of them have education, but it hasn't done much for them. Some of them have steady or dedicated jobs. It doesn't always mean rabid redneck hick Republicans, although they are definitely a vocal part of it. The thing about the underclass is that it does indeed span America-- it's not something that just belongs to the south, or Midwest, or anything. (For those of you balking at using underclass when referring to white males in this situation, trust me, they still are.)
One of the best things about Supernatural is what it does to the underclass. It doesn't pretty it up, or make excuses. It's a dirty, broken, mean goddamn world, but at least it doesn't homogenize it. It shows how being in the underclass is dangerous in ways that aren't always about monsters. It shows how people there can be incredibly smart and surprising, beneath the decade old clothes, beard stubble, and lines.
Disclaimer: this is pretty much my reading of Supernatural and one of the biggest themes if keep seeing. This will be very subjective, depending on your life exprience, class status, ethnicity, culture, etc, so on and so forth. You may think "Like hell," after you read this. That's fine, you've got your own reading, and I'm not about to tell you you're wrong. Please extend the same courtesy to me.
All of the meta contained herein is derived from my belonging to this non-urban underclass society, and as a daughter to a pair of parents John Winchester's age.
One of the biggest driving forces that I've identified behind the majority of the Winchester clan's is, and you might laugh, their social position in American society.
Before you roll your eyes and hit the back button, think about that for a second.
Supernatural is a series very heavily steeped in American culture, in ways both obvious and intrinsic.
But more importantly, Supernatural, or more specifically the Winchesters, is about a part of American culture that is, if not already a relic, something that is directly inaccessible to the majority of viewers.
Great, you think. More elitism crap in fandom, just what I need. Surprisingly, it's sort of the opposite of that. What I mean by that is there are a variety of generational, economical, and class-related factors that combine to represent something that is actually pretty easy to miss.
The fact is, at least for the first few seasons, Supernatural is about a class of Americans that pretty much for the most part, nobody likes to think about in reality. It's cool to see on TV, safe and viewable from a proper distance. It's another thing to be near one, as I can attest to the number of middle-upper class who've happened to stand near me in the general store when I'm dressed in barn clothes. Basically, it's a whole other thing to be one.
Basically, we see the show through the eyes of a few guys who started out in their twenties living an itinerant life, having been raised in the same fashion by an vet from the Vietnam war who used to be a mechanic. A lot of references to American culture are rooted to class and generation, and a lot of the times, the link between the two. What a middle class person John's age experienced in their youth would be very different, even before Mary. What a middle class kid today experiences is different from the boys, and from Jo.
The Winchester family and the hunters that the show concerns involves largely the lower class, the working class: the underclass. Belonging to the underclass involves a lot of socio-cultural stuff that trying to explain would kind of drive me crazy. Basically, this article is a really good start to sort of understand what it is I mean.
Summed up, what I mean is that we're talking about a group of people that for the most part go widely unacknowledged and forgotten about. It is largely centered around family, birth place, and jobs. If you were born to a family in the lower social strata, the likelihood is you will remain there, staying in the same social strata (Dean did; Sam tried not to).
There are various levels to the underclass, as we down there will tell you, and being there doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. Some of them have education, but it hasn't done much for them. Some of them have steady or dedicated jobs. It doesn't always mean rabid redneck hick Republicans, although they are definitely a vocal part of it. The thing about the underclass is that it does indeed span America-- it's not something that just belongs to the south, or Midwest, or anything. (For those of you balking at using underclass when referring to white males in this situation, trust me, they still are.)
One of the best things about Supernatural is what it does to the underclass. It doesn't pretty it up, or make excuses. It's a dirty, broken, mean goddamn world, but at least it doesn't homogenize it. It shows how being in the underclass is dangerous in ways that aren't always about monsters. It shows how people there can be incredibly smart and surprising, beneath the decade old clothes, beard stubble, and lines.