SPN and life-happiness.
Nov. 3rd, 2007 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragojustinePoint the first: There is a campaign to get Jared and Jensen on an ALA Read poster. I LOVE those posters- My Orlando Bloom one was the only celebrity poster I've ever put on a wall, until it ripped, and I was just toying with buying Sendhil's to replace it (He's holding the Hardy Boys. That is so cute it just slays me.) Anyway, J2 are just excellent choices for those posters, as Sam'n'Dean almost certainly hold the world-record for most library friendly TV heroes ever. And Sam's skill in that area is treated with a lot of respect, as a hunting skill of value right up next to combat skills. I'm just saying, they're perfect. I'm trying to get up the guts to email about it now.
The concept was wonderful- the fairytales were tweaked interestingly and yet completely recognizable. And I'm so happy I got to watch it with people and Dean as the hunstman just sent me into flailing paroxysms of joy. The brotherly togetherness- they were together for over half the show!- just relieved all my worries about the progress of the season, showing they can keep up their character arcs and deal with The Deal without sacrificing brotherly togetherness and I'm so happy. And could I point out that we got Shouty!Sam in the very first scene, and looming Scary!Sam in the last one? It's like, bookended with sexiness. Oh, be still my heart.
There seems to be wank over Dean's "Could you be any more gay?" comment. Personally, I thought:
1. It was completely and totally in character for Dean. Think about the way he was raised, the subcultures he was exposed to. I think, frankly, we should be shocked that Dean isn't more misogynistic and homophobic than he is. We already know that he throws around "bitch" and "pansy" as insults, but we also know that he is respectful in person (he only says these things around Sam), and takes the constant mistaken-for-gay incidents in stride. Sure, Dean has women issues- women for him are either sex objects or victims to be rescued. But, given his background, isn't this completely and totally understandable? There is a difference between saying "Dean has issues with his perception of women" and "Dean is a misogynistic asshole" because isn't it possible for him to have these issues and still be a decent respectful likable person? He has picked up the habit of using "bitch" and "gay" as pejoratives, but only in circumpsent ways, and I think given his past that just doesn't count as making him a bad guy.
2. Similarly, if a character says something offensive in character, that doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the show or the writer of the show.
3. I cut Dean a lot of slack on this, because the context of his comment was personal embarrassment and insecurity. I mean, I think it's sufficiently established that Dean is insecure about his academic inferiority to Sam. I'm firmly in the camp that Dean is smarter than he's written, but he's clearly used to feeling stupid compared to Sam, and embarrassed about all the "normal" things that Sam has exposure to and he doesn't. So he reaches in a macho but affectionate way for a vaguely homophobic slam to cover his personal insecurity. Yeah. It works for me.
4. And what really makes it work is that little raised eyebrow Sam gives him in response. Oh god. Sam is just so much more evolved than Dean, isn't he? I'm sorry, but that's just hilarious. Untwist your panties and laugh.
Problematically, right after I typed this I found a post that says the whole damn thing better, here. Sanj's essential questions: "when does a flaw in a character become prescriptive (and this is how Heroes Should Behave) rather than descriptive (Dean, a hero, behaves this way)?" and is Dean's completely in-character flaw bad enough to lose him the sympathy of his audience and get him demoted from Hero status? To which my answers are "I don't see that happening" to both.
So, the final bit with the RED.
*sighs* I think Sandy's cute as a button and I'm happy they got her onto the show but... I just did not like her as the Crossroads Demon. Why couldn't they have cast her as a helpful witness of some variety? Cause... Man. I just think she was miscast. *ducks the wrath of the fangirls* Here's the thing- demons on SPN all follow one very specific aesthetic. They are snarky, superior, haughty, contemptuous, arrogant.. and they have a certain dynamic with the Winchesters. Think about the interactions between Possessed-John and Dean, between John and Janitor-YED, between Sam and Meg (which wasn't as well done but as the same tone), between Dean and the earlier Crossroads Demons. These interactions are highly sexualized. They vibrate with sparks, tension, delicious frission.
Sandy just can't pull it off. There were no sparks, no frission, no electricity in the air. She doesn't sound contemptuous and superior, she just sounds... beatific. She has this little-girl voice that just can't do the sexualized, deliciously evil taunting that was required there. The script for her was GOOD, but it needed energy. It needed sparks. It needed arrogance. Instead it was just... bland.
Maybe if we had gotten Sam a little angrier, let him get a little more up in her face? That might have heightened the interaction a little. If we saw him yell and loom over her, only to calm back down... well, then it would have been that much colder when he pulled the trigger, no? I don't know. I liked the script and plot, I just wish the scene had been better. Is that just me? I don't hate Sandy, really. I just... don't much like her acting either *is ashamed*.
Lastly, how much love do I have for Sam's character arc? I don't think Sam came back "wrong" or changed at all, for the record. After all, we've known forever that Sam is a Slytherin. Dean has a strongly grounded internal sense of ethics- he decides what to do based on what he thinks is right, and while he is willing to kill innocent people to save Sam, it's only in the most dire and direct of circumstances, and he'll feel guilty over it (even if he won't hesitate). Sam is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, Sam is the one more connected to society's normal moral ideas. On the other hand, Sam does what he does to get what he wants. He's always been this way, it's just that for most of his life, what he's wanted has been normalcy. It's not anymore. Look at what the man has been through! So yeah. His character has always had a ruthless edge, which has been completely confirmed since at least Faith (when he accepted with no guilt the death of an innocent man in exchange for Dean). It's just that Sam has been so much more opaque as a character than Dean, so it can be hard to see past puppy-exterior. But yes- the darkness we're seeing is all him. He's been through a lot, he's been pushed, he's facing impossible odds, and yes, killing innocent people now serves his goals, so he will do it. And he won't feel guilty for it. He may worry about it, worry that he is somehow playing into an enemy's hands by letting himself be turned dark, but that's a completely different thing from feeling guilty about the acts themselves.
In short: Sammy character development! *grabby hands*
We've seen a lot less of Dean's interior life this season, and I hope that by mid-season we move past ruthless repression with only tiny hints of his real feelings. I hope we get back to deliciously indulgent explorations of Dean's inner life along the lines of In my Time of Dying or What is and What Should Never Be, but for now I'm willing to let Dean slide to the background in favor of this wonderful Sam-stuff. I just hope the show doesn't try to tell me that everything Sam is doing now is due to some kind of "coming back changed," because I think that sort of cheapens this wonderful character.
I finally have a job. It's an utterly random short-term temp thing paying a dollar less than what I asked the temp place for, but it's close, and I really needed to get off my butt. So that means I have to follow a schedule now, and wake up in the morning, and make myself healthy food to eat for lunches, and workout in the evenings, and generally pretend to be an adult again. Because as much as I was loving staying in pjs all day long doing nothing but watching TV and reading fanfic, I think three weeks of that is just about enough for me.
So first Constance was coming for Thanksgiving. Then she and dad were coming on the 8th. Then I was going there for Thanksgiving. Now she is coming here on the 9th. Um, maybe. It's all been a bit of a roller-coaster ride, really. But there seems to be a definite decision complete with booked tickets now, so maybe it will actually happen? If so: YAAY! \o/
We will go to Magic Mountain, if it's open (did the fires close it? Uh, I guess I need to find that out) and we will play Guitar Hero and watch TV and movies and maybe go to the beach or whatever and make yummy food and oreo milkshakes and just generally have an utter blast. I need this so bad. *homesick*
The concept was wonderful- the fairytales were tweaked interestingly and yet completely recognizable. And I'm so happy I got to watch it with people and Dean as the hunstman just sent me into flailing paroxysms of joy. The brotherly togetherness- they were together for over half the show!- just relieved all my worries about the progress of the season, showing they can keep up their character arcs and deal with The Deal without sacrificing brotherly togetherness and I'm so happy. And could I point out that we got Shouty!Sam in the very first scene, and looming Scary!Sam in the last one? It's like, bookended with sexiness. Oh, be still my heart.
There seems to be wank over Dean's "Could you be any more gay?" comment. Personally, I thought:
1. It was completely and totally in character for Dean. Think about the way he was raised, the subcultures he was exposed to. I think, frankly, we should be shocked that Dean isn't more misogynistic and homophobic than he is. We already know that he throws around "bitch" and "pansy" as insults, but we also know that he is respectful in person (he only says these things around Sam), and takes the constant mistaken-for-gay incidents in stride. Sure, Dean has women issues- women for him are either sex objects or victims to be rescued. But, given his background, isn't this completely and totally understandable? There is a difference between saying "Dean has issues with his perception of women" and "Dean is a misogynistic asshole" because isn't it possible for him to have these issues and still be a decent respectful likable person? He has picked up the habit of using "bitch" and "gay" as pejoratives, but only in circumpsent ways, and I think given his past that just doesn't count as making him a bad guy.
2. Similarly, if a character says something offensive in character, that doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the show or the writer of the show.
3. I cut Dean a lot of slack on this, because the context of his comment was personal embarrassment and insecurity. I mean, I think it's sufficiently established that Dean is insecure about his academic inferiority to Sam. I'm firmly in the camp that Dean is smarter than he's written, but he's clearly used to feeling stupid compared to Sam, and embarrassed about all the "normal" things that Sam has exposure to and he doesn't. So he reaches in a macho but affectionate way for a vaguely homophobic slam to cover his personal insecurity. Yeah. It works for me.
4. And what really makes it work is that little raised eyebrow Sam gives him in response. Oh god. Sam is just so much more evolved than Dean, isn't he? I'm sorry, but that's just hilarious. Untwist your panties and laugh.
Problematically, right after I typed this I found a post that says the whole damn thing better, here. Sanj's essential questions: "when does a flaw in a character become prescriptive (and this is how Heroes Should Behave) rather than descriptive (Dean, a hero, behaves this way)?" and is Dean's completely in-character flaw bad enough to lose him the sympathy of his audience and get him demoted from Hero status? To which my answers are "I don't see that happening" to both.
So, the final bit with the RED.
*sighs* I think Sandy's cute as a button and I'm happy they got her onto the show but... I just did not like her as the Crossroads Demon. Why couldn't they have cast her as a helpful witness of some variety? Cause... Man. I just think she was miscast. *ducks the wrath of the fangirls* Here's the thing- demons on SPN all follow one very specific aesthetic. They are snarky, superior, haughty, contemptuous, arrogant.. and they have a certain dynamic with the Winchesters. Think about the interactions between Possessed-John and Dean, between John and Janitor-YED, between Sam and Meg (which wasn't as well done but as the same tone), between Dean and the earlier Crossroads Demons. These interactions are highly sexualized. They vibrate with sparks, tension, delicious frission.
Sandy just can't pull it off. There were no sparks, no frission, no electricity in the air. She doesn't sound contemptuous and superior, she just sounds... beatific. She has this little-girl voice that just can't do the sexualized, deliciously evil taunting that was required there. The script for her was GOOD, but it needed energy. It needed sparks. It needed arrogance. Instead it was just... bland.
Maybe if we had gotten Sam a little angrier, let him get a little more up in her face? That might have heightened the interaction a little. If we saw him yell and loom over her, only to calm back down... well, then it would have been that much colder when he pulled the trigger, no? I don't know. I liked the script and plot, I just wish the scene had been better. Is that just me? I don't hate Sandy, really. I just... don't much like her acting either *is ashamed*.
Lastly, how much love do I have for Sam's character arc? I don't think Sam came back "wrong" or changed at all, for the record. After all, we've known forever that Sam is a Slytherin. Dean has a strongly grounded internal sense of ethics- he decides what to do based on what he thinks is right, and while he is willing to kill innocent people to save Sam, it's only in the most dire and direct of circumstances, and he'll feel guilty over it (even if he won't hesitate). Sam is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, Sam is the one more connected to society's normal moral ideas. On the other hand, Sam does what he does to get what he wants. He's always been this way, it's just that for most of his life, what he's wanted has been normalcy. It's not anymore. Look at what the man has been through! So yeah. His character has always had a ruthless edge, which has been completely confirmed since at least Faith (when he accepted with no guilt the death of an innocent man in exchange for Dean). It's just that Sam has been so much more opaque as a character than Dean, so it can be hard to see past puppy-exterior. But yes- the darkness we're seeing is all him. He's been through a lot, he's been pushed, he's facing impossible odds, and yes, killing innocent people now serves his goals, so he will do it. And he won't feel guilty for it. He may worry about it, worry that he is somehow playing into an enemy's hands by letting himself be turned dark, but that's a completely different thing from feeling guilty about the acts themselves.
In short: Sammy character development! *grabby hands*
We've seen a lot less of Dean's interior life this season, and I hope that by mid-season we move past ruthless repression with only tiny hints of his real feelings. I hope we get back to deliciously indulgent explorations of Dean's inner life along the lines of In my Time of Dying or What is and What Should Never Be, but for now I'm willing to let Dean slide to the background in favor of this wonderful Sam-stuff. I just hope the show doesn't try to tell me that everything Sam is doing now is due to some kind of "coming back changed," because I think that sort of cheapens this wonderful character.
I finally have a job. It's an utterly random short-term temp thing paying a dollar less than what I asked the temp place for, but it's close, and I really needed to get off my butt. So that means I have to follow a schedule now, and wake up in the morning, and make myself healthy food to eat for lunches, and workout in the evenings, and generally pretend to be an adult again. Because as much as I was loving staying in pjs all day long doing nothing but watching TV and reading fanfic, I think three weeks of that is just about enough for me.
So first Constance was coming for Thanksgiving. Then she and dad were coming on the 8th. Then I was going there for Thanksgiving. Now she is coming here on the 9th. Um, maybe. It's all been a bit of a roller-coaster ride, really. But there seems to be a definite decision complete with booked tickets now, so maybe it will actually happen? If so: YAAY! \o/
We will go to Magic Mountain, if it's open (did the fires close it? Uh, I guess I need to find that out) and we will play Guitar Hero and watch TV and movies and maybe go to the beach or whatever and make yummy food and oreo milkshakes and just generally have an utter blast. I need this so bad. *homesick*
