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ash48If you haven't read Darry Jasper's How Supernatural Uses Death So Well (posted on Sciencefiction.com) then I recommend you do so. It's an excellent account of how Supernatural uses death. It also provides a great summing up of the deaths so far on the show.
For a while now I've wanted to rant a little on why characters need to die on Supernatural. Here's my chance! :D
As fans we are often tearing our hair out with the amount of deaths on the show. Especially when they are beloved characters. I've had a few discussions in the past about characters dying, trying to make sense of it all. And I always come back to... but that's the whole point.
It can't be called a "motif" because it's not really that. But, for me, it works in the same way. It's something that's repeated for a meaning. They occur often enough that they can no longer be considered incidental or used just to heighten the drama. Sure, they are often used to end a season or just before the mid season hiatus break but I don't think they kill off characters just to make us angst, weep and tear our hair out. (though yeah, that too!)
I think death and dying has almost become the central theme. Not quite, as I think family (namely, brotherhood) is still at the heart of the show, but death it right up there. As pointed out in the article, the deaths serve to shape the characters of Sam and Dean. Particularly Dean. They act as springboards to actions that create the angst, dilemmas and drama.
The deaths are always about - how will the boys deal with this? What will they do? I really love it. It's brave. It also shows that they make conscious decisions about killing characters off. It's not flippant or ill considered. It's why I want Bobby to have died in the last episode. Not because I want him gone, but because it's in keeping with their central theme. Death does not mean we will not see the character again. It just means we get to see how they boys will react to it.
I get that it's not what all fans want from their show. In fact, I think it's driven many away. For me though the show has always been about the brothers. I LOVE all the other characters that are brought in to support them, but I equally love that they are prepared to off them in order to remain true to the way the show is structured. The series started with the death of Mary. Death has continued to have a very strong presence ever since - to the point of actually being a character. I wouldn't be surprised if the show ends with death (that cliff is calling isn't it?). It may be sad - but it would make sense. (As much as I would love the see them drive off into the sunset or settle down in a house where they have to pick curtains, death would be so much more fitting. After all, it's where their family is).
The article above says it all much better than that but what excites me is that it supports my "that's the whole point" that I've been feeling for a long time.
Oooh Show. You do bring out the thinky. (that's what happens when you go on hiatus and I'm on holiday!).
NOT LONG NOW!! \o/
**removing the preview button is not cool LJ! :( Other things have just changed I've just noticed too. :((( glitch it would seem *phew*
For a while now I've wanted to rant a little on why characters need to die on Supernatural. Here's my chance! :D
As fans we are often tearing our hair out with the amount of deaths on the show. Especially when they are beloved characters. I've had a few discussions in the past about characters dying, trying to make sense of it all. And I always come back to... but that's the whole point.
It can't be called a "motif" because it's not really that. But, for me, it works in the same way. It's something that's repeated for a meaning. They occur often enough that they can no longer be considered incidental or used just to heighten the drama. Sure, they are often used to end a season or just before the mid season hiatus break but I don't think they kill off characters just to make us angst, weep and tear our hair out. (though yeah, that too!)
I think death and dying has almost become the central theme. Not quite, as I think family (namely, brotherhood) is still at the heart of the show, but death it right up there. As pointed out in the article, the deaths serve to shape the characters of Sam and Dean. Particularly Dean. They act as springboards to actions that create the angst, dilemmas and drama.
The deaths are always about - how will the boys deal with this? What will they do? I really love it. It's brave. It also shows that they make conscious decisions about killing characters off. It's not flippant or ill considered. It's why I want Bobby to have died in the last episode. Not because I want him gone, but because it's in keeping with their central theme. Death does not mean we will not see the character again. It just means we get to see how they boys will react to it.
I get that it's not what all fans want from their show. In fact, I think it's driven many away. For me though the show has always been about the brothers. I LOVE all the other characters that are brought in to support them, but I equally love that they are prepared to off them in order to remain true to the way the show is structured. The series started with the death of Mary. Death has continued to have a very strong presence ever since - to the point of actually being a character. I wouldn't be surprised if the show ends with death (that cliff is calling isn't it?). It may be sad - but it would make sense. (As much as I would love the see them drive off into the sunset
The article above says it all much better than that but what excites me is that it supports my "that's the whole point" that I've been feeling for a long time.
Oooh Show. You do bring out the thinky. (that's what happens when you go on hiatus and I'm on holiday!).
NOT LONG NOW!! \o/
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Date: 2012-01-03 02:40 pm (UTC)Death clearly is a central theme to the show, and as you said, it all goes back to Mary's death in episode one. This is setting the tone for the show, and I think is the biggest single event that has shaped the brothers. Psychologically the characters are very congruent in this way. Due to the siblilngs age difference Mary's death had a different effect on Sam and Dean.
Dean experienced the loss consciously, he witnessed the event and has memories of his mother as a real person. It is likely that he spend a lot of time with his Mum over the first few years of his life and formed a secure attachment to her. Therefore he experienced the loss of a primary care-giver, and this shows itself both in his - sometimes irrational - obsession with 'keeping family together' and his reluctance to commit to serious romantic relationships. He fiercely protects those people in his 'family', but he does not want to add new people to this core group because more attachments also means increased risk of losses, and that is the one thing he can not face.
Dean also consciously witnessed (and possibly shared?) his Dad's depression and therefor was more likely to appreciate the positive effects of 'hunting' (better to obsessively devote yourself to a lost cause rather than to submit yourself to drunken depression). Given his previous secure attachment to his mother he likely transferred this to his Dad, which meant copying his coping strategies, taking on his convictions and vying for his Dad's approval - which was probably hard to come by. Due to his abandonment issues opposing Dad or opting out of hunting never was an option for Dean.
Psychologically speaking, Sam on the other hand did not experience the loss but rather is a motherless child, he does not have any memories of his mother as a real person and did not experience her death consciously. Therefore the event mainly shaped him by the way it affected his father and brother. After Mary's death Dean became Sam's primary care giver, but given Dean's age, his own emotional issues and the slightly chaotic homelife (social services, anybody?) Sam's attachement to Dean is likely to be more conflictual and ambivalent. While Dean and his Dad shared memories of both Mary and a 'life before' Sam likely had a sense of exclusion and being an outsider in his own family . At least unconsciously Sam has felt guilty for 'causing' his mother's death, and it is more than likely that at times he felt (whether real or imagined) blamed by his brother and father. Feeling 'different', 'wrong' or 'bad' has been a recurring theme for Sam. He is also the one who 'walks away', partly because he does feel a sense of not-belonging and not sharing history when it comes to the 'family business' and - possibly - also because he wants confirmation that he will be missed and that Dean will try to get him back. However, given that Dean is his attachment figure, it is also possible that his walking away is just 'normal' teenage rebellion and part of his individuation process. In terms of romantic relationships Sam appears more open - but in the long-run probably also more needy) than Dean. He seems to be looking for that close, secure emotional bond that he has lost out on in childhood and is prepared to throw himself into relationships quite quickly. After he experiences a significant loss he withdraws for some time but when he's ready to open up again he will do so fully... In direct opposition to Dean's opus moderandi Sam seems much keener to expand his universe and add more people to the core group to make (likely) future losses more bearable.