Hi! Thanks for sharing such an interesting use of color in the episode. You know, I only watched it biting my nails at what would happen and didn't even make a connection to these iconic colors - good eye, you! :) But since I download each episode off iTunes, it'll give me plenty of chances to watch it over and over and over again. I think I'm pretty obsessed with this episode. :) But I really liked learning about the colors and what they represent in Christianity.
i did notice that current!dean was wearing bright blue and that was very out of the monochromatic feel of the episode. nice that it could have this much deeper meaning.
Where are you picking up this color symbolism? It reads to me as Smallville-specific and it would seem to me to be highly problematic to consider the two shows to be the same when they simply share the network. (Do Melrose Place and Gossip Girl and the Vampire Diaries share this iconography?)
I was wary of doing a specifically Christian color analysis, but, barring the rose bit, the idea of blue as heaven and white as purity seems to be entrenched in Western secular color thought as well. And the idea of suffering rose has roots in other mythologies as well, not just Christian, but they all come together in Mary. Mary unites it all, helps it to make sense.
well, i am a very poor witness because I don't watch those other shows at all, but I did watch Smallville a long time ago and the way they used that royal blue color was far from subtle. I just mean to suggest that it is used in a similar way, it derives from the old color printing process of comic books, and it paints Dean as whole in a stripped out world, where everything else is leached to black and white. Dean09 is a hero in a way that Dean14 no longer is, and that vivid blue is one sign of that
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If we're taking in greater comic usage of color... It is an interesting discussion.
Blue would not show heaven, but it would reinforce a number of symbols I mentioend above. Purity, truth, clarity of spirit - these are the things that, generally, Superman stands for. Even when no one seems to know what to do, if Superman is there in his blues (or Clark is running off to strip), Superman does - trust and clarity of spirit.
White for Lucifer I've seen both in Sandman and Lucifer, as well as in Hellblazer, thought I've read significantly less of that. However, I would argue that the Lucifer of Sandman and Lucifer is both sympathetic and significantly more innocent than a "traditional" Lucifer. Indeed, in Lucifer, he enters into Heaven itself. (And, yes, a huge amount of the discussion of heaven in Supernatural appears to be a direct echo of heaven in Lucifer.) However, in Sandman, Lucifer was entrusted with Hell by God - as far as I remember he did not fall as such and thus, would be deserving of white (relatively speaking). Lucifer-as
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I rewatched that last scene a couple of times while I wrote this meta.
If you're interested, current-Sam wears a jacket not dissimilar to future!Dean's - possibly marking him as a frightened soldier, just as Dean was? I had a whole bit on that until I realised I couldn't see any thorns on the rose and oh god, MaryMaryMaryMary, they're sons of Mary, oh my god symbolism.
I appreciate any and all visual symbolism! I tend to do much better myself at analyzing dialogue than imagery, so these types of observations are a total treasure to me.
Yeah, you know I've fixated on the whole 'sons of Mary' thing a few times now and everytime I thought I had it puzzled out I was either wrong, or still left wondering.
I was certain for a while that she'd end up being Nephilim or descended from Nephilim or something of that nature. I'd also still like to know if what Missouri (who I miss possibly more than any other one-time character) said about Mary was true. If I remember correctly it was something along the lines of: your mother sacrificed her own soul to kill that spirit.
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Regards,
HoL
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I was wary of doing a specifically Christian color analysis, but, barring the rose bit, the idea of blue as heaven and white as purity seems to be entrenched in Western secular color thought as well. And the idea of suffering rose has roots in other mythologies as well, not just Christian, but they all come together in Mary. Mary unites it all, helps it to make sense.
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Blue would not show heaven, but it would reinforce a number of symbols I mentioend above. Purity, truth, clarity of spirit - these are the things that, generally, Superman stands for. Even when no one seems to know what to do, if Superman is there in his blues (or Clark is running off to strip), Superman does - trust and clarity of spirit.
White for Lucifer I've seen both in Sandman and Lucifer, as well as in Hellblazer, thought I've read significantly less of that. However, I would argue that the Lucifer of Sandman and Lucifer is both sympathetic and significantly more innocent than a "traditional" Lucifer. Indeed, in Lucifer, he enters into Heaven itself. (And, yes, a huge amount of the discussion of heaven in Supernatural appears to be a direct echo of heaven in Lucifer.) However, in Sandman, Lucifer was entrusted with Hell by God - as far as I remember he did not fall as such and thus, would be deserving of white (relatively speaking). Lucifer-as ( ... )
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The way it all fits just makes me awe.
A really good post ^^
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I can't wait to rewatch this scene in all it's glory, and look for the details you pointed out- like the thornless rose.
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If you're interested, current-Sam wears a jacket not dissimilar to future!Dean's - possibly marking him as a frightened soldier, just as Dean was? I had a whole bit on that until I realised I couldn't see any thorns on the rose and oh god, MaryMaryMaryMary, they're sons of Mary, oh my god symbolism.
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I tend to do much better myself at analyzing dialogue than imagery, so these types of observations are a total treasure to me.
Yeah, you know I've fixated on the whole 'sons of Mary' thing a few times now and everytime I thought I had it puzzled out I was either wrong, or still left wondering.
I was certain for a while that she'd end up being Nephilim or descended from Nephilim or something of that nature.
I'd also still like to know if what Missouri (who I miss possibly more than any other one-time character) said about Mary was true. If I remember correctly it was something along the lines of: your mother sacrificed her own soul to kill that spirit.
Did you happen to catch this? (I know I didn't!)
http://community.livejournal.com/supernatural_tv/2004417.html
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