Upending the Hunter’s Ethos: Reversed and Upside Down Shots in “Sin City” (3x04)

Nov 24, 2007 21:26


A little post-turkey meta.

This is late. Sorry. Meta hasn’t been coming so easily lately, which is strange because I thought writer’s block was reserved for fiction. *doublepalmface* But because we don’t have an episode prompt entry for 3x04, I thought I should do one, and this was such a mytharc-juicy episode that it deserves to be talked about ( Read more... )

supernatural meta, 3x04

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Comments 25

ladymirth November 25 2007, 07:10:52 UTC
It seems like a pitifully inadequate response to such an amazing, incisive and mother-of-all metas, but I'm just commenting to say that you do the entire fandom proud!

Also, am feeling a bit small. All I ever thought of when I saw those shots were, "Huh. Pretty!". *blushes*

I really, really wish Kripke and the directors could read this. So much. Think we can mail them a link?

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bowtrunckle November 25 2007, 20:43:07 UTC
LOL! Your icon is awesome.

Thanks for the compliments. They're a nice boost for when I think I'm totally moronic to be analyzing screencaps from a TV show.

Also, am feeling a bit small. All I ever thought of when I saw those shots were, "Huh. Pretty!".

Well, really these cinematography-slanted meta are just an excuse to look at pretty pictures; the words are means to an end! The vast majority of the time I'm oogling The Pretty, flapping around, and making fangirl faces.

Think we can mail them a link?

I'm flattered that you think the brains behind the operation would find this meta interesting. :) Thank you.

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hearseeno November 25 2007, 16:04:59 UTC
, it’s interesting we don’t see an actual exorcism with a ground level devil’s trap, an inverse of the norm, until an episode where Dean’s fundamental beliefs about demons he’s exorcising are also turned upside down.

*BLINK* Whoooooaaaaaa.

Wow, Billie. This is wonderful stuff. :) You have a real talent for drawing parallels between the visual and narrative themes of the show.

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bowtrunckle November 25 2007, 20:48:06 UTC
Hi!

Thanks for dropping me such a nice note. *grins* Even though I knew what I wanted to say, this meta took longer than normal to write for some reason. So I'm just glad it's done.

Do you have any more meta coming along? *looks hopeful*

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hearseeno November 26 2007, 00:01:53 UTC
You're welcome, Billie. You certainly deserve it. :D

Do you have any more meta coming along? *looks hopeful*

Welllll... now that you ask, I actually do. I think *crosses fingers and holds thumbs* I may have figured out Blue, which is also leading me to thinky thoughts about the role of Good and God in the SPN-verse.

Oh! Which reminds me, you (uh... I think it was you.. was it you?) told me once that Blue moderates the effects of the combination of Red and Yellow (which is making a lot more sense to me now that I've had a chance to study it). I've been looking around, but haven't seen anything like this discussed. Any ideas?

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bowtrunckle November 26 2007, 19:42:02 UTC
I may have figured out Blue, which is also leading me to thinky thoughts about the role of Good and God in the SPN-verse.

Oh, excellent! :)

you (uh... I think it was you.. was it you?) told me once that Blue moderates the effects of the combination of Red and YellowI'm not sure if I said "moderate" (but I could be wrong), but red and cyan are complimentary colors as are yellow and blue. Using complimentary colors together helps create visual contrast, which can be useful when highlighting opposites (heh ... warm colors = evil/demons and cool colors = good/God? Nice.) or making certain (conspiciously colored) things in a scene pop out. Maybe that's what you mean (or I meant) by "moderate ( ... )

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kentawolf November 25 2007, 22:45:26 UTC
Nice meta.

Dean's hunting ethos has been rather tortured these past three years, eh? From "Supernatural = evil" to "Evil = evil" to now "Evil = Good(?)" It was very telling that he yelled at Sam to stop when Sam took it upon himself to exercise the new Colt.

Nice nit-picky eye for the placement of the Devil's Traps and the mirrored-ceiling shot. Love the camera work in Our Show.

The whole idea of Humanity being more closely equated with Demons is an interesting one. It seems as if we the audience are being hand-held into a Future Episode where Sammy is to be Evil, and so it's not such a stretch when it happens. Maybe we're even to think that not just "Demon-Blood-Infected"/"Boy-king"/"Anti-Christ" characters that can make this jump, but anyone can.

And will.

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bowtrunckle November 26 2007, 19:57:35 UTC
It was very telling that he yelled at Sam to stop when Sam took it upon himself to exercise the new Colt.

*nods* I was suprised that Dean did that, but I liked it nonetheless. I can't think of another instance where Dean was the one to hestitate on a hunt like that (is there one?). It'll be interesting to see if this hunting role reversal will play out again and how Dean takes it. Will he think he's lost is hunting edge? Will he think Sam's lost a little of his humanity?

Love the camera work in Our Show.

Ditto!

It seems as if we the audience are being hand-held into a Future Episode where Sammy is to be Evil

*shivers in anticipation* I love your brain. :) You know, Sam really is the perfect example of the two sides of Krikpe's single good demon/evil human coin. Sam's got both sides in him, and depending on which way you look at it is he a good demon or an evil/tainted human? And thanks to "Sin City" both those options are now possibilities. :)

And will.Eee. When we get Our Show back after the strike and this happens, ( ... )

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kentawolf November 27 2007, 00:30:09 UTC
I can't think of another instance where Dean was the one to hestitate on a hunt like that (is there one?).

The only situation of any possible relevance I could possibly think of - which, tellingly, is an action which also made me just as disturbed - is in "Croatoan," when Dean goes into the storage room to shoot the infected mother. He doesn't so much as hesitate as ask Sam if he was sure. And then he just pulls the trigger. *shivers*

Sam's got both sides in him, and depending on which way you look at it is he a good demon or an evil/tainted human? Or is he Just Human? Remember in "Sin City," Casey!Demon did say that all the terrible, demonlike actions people were committing were just demons nudging full humans the right way. Perhaps the demon blood was just for the connection to "'Ol Yellow Eyes" (so the YED could mess with the Psykids, "find ways to break us"), as Sam is referred to as not 100% only AFTER he is resurrected. We still don't know what the whole "100%" means (I have my theory which is a little Buckets of Crazy but ( ... )

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bowtrunckle November 27 2007, 18:57:14 UTC
"Croatoan" *nods* ... that was an interesting episode--one that's still begs to be explained. I connect it with "Skin" because in both Dean acts so ... ruthless, and both start with a flashforward. Intereseting that the S1 episode is not!Dean and the S2 episode is very much Dean. Character development anyone? :)

We still don't know what the whole "100%" means (I have my theory which is a little Buckets of Crazy but still ties into the show's mythos and Rules of the Verse). But we DO know that humans are capable of committing terrible acts that could be mistaken as demonic.Buckets-o-crazy seem to be in abundance around here. *grabs own bucket and grins ( ... )

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yourlibrarian November 26 2007, 01:48:31 UTC
n “The Benders” (1x15) Dean said, “Demons I get, people are crazy!” But after “Sin City” and the blurring of the line between humans and demons does Dean truly understand demons anymore?

Such a good callback.

it’s interesting we don’t see an actual exorcism with a ground level devil’s trap, an inverse of the norm, until an episode where Dean’s fundamental beliefs about demons he’s exorcising are also turned upside down.

Oh I like that! Especially combined with the reverse mirror shot as well.

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bowtrunckle November 26 2007, 20:08:23 UTC
Hi!

"The Benders" is an episode that doesn't get as much meta time as it probably deserves. But I think with this emerging capacity-for-evil-in-humans theme pounding us on the head this season, there will be more "Benders" callbacks. Or so I hope. Maybe we'll even get the mirror episode where Sam needs to rescue Dean from demons.

Both the devil's trap and mirror shots were my favorite of the episode. When starting this meta, I picked the devil's trap one because I was sure that someone else would pick up the mirror shot. But as it turned out, nobody did, so I ended up doing both. Lucky me.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

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yourlibrarian November 26 2007, 21:10:36 UTC
I remember someone did meta about the use of mirrors in this ep, though it wasn't based on a still. However the significance of the reversed DT location definitely adds to the discussion!

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bowtrunckle November 27 2007, 07:33:49 UTC
I just found and read that meta. Thanks for mentioning it. :) I don't know how I missed it the first time around.

I guess I was being more literal in that nobody had discussed the mirror shots for the spnematography prompt, but you had no way of knowing that. Doh.

But on the flip side, it's great to read so many different interpretations of a theme with all these meta floating around.

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erinrua November 26 2007, 05:01:14 UTC
Shoot. I've been wanting to say something thinky and involved and lengthy to this, in return, but I seem to sit down in the evenings lately and my brain just goes "bzuh?"

So, I'll just say that I really enjoyed reading this, love the thought and time you've put into it, and the amazing thinkiness of your amazing thinky brain. *G* Thank you so much for sharing this. It would indeed be fun if only we could know what Kripke would think of all this. :-)
Cheers ~

Erin

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bowtrunckle November 26 2007, 20:13:41 UTC
my brain just goes "bzuh?"

LOL. I know the feeling. That's what happens whenever I try to write anything these days.

Thanks for reading and your compliments. They made my day. *hugs*

It would indeed be fun if only we could know what Kripke would think of all this.

Oo. I think he might be a little frightened, don't you think? "These people are crazy." Or else really excited that people are twisting their brains in knots about The Show because he seems a little crazy himself. But, you know, I love crazy. And we're all a little crazy in our own special way. :)

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