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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: 2012-01-04 04:43 pm (UTC)I think you're right - I mean, they said their theme this year was Butch and Sundance, and that's essentially the story of two people who were very good at what they did finding that the world had abruptly turned against them, and that they had to change to survive. That's what they've been doing to Sam and Dean: stripping them of what little they have and then asking them 'So what will you do now?'
And I'm very interested to see how they answer that because, while there are obvious parallels, in many ways the story of Sam and Dean is the opposite of that of Butch and Sundance. Ultimately Butch and Sundance couldn't be other than what they were, and that makes the film sad - but it's also okay, because what they couldn't resist was the arrival of the modern world, which was much better at dealing with outlaws than the mythic Wild West. The world will be okay without Butch and Sundance in it because they're a kind of endearing menace.
But Sam and Dean are facing an enemy that has all the resources of the modern world, but is actually incredibly ancient, amoral and dangerous. If they behave like Butch and Sundance and end up being taken out by the supernatural equivalent of the Bolivian army, the world will very much not be okay. It's doubly cruel, because they have all Butch and Sundance's problems but not the luxury of just giving in and letting the world sweep them away. Unless, of course, the show is going for an extremely alternate universe ending in which the planet is devoured by leviathans. :)
... Wow. Sorry, that comment ... kind of got away from me a bit. :)
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Date: 2012-01-04 09:52 pm (UTC)And yeah, it's a very different set up to the actual film. I like the point that the world needs Sam and Dean in it. They can't just cop out because the world needs saving. Again. And they'll do it no doubt. Though a world being slowly devoured by leviathans could be raaather interesting....