Meta: What makes a hero? (Supernatural)

[partly]

I was reading a very interesting take on Sam (via spn-heavymeta) earlier today. It was Sam Winchester vs The Heart of the Show: Why Sam Winchester is unsympathetic and it had some very interesting observations on how Dean is seen as the "heart" of the show and how Sam is often seen as attacking that emotional center which makes him a less sympathetic character

Comments

ingrained...

[anonymous]

I think that is why I love the mental floss "Russian/japan tips for traveling in america" because those things very clearly show all of the "ingrained" American things like trying and failing. Or how we say "are you all right" if we someone fall and russians say "are you ill"

Re: ingrained...

[partly]

I love things like that

[ash48]

Hey there,

I just want to clarify that I was not stating that Dean is the heart of the show - but rather the brotherhood is. Personally, I believe it's the relationship between the two that's the heart of the show - and Sam and Dean are equally the "heart". I'm sorry if that didn't come across clearly.

The discussion was certainly interesting - there have been some terrific observations made. :)

[partly]

and Sam and Dean are equally the "heart"

I would like this to be true. Except the meaning of "brotherhood" -- hell, even "family" and "friendship" -- has always been defined by Dean. This was true from the very first episode. Even now, with Sam's pushing to redefine what it means to be "brothers", it will be Dean who will have to accept the new definition in order for the viewing audience to accept it. Simply because he was the one who set the definition in the first place.

Another problem is that Sam hasn't really said what he wants to redefine the word to mean. In fact, Sam has said that they can't be brothers, only partners. Which means he's not redefining it at all, he's ignoring it. The problem with "partners" is it strikes me as too close to the way John Winchester looked at the world, back when he was partners with William Harvelle and was willing to use his "partner" as bait. That's a terrible thing, because Sam has done that whole 'become his father" thing way too often in the past, I would hate to see him do it again

[ash48]

I totally accept that as your interpretation. I can't tell others what they consider to be the heart of the show. Each to their own. :) I just wanted to clarify it isn't my view (and my piece wasn't about pitting Sam against Dean).

[kitap]

Yeah, good points.

Even Cain noticed: Dean doesn't won't can't give up. If he does - and he has- he's broken. And maybe that's another reason: heroes are guys who push themselves until they break. Sam runs.

[ash48]

Sorry, I was going to let this go, but "Sam runs" got the better of me.

Sam never runs from his responsibility. He's the man who threw himself into Lucifer's cage to right a wrong. Leaving for college to have an attempt at a normal life wasn't running, leaving Dean to look for his dad in Scarecrow wasn't running, leaving Dean to find answers about himself wasn't running and taking a moment to gather himself after he discovered Dean's betrayal after Dean killed Amy wasn't running. And currently - he's not the one who left (ran).

Sure - as Cas said, the Winchesters run toward danger. They both do. But they don't run from it. Especially Sam. And both have been broken because of it.

[fannishliss]

I was also taken by that idea of Sam "running." It's interesting to look at it instead as Sam's attempt to remove himself as a pawn from the playing board. He doesn't *want* to be anyone's brave little soldier. Even when he threw himself into the pit, it was a play to take himself and Lucifer out of the game, right out of the world. ... I talk more about the concept below. Also, Sam's not as easily weaponized as Dean, he resists it very strongly

[ash48]

Hi,

I read your piece below and it's interesting.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about gender studies to understand the significance of Sam's silences in that context.

And it's weird for me that Sam's not considered a man of words (not that I'm disagreeing - the writers certainly seem to have struggled to give Sam words this season), considering he's often been the one to do the talking. In the past Dean's complained about Sam being the one to want to share his feelings and he's usually the one to talk to the victims. He's struggling to communicate at the moment - but I wonder if that's more about Carver trying to create the drama. I've mused in the meta that's been linked here that Sam has been deliberately created to be unsympathetic because it heightens the drama (actually, I'm not sure I actually said that, but it's something that I've been pondering).

I guess we're still struggling to understand how refusal can be heroism.

I'm not sure what you mean by that?

[fannishliss]

Sam is very heroic -- but he's a very reluctant hero

,Dean Thrives

[fannishliss]

Excellent post. I very much agree but would also like to add that while Dean has been shown to have the most agency, Sam has often been shown to have the least control and agency regarding himself. (The introduction of demon blood into his body, the multiple possessions.) The viewers have been primed since the frst episode to view Sam as a victim, no matter how heroicly he behaves.

Even as far back as the beginning of the series, when I first began to watch I noted sam as the "damsel in distress" who is almost always "acted upon" rather than "acting on". Sam reacts to things that happen to him outside of his control and is weakened by these forces, but when the same thing happens to Dean he thrives. He becomes a more concentrated version of himself. We saw this after Hell and in Purgatory.

Re: ,Dean Thrives

[partly]

Actually, Sam -- even though he the one who is most often the one who is "acted upon" -- has some of the greatest opportunities to exert agency. He may not have control over the forces working against him but he should always have control over how he reacts to the forces that are being exerted against him.

It's unfortunate that his usual choice in reaction to to leave the physical situation in hopes that he will no longer have to deal with the problem. That doesn't solve the problem. What's the saying? No matter where you go, there you are. Take Sam's leaving to go to school. He thought the problem was his dad and the hunting life. So he left and it didn't do him any good at all because ignoring the past doesn't make it go away.

In fact, I'd say that Sam's not dealing with things, is often what leads to more problems.

[partly]

Very nice.

Sam hates to vent, because what does it change??? He wants a different life, and that's all he's ever wanted.

I did a meta a bit ago where I said that Sam doesn't know what he wants, he only knows what he doesn't want. And "different"? That's not something, in fact, that's nothing.

You can go all the way back to the beginning and look at Sam's goal to be a lawyer. Did he want to be a lawyer because he has a passion for law? Or was it the one thing that was most different from being a hunter?

Hunter's live outside of the law. They make there own rules. They are their own judge and jury. They turn to criminal behavior to make a living. They are the very definition of "lawless". Being a lawyer would be the one thing that was most "different" from the life he had grown up with. The more I see about Sam, the more I think it's because he wanted different.

Will s9 end with them any closer to working out their essential differences? Can show possibly stretch this discord out through s10??? (I hope not -- but it is

[percysowner]

This is a great essay and it makes a lot of very good points. Sam is by nature an introvert and as a country we tend to approve of extroverts who are open and speak their feelings as opposed to introverts who don't. We do romanticize action over refusing to act

[partly]

Really? There is a time discrepancy? I did a fairly deep search but didn't come up with any commentary on it. Good to know. Time on screen does make a difference. Although even if they would be equal, the "time spent acting" vs. "time spent internalizing" will make a huge difference in how American Culture views the characters.

I really want Sam to do something other than angst. More than that, I would really love Sam to be active and choose to do something other than hide away in a "normal" life. I really want Sam to take control of who he is, instead of hating himself.