SEND IN THE CLOWNS

[missyjack]

Send in the Clowns: a meta on evil clowns

NO!!! Clowns are not your friend

This cry was heard across the fandom during Every Body Loves a Clown (S2E02) when as a father reassures his son. Obviously, Stranger Danger Programs in Wisconsin had failed to include enforce the message that the rest of us seemed to have picked up - clowns are evol. In the

Comments

[eboniorchid]

Good point here! Sam, as much as he fought to get out of this family, is fundamentally still allowed to be the kid. If he doesn't know what to do, he turned to John, then Dean. Now Dean's the only one left and Dean himself has no one to turn to, when he used to turn to John. I'll be interested to see whether or not he lets Ellen in at all. I mean, he lets Sam call Ellen, who apparently had all the answers about the object of their hunt, but he rebuffs her care without hesitation, in favor of being the strong one.

[missyjack]

Word! I do see that Sam still functionally has "a parent" in Dean. In some ways Sam in this epsiode was being the 'younger" dean - the child looking after his parent.

Also I wonder how Dean will act in this role now John is gone. And now he knows what he knows.

Main thing - stuff is going to be different! (but still pretty)

[eboniorchid]

Dude, I wasn't scared of clowns in general as a kid, but I wouldn't have opened the door for one in the middle of the night when I was ten! Maybe this would have seemed more plausible if the kids were really young, like just finished toddler stage or something. I mean, the two girls seemed like they were almost done with their elementary careers, only the boy seemed young enough to really not get the heebies from seeing someone in his backyard in the middle of the night.

Good point about the loss of innocence theme. *nods*

They are no longer John Winchester’s boys.I don't know if I entirely agree here. I mean, I think that his death, like their mother's, keeps them deeply tied to him and his mission, at least until they truly triumph over the Demon, once and for all. I think too, with the new Ellen+Jo element, their status is still "John Winchester's boys" in a very literal sense. That's how they garnered help and what looks to be a potential new pseudo-family. With the Big Secret hanging around and the vengence mission now

[missyjack]

Oh I agree that John will continue to be "present". We saw in the first season who much influence he had when he was absent. In some ways they will always be in John's shadow.

I think also tho that physical death of a remaining parent causes a shift - you are now the 'older' generation. but i was interested in the discussion above, and agree that Dean has/continues to be a parental figure to Sam.

*hugs her multiple subjectivities*

[random_serious]

Interesting meta, and yes they are finally adults now. And they know evil is real.

But somehow the structure is still the same, IMO: Dean is still the one with responsibility, at least he thinks so; and Sam is the baby of the family, a least Dean thinks so. Sam, again, may think himself as John's boy still -it doesn't matter that he is dead, especially with Sam's guit issues-, and Sam is trying to front more maturity than he feels.

[missyjack]

*nods*

All true (other smart people commented on this too - points above)You are right - Dean is still Sam's fatehr in many ways.

And yet with John's death things will change. I do see Dean's attack on the Impala as symbolic (among other things) of a rejection of John, and how life has been in the past.

God I love my smart and pretty fandom! Thanks for joining in the discussion.

[random_serious]

I love this fandom too ;)
I haven't considered Dean's destruction of the Impala as his rejcting of John, but you're right! It was that too. And I think it's healthy: Dean was always too, IMO, obdient, and self-sacrificing.

[juicephine]

The other reason for clowns being objects of horror is that many of them are actually evil

You know, people might call that politically incorrect :)

I think there is a third reason for the fear of clowns. Or one factoring in on the first of your reasons, perhaps: clowns are provocative. Throughout the history people have distanced themselves from, and looked down at, those who don't follow the norms of society, (and I think even those of us who consider ourselves open-minded are fooling ourselves, but that's another topic), bla bla sociology bla. And what does the clown do? He claims the form of a human being, distorts its body, pushes it, has it doing things the rest of us desperately try to avoid (namely making fools of ourselves), and he does it right there in front of us, smiling, mocking the hell out of us. All the time wearing "our" face, the human face. Provocative, and therefore threatening to the individual, to his or her self-image and confidence. And, to make matters worse, he looks into our eyes and knows that. And

[missyjack]

He claims the form of a human being, distorts its body, pushes it, has it doing things the rest of us desperately try to avoid (namely making fools of ourselves), and he does it right there in front of us, smiling, mocking the hell out of us. All the time wearing "our" face, the human face. Provocative, and therefore threatening to the individual, to his or her self-image and confidence. And, to make matters worse, he looks into our eyes and knows that. And smiles.

God that is just brilliant! And the connection you make with Sam - you are so right. Just great insight here. I really like your point about how children don't feel mocked in the Sam way. *cookies for you*

It also connects with what someone else pointed out about clowns being about masks. That we all wear masks, our fear of being revealed, and worst of there being nothing behind the mask.

God, we should be offering Supernatural-meta as a degree course! I just love these discussions and how they make me think. And when my brain hurts I can always just stare at the pretty!