On the Crossover
The thing is, plonking a homosexually-involved Sam and Dean Winchester down in the middle of the greenwood makes perfect thematic sense. Behold my theories on the subject in the essay I shall call
Justifying a Silly Idea
or
I Meta Me
or
An Expensive Education Wasted
There's a established association with the realms of the natural world and illicit love in literature. People go skipping off into the woods, escaping society, shag like animals, then put on their underthings and return to be ruled by culture. This is obviously not true in every secret love story, but the theme repeats:
In short: there's a persistent image of people sneaking out to a conveniently placed woodcutter's shack and shacking up.
The wilderness in its function as an escape and chance to be "natural" (for better or for worse) is most often claimed by men. Examples include:
.... E.M. Forster's Maurice (1913/1971) is a homosexual love story. It is also about the discovery of homosexuality and the search for the Ideal Friend. Once the discovery is made, accepted, and ratified, and the friend is finally found, Maurice and Alec enter into their Arcadia. Forster calls this "the greenwood". Maurice sought the greenwood because "he was an outlaw in disguise". Perhaps, he mused - this after the certain discovery of his homosexuality - "among those who took to this greenwood in old times there had been two men like himself - two. At times he entertained the dream. Two men can defy the world" (p.137). Maurice and Alec ... do indeed escape to the greenwood at the end of the book, and Forster tells us that they went there to seek "a cave in which to curl up . . . a deserted valley for those who wish neither to reform nor corrupt society, but to be left alone" (p.254).
Bringing this back to my stupid story:
Supernatural
In the Wincest!AU of fandom, I see the Winchester boys as inhabiting a modern "greenwood". They do inhabit an American wilderness: living in motels (if not in the Metallicar), getting their money by hook and by crook, and living on the fringe, and unable to be themselves in mainstream society. That we the slash-fans should see a potential to push the boys into bed together may not be due only to the usual dementia of slashers, but to how the show has already placed the two characters beyond the pale. We could get the impression of lasting relationships with women from assorted characters, but all their meaningful relationships are with guys. Living as they do in microculture that is largely homosocial and far from anything society would deem to be "normal", it doesn't take much for us send Sam and Dean further into the wilderness.
Robin of Sherwood
The characters in this show live outside the law of the land, in a forest, under the aegis of a pagan god. Before I get into this: first, let me say, as a neo-pagan with an eye for history, let me say that I doubt Anglo-Saxon paganism was "ok" with homosexuality, if the Old Norse stance on sodomy is to be any guide.
But paganism in popular culture is more usually associated with sexual "deviance", and given the antics that RoS gets up to, I think it's safe to let historical fact take the backseat.
We have to imagine that, in an England where the peasants are still celebrating "The Blessing" with dancing in the woods, venerating a horned god of the forests (a shout out to Cernunnos and Pan, here), and obviously wenching (did you see how many ladies Nasir got?), homosexual relations aren't too much of a stretch.
As for the Normans... well, if you saw the episode "The Sheriff of Nottingham", you'll know that I really don't need to say anything.
The End
Justifying a Silly Idea
or
I Meta Me
or
An Expensive Education Wasted
There's a established association with the realms of the natural world and illicit love in literature. People go skipping off into the woods, escaping society, shag like animals, then put on their underthings and return to be ruled by culture. This is obviously not true in every secret love story, but the theme repeats:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Snow Falling on Cedars
- Tolkien's story of Beren and Lúthien (sorry)
- Lady Chatterley's Lover
- "The Illusionist", and, obviously
- Maid Marion and Robin Hood in Sherwood.
In short: there's a persistent image of people sneaking out to a conveniently placed woodcutter's shack and shacking up.
The wilderness in its function as an escape and chance to be "natural" (for better or for worse) is most often claimed by men. Examples include:
- Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass
- Gore Vidal's The City & the Pillar
- Nial Kent's Divided Path
- Barry's Peter Pan (Wendy is never really the Lost Boys' mother)
- William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, and
- E.M. Forster's Maurice
.... E.M. Forster's Maurice (1913/1971) is a homosexual love story. It is also about the discovery of homosexuality and the search for the Ideal Friend. Once the discovery is made, accepted, and ratified, and the friend is finally found, Maurice and Alec enter into their Arcadia. Forster calls this "the greenwood". Maurice sought the greenwood because "he was an outlaw in disguise". Perhaps, he mused - this after the certain discovery of his homosexuality - "among those who took to this greenwood in old times there had been two men like himself - two. At times he entertained the dream. Two men can defy the world" (p.137). Maurice and Alec ... do indeed escape to the greenwood at the end of the book, and Forster tells us that they went there to seek "a cave in which to curl up . . . a deserted valley for those who wish neither to reform nor corrupt society, but to be left alone" (p.254).
Bringing this back to my stupid story:
Supernatural
In the Wincest!AU of fandom, I see the Winchester boys as inhabiting a modern "greenwood". They do inhabit an American wilderness: living in motels (if not in the Metallicar), getting their money by hook and by crook, and living on the fringe, and unable to be themselves in mainstream society. That we the slash-fans should see a potential to push the boys into bed together may not be due only to the usual dementia of slashers, but to how the show has already placed the two characters beyond the pale. We could get the impression of lasting relationships with women from assorted characters, but all their meaningful relationships are with guys. Living as they do in microculture that is largely homosocial and far from anything society would deem to be "normal", it doesn't take much for us send Sam and Dean further into the wilderness.
Robin of Sherwood
The characters in this show live outside the law of the land, in a forest, under the aegis of a pagan god. Before I get into this: first, let me say, as a neo-pagan with an eye for history, let me say that I doubt Anglo-Saxon paganism was "ok" with homosexuality, if the Old Norse stance on sodomy is to be any guide.
But paganism in popular culture is more usually associated with sexual "deviance", and given the antics that RoS gets up to, I think it's safe to let historical fact take the backseat.
We have to imagine that, in an England where the peasants are still celebrating "The Blessing" with dancing in the woods, venerating a horned god of the forests (a shout out to Cernunnos and Pan, here), and obviously wenching (did you see how many ladies Nasir got?), homosexual relations aren't too much of a stretch.
As for the Normans... well, if you saw the episode "The Sheriff of Nottingham", you'll know that I really don't need to say anything.
The End