impala_chick (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
impala_chick) wrote2021-03-13 08:18 pm
impala_chick) wrote2021-03-13 08:18 pm
Entry tags:
Reflections on Supernatural
When Supernatural ended, there was an explosion of meta about the show as a whole, from old and new fans alike. I also recently read this article on Vox about pandemic grief and fandom-related mourning. I've wanted to collect my thoughts for awhile, but the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
marchmetamatterschallenge pushed me to start. I do feel a certain kind of grief about SPN ending, but I think this is really the show's second death for me. The first death, the painful break-up, happened years ago.
My Experience with SPN
I was a fan when the show first premiered, because it was on after Smallville and my VHS tape recorder was already running. Plus, I was a fan of Jensen Ackles from Smallville, so I wanted to watch. I've been looking at my old Livejournal posts, and I used to jot down my SPN-related thoughts after watching an episode each week or so. Apparently I was really into season 5? I stopped being so serious about this during Season 7, which is interesting because that was 2012 - the year I graduated from college. Maybe my fandom life in general changed at that point and I didn't realize until now. But 2012 was the year I started to really let SPN go.
I posted a couple of times about s11 in 2016, but I stopped watching altogether sometime during that year. The show changed dramatically, and the fandom along with it. I don't really know what's going on with SPN fandom these days but because of the finale, I'm re-dedicated to finishing it and I'm on s13.
The Good
I am definitely someone who liked the earlier seasons better, and I feel nostalgic about them. 2 of my sisters are much younger than me, and started watching the show way later - and they love Supernatural for different reasons (and they like the Angel storylines). So I have personal experience with the newer v. older viewers debate.
I owe a lot to Supernatural itself - my username, for one. I also really got into horror as a genre - I wanted to watch all of the films that had inspired certain Supernatural Episodes. Supernatural as a fandom made me become a better fic writer, and I was encouraged to make fanvids and make friends online. It also just gave me a sense of belonging, which was invaluable.
The Bad
But the criticisms of SPN are well-earned. I remember waiting and waiting for an awesome female character to stick around, like Cassie. I also remember really hating Jo and then Ruby - and I can't really remember any specific reasons why? I felt so let-down when certain characters were killed off. Why was the only continuity Sam and Dean (and then Cas)? I'm still bitter about how they brought western Christian values into the show by making angels real and utilizing Bible lore, all while making all other religions' gods seem like lessers or comedic relief.
ivyfic 's SPN feels post definitely brought out some memories for me, and explained some things that I definitely agree with. Especially the part about Supernatural facing outwards and doing episodes about fans and fan conventions: every single time they did that, it made me cringe. They took a deeply personal experience (fandom) and tried to turn it into the butt of a joke. I was always left feeling betrayed after those episodes. If you can see us, then really see us instead of making us into crazed horny airheads.
The Shippy
RPF/RPS was SO taboo in the early days. The fandom was really trying to police itself, and most of that type of shipping was done in our own journals with our friends. In contrast, Wincest didn't seem as taboo as RPS. Wincest could be written in so many different ways, and in ways that totally avoided the fact that Dean and Sam were brothers on the show, or in dark ways, or in plain horny ways - it was never just one monolithic thing. And tt seemed like as long as we stayed in our little fandom corner, we'd be okay. When AO3 started up, I didn't transfer ANY of my wincest fic over there. I didn't quite understand what it was going to be for, but I knew I needed to protect that shit.
I really liked howivyfic put it:
People can try to reduce shipping down to just "people want to see two hot people bang" - and that kind of shipping certainly happens. But there's so much nuance there. Sam and Dean had the closest and most important emotional connection on the show. And shipping has a lot to do with exploring emotional connections in a sexual setting, at least for me. It's rewarding to see two characters with a deep connection up the intimacy. That's really the fantasy - a physical and emotional connection happening at the same time. It didn't necessarily matter that they were brothers. Wincest was a gateway drug for many other tropes for me, like magic made them do it or demon possession made them act on it. I certainly didn't expect this type of shipping discourse to ever reach the light of day, so I'm not particularly pleased that popular people on youtube and twitter have started talking about this. But I am sort of sad it just... ended. I'm not entirely sure when the new SPN watchers came on the scene, wincest was dead. And I felt a lot of shame about it, and I wanted to forget I ever shipped it.
Shipping is an integral part of my fandom experience, which is possibly why my interest in SPN and SPN fandom died off. Maybe that's for the best, since the actors (esp. Misha) became so involved in the fandom. I don't feel shame anymore, because there are so many fandoms I get to enjoy now and so many tropes/tags I get to click on or avoid. But is strange to watch the show now, and see less tension between Sam and Dean (although the dialogue didn't seem to change much - they are still ride or die). I don't feel the same connection I did to Dean as I once did (did he never grow up??), but luckily I can just go back and watch the early seasons and reminisce without feeling ashamed or guilty anymore. Time was good to me in that sense, and I think the second death of the show will be much easier for me to handle.
marchmetamatterschallenge pushed me to start. I do feel a certain kind of grief about SPN ending, but I think this is really the show's second death for me. The first death, the painful break-up, happened years ago.My Experience with SPN
I was a fan when the show first premiered, because it was on after Smallville and my VHS tape recorder was already running. Plus, I was a fan of Jensen Ackles from Smallville, so I wanted to watch. I've been looking at my old Livejournal posts, and I used to jot down my SPN-related thoughts after watching an episode each week or so. Apparently I was really into season 5? I stopped being so serious about this during Season 7, which is interesting because that was 2012 - the year I graduated from college. Maybe my fandom life in general changed at that point and I didn't realize until now. But 2012 was the year I started to really let SPN go.
I posted a couple of times about s11 in 2016, but I stopped watching altogether sometime during that year. The show changed dramatically, and the fandom along with it. I don't really know what's going on with SPN fandom these days but because of the finale, I'm re-dedicated to finishing it and I'm on s13.
The Good
I am definitely someone who liked the earlier seasons better, and I feel nostalgic about them. 2 of my sisters are much younger than me, and started watching the show way later - and they love Supernatural for different reasons (and they like the Angel storylines). So I have personal experience with the newer v. older viewers debate.
I owe a lot to Supernatural itself - my username, for one. I also really got into horror as a genre - I wanted to watch all of the films that had inspired certain Supernatural Episodes. Supernatural as a fandom made me become a better fic writer, and I was encouraged to make fanvids and make friends online. It also just gave me a sense of belonging, which was invaluable.
The Bad
But the criticisms of SPN are well-earned. I remember waiting and waiting for an awesome female character to stick around, like Cassie. I also remember really hating Jo and then Ruby - and I can't really remember any specific reasons why? I felt so let-down when certain characters were killed off. Why was the only continuity Sam and Dean (and then Cas)? I'm still bitter about how they brought western Christian values into the show by making angels real and utilizing Bible lore, all while making all other religions' gods seem like lessers or comedic relief.
ivyfic 's SPN feels post definitely brought out some memories for me, and explained some things that I definitely agree with. Especially the part about Supernatural facing outwards and doing episodes about fans and fan conventions: every single time they did that, it made me cringe. They took a deeply personal experience (fandom) and tried to turn it into the butt of a joke. I was always left feeling betrayed after those episodes. If you can see us, then really see us instead of making us into crazed horny airheads. The Shippy
RPF/RPS was SO taboo in the early days. The fandom was really trying to police itself, and most of that type of shipping was done in our own journals with our friends. In contrast, Wincest didn't seem as taboo as RPS. Wincest could be written in so many different ways, and in ways that totally avoided the fact that Dean and Sam were brothers on the show, or in dark ways, or in plain horny ways - it was never just one monolithic thing. And tt seemed like as long as we stayed in our little fandom corner, we'd be okay. When AO3 started up, I didn't transfer ANY of my wincest fic over there. I didn't quite understand what it was going to be for, but I knew I needed to protect that shit.
I really liked how
ivyfic put it: 1. The way fans watched media at the time. With all the above, about how I learned to read emotional arcs between male characters as gay as a counter reading to the intent of the show, SPN fell bang into that. Dean and Sam had all the classic tells of a slash fandom, including a deep and complex relationship with each other. This is not just “they were the only options to have bang on the show, so people made them bang,” it was that they had a deeply compelling relationship narrative on the show, the kind that fans love to explore. And explore they did.
People can try to reduce shipping down to just "people want to see two hot people bang" - and that kind of shipping certainly happens. But there's so much nuance there. Sam and Dean had the closest and most important emotional connection on the show. And shipping has a lot to do with exploring emotional connections in a sexual setting, at least for me. It's rewarding to see two characters with a deep connection up the intimacy. That's really the fantasy - a physical and emotional connection happening at the same time. It didn't necessarily matter that they were brothers. Wincest was a gateway drug for many other tropes for me, like magic made them do it or demon possession made them act on it. I certainly didn't expect this type of shipping discourse to ever reach the light of day, so I'm not particularly pleased that popular people on youtube and twitter have started talking about this. But I am sort of sad it just... ended. I'm not entirely sure when the new SPN watchers came on the scene, wincest was dead. And I felt a lot of shame about it, and I wanted to forget I ever shipped it.
Shipping is an integral part of my fandom experience, which is possibly why my interest in SPN and SPN fandom died off. Maybe that's for the best, since the actors (esp. Misha) became so involved in the fandom. I don't feel shame anymore, because there are so many fandoms I get to enjoy now and so many tropes/tags I get to click on or avoid. But is strange to watch the show now, and see less tension between Sam and Dean (although the dialogue didn't seem to change much - they are still ride or die). I don't feel the same connection I did to Dean as I once did (did he never grow up??), but luckily I can just go back and watch the early seasons and reminisce without feeling ashamed or guilty anymore. Time was good to me in that sense, and I think the second death of the show will be much easier for me to handle.
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