Comments | bowtrunckle: Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam

bowtrunckle

Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam

Apr 18, 2008 18:43

I wrote a meta thingy! :)

There’s been avid discussion about Sam and Dean and which of them, if either, seems to be favored by Kripke as well as debate about “who is the story really about”. I’ve noticed there’s been a propensity for some self-proclaimed “Dean girls” and “Sam girls” to run circles around each other, trying to prove their points. ( Read more... )

supernatural meta

Comments 166

kynikey April 19 2008, 10:31:12 UTC

Huh. This makes so much sense it's scary...lol. I've never looked at it like that (but then again, I can't meta to save my life. I just sit, watch, and drool. ;o)). I'm a Dean-girl, but I've never partaken in those silly arguments you're refering to in the beginning, cause really, shouldn't fans of the same show stick together? Yeah, I sometimes grumble when an episode focuses mostly on Sam, but after reading this, I might even have to rethink doing that. I think all those people who have nothing better to do than insult others who have a different opinion should come here and read this, then maybe they'd spend their time actually being excited about the show instead of trying to bash each other's heads in.

bowtrunckle April 20 2008, 07:27:25 UTC

I just have to say I love your icon! Aww, Dean.

I just sit, watch, and drool.

I'm pretty good at that, too. In fact, that's what I do best and enjoy the most. :D

shouldn't fans of the same show stick together? ... maybe they'd spend their time actually being excited about the show instead of trying to bash each other's heads in.

I agree 110%. We have enough network pseudo-"enemies" *coughDawnOstroffcough* to thwart *evil grin* that we don't need to expend energy on each other. Plus, fandom is supposed to be a place for FUN not a source of stress and negative feelings. It's much more enjoyable to be screaming about the show in a pee-your-pants gleeful way.

redrikki April 19 2008, 15:29:44 UTC

This is probably one of the most well thought out and think-y meta posts I've read in this fandom, and, more importantly, I agree with pretty much all of it. In the commentary for the first season, Kripke claims that Sam was supposed to be the entry everyman character and Dean was the cool older brother we had to learn to love as more than a cool leather-wearing badass. That's why episodes about Dean's character tend to be more in your face than Sams. But, interestingly, even in those in-your-face Dean episodes we still get plenty of Sam characterization. If Faith is all about Dean's Jesus complex, than it's also all about Sam's single-mindedness, self-righteousness and devotion to his brother. Furthermore, I think the perception about the show being all about Sam stems in part from Sam and Dean's preception of it being all about Sam. Sam repeatedly makes the claim that people die as a direct result of him being there (Hookman, Home, Provenance, Devil's Trap, etc.) and even Dean in DaLDoM admits that Sam has always been the ( ... )

kuromatic April 19 2008, 16:27:45 UTC

*RANTING REPLY IN CAPS LOCK*

Just kidding!

omg! You've written a book. A very interesting book. It has left me now totally imagining Sam and Dean as tigers O_o

But seriously, that's a great analysis. I lose at the whole "realize this myself" part but I'm really grateful to read meaty meta like this that makes me go, yes!

bowtrunckle April 19 2008, 22:00:23 UTC

ROFL!!!!! I was waiting for someone to write that! :D Only after I posted did I realize that was like a red bull's eye, just begging for some caps lock replies lol.

It has left me now totally imagining Sam and Dean as tigers O_o

Heh. Tiger!Sam and tiger!Dean trapped in the jungle and stalking an impala, what a cracktastic fic that would make. Of course tiger!Sam and tiger!Dean would have roaring competitions, and tiger!Dean would eat everything in sight while tiger!Sam sat around in a bush and rolled his feline eyes. What pretty cats they'd make.

bowtrunckle April 20 2008, 03:29:21 UTC

I made some Sam and Dean tigers for hugemind and I thought you might want one, too! :)

( ... )

Thread 6

savage_midnight April 19 2008, 19:21:24 UTC

Like two facing mirrors reflecting an image to infinity, the consequences of Sam and Dean’s actions bounce off of both brothers over and over again. They’re foils for each other. We understand the story better through their combined reactions.I think this summarises their relationship beautifully. Until 'Mystery Spot' I don't think I realised how damaging their dependence on each other could actually be (Sam's spiral into depression after Dean's death, his obsession to change the past, his willingness to kill Bobby despite not being one-hundred-percent certain it wasn't him). I think I knew it, underneath, subconsciously, just the way most fans know that Sam and Dean need each other to the point of obsession. But I think this episode really slapped us in the face and showed us that, no matter how endearing their loyalty to each other, it could one day do more damage than good ( ... )

bowtrunckle April 20 2008, 06:33:12 UTC

I think this episode really slapped us in the face and showed us that, no matter how endearing their loyalty to each other, it could one day do more damage than good.

*nods* "MS" was an eye-opening episode. Although I'd consciously realized that Sam, I think, is the only person that can really destroy/end Dean and Dean is the only person that could truly wreck/defeat Sam, I'd never consciously considered their "saving thing" being utterly and completely destructive in and of itself. But the beauty of eye-opening meta (if it be delivered via canon or through fannish blabber) is it's simplicity, that it just seems to so blatantly obvious you say, "Well, that makes complete sense, duh."

I'm sure this "no good comes of self-sacrific" idea will resurface just like the "what's dead should stay dead" mantra.

it is through Sam that he's allowed to be this reckless, this snarky, this heroic. His relationship with Sam is one of the fundamental things that makes his character so interesting -- the conflict it causes him, the choices he ( ... )

spankulert April 19 2008, 21:10:17 UTC

Wowsie! I salute your brain fu. Whenever I run across someone with this complaint, from now on I intend to simply point them in this direction. Thanks for doing all the hard work! ;p

bowtrunckle April 19 2008, 22:03:47 UTC

Thanks for dropping by! My journal is mostly public; as long as people don't shove pie in my face (lol) it'll remain so. :)

blackcat333_99 April 19 2008, 21:28:34 UTC

(Whoops! First, apologies. I deleted my original comment because of typos and whatnot that are just not cool. *facepalm ( ... )

bowtrunckle April 20 2008, 05:48:44 UTC

I deleted my original comment because of typos

Oh, no problem. Typos are the bane of my existence. When LJ actived their "edit comments" function it was like the heavens opened up and angels started singing. ;)

Both are still in motion, however.

Yes, for sure. Stuff is always happening to both brothers even if we're only watching one of them. I think I said in another comment that Sam and Dean are the ultimate fake-out team: one distracts while the other quietly lays the groundwork for the future plot.

the point of Mystery Spot was about trying to get Sam to recognize that the codependant and claustrophobic nature of the time between the brothers can indeed hurt more than it helps.Yes, I agree. Although I'm still fuzzy about the trickster's motives, I think his message held some truth. What Sam and Dean are willing to do for each other, the lengths to which they'll go to "preserve" their relationship will destroy them ( ... )