Lovely meta, and very interesting idea of Dean being like an emotional hoarder. Very true, I think. He clings to what he has, because he doesn't have all that much, really. Sam has always been much more adaptive.
Thanks! And yeah, it's weird to think of one of them as more adaptive, since they both had to be, lets face it, WAY more accustomed to frequent change than most kids. But while Sam craved stability, it was something he never knew. It was a childish fantasy, like wanting a pony or wishing to be a rock star. Young Dean embraced the life, even though he knew what it was to be settled, and repressed his desire to have that back for years and years. It's that knowing that makes all the difference.
Wow - that's a really original and very spot-on idea. Beautifully explained, as well! I never gave much thought to that aspect of Sam's emotional makeup, but I completely agree. He does seem to think of Jess now and then, and apparently still grieves her loss, but it doesn't cripple him.
I'm going to bookmark this so I can come back to it!
Thank you so much! Coming from someone I know to consider the show very thoughtfully, I'm quite flattered!
but it doesn't cripple him.
Exactly! A lot of people in Sam's life have tried to shelter him from the ugly truth of things, so I think he felt like he had to seek it out himself with an almost bull-headed attitude. Dean, however, had a lot of the same horrors shoved in his face, and instead of seeking it out, and being able to steel himself for it, he just gets blasted and he's left dazed.
Excellent psychoanalysis of Dean's state of being, and the key difference between his mindset and Sam's.
Because of this: "Dean on the other hand feels the need to cling to whatever he can, because of that distant and vaguely tangible memory of a sedentary life that was ripped away from him, because of a feeling deep inside that he’s eternally being robbed."
Thank you! You know the more I think about it the more I worship Kripke for what he created, and those writers whom have been so true to and so cognizant of the core of Sam and Dean's personalities.
Nice. Fear of losing what little he has left has always been a theme for Dean (like when he told Wes in Wishful Thinking, "We gotta fight tooth and nail just to hang on to whatever it is we've got.").
That’s where Sam is ahead of the game. Aside from the fact that his time in Hell was a much more redemptive one than Dean's, he also faces his trauma head on. Always has. Faces it, freaks out, deals, and moves on. He’s always been better at letting go. Was the one who left for school. And then after Jess died, left school and went back on the road with Dean. I might also add that Sam has had a little more luxury to do that because he knew Dean was there for him, no matter what. I think that's one reason he was so adrift right before he killed Lillith--he had nothing left to lose because he thought Dean had finally given up on him
( ... )
I might also add that Sam has had a little more luxury to do that because he knew Dean was there for him, no matter what. Yes. But didn't he basically sever that connection by leaving for school? I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it, but it seems like for a long time Sam equated Dean "being there for him/protecting him" with Dean "holding him back," that is, until the shit hit the fan and Jess was killed. And then Sam still fights against Dean, feeling as if he's being held back from finding John and the YED too.
I think that's what my brain is trying to say. Lol!
I really thought Jo was an excellent choice to be the one to call Dean's shenanigans. All of their interactions were utterly heartbreaking. I actually thought Sam did a terrible job of it in the courtroom. He seemed so flippant about the whole thing. IDK, The way he played it just rubbed me the wrong way.
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I'm going to bookmark this so I can come back to it!
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but it doesn't cripple him.
Exactly! A lot of people in Sam's life have tried to shelter him from the ugly truth of things, so I think he felt like he had to seek it out himself with an almost bull-headed attitude. Dean, however, had a lot of the same horrors shoved in his face, and instead of seeking it out, and being able to steel himself for it, he just gets blasted and he's left dazed.
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Because of this:
"Dean on the other hand feels the need to cling to whatever he can, because of that distant and vaguely tangible memory of a sedentary life that was ripped away from him, because of a feeling deep inside that he’s eternally being robbed."
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That’s where Sam is ahead of the game. Aside from the fact that his time in Hell was a much more redemptive one than Dean's, he also faces his trauma head on. Always has. Faces it, freaks out, deals, and moves on. He’s always been better at letting go. Was the one who left for school. And then after Jess died, left school and went back on the road with Dean. I might also add that Sam has had a little more luxury to do that because he knew Dean was there for him, no matter what. I think that's one reason he was so adrift right before he killed Lillith--he had nothing left to lose because he thought Dean had finally given up on him ( ... )
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I might also add that Sam has had a little more luxury to do that because he knew Dean was there for him, no matter what. Yes. But didn't he basically sever that connection by leaving for school? I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around it, but it seems like for a long time Sam equated Dean "being there for him/protecting him" with Dean "holding him back," that is, until the shit hit the fan and Jess was killed. And then Sam still fights against Dean, feeling as if he's being held back from finding John and the YED too.
I think that's what my brain is trying to say. Lol!
I really thought Jo was an excellent choice to be the one to call Dean's shenanigans. All of their interactions were utterly heartbreaking. I actually thought Sam did a terrible job of it in the courtroom. He seemed so flippant about the whole thing. IDK, The way he played it just rubbed me the wrong way.
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