Sammy chat...

[ash48]

Warning. Don't click if show crit concerns you. Please. I want to be able to say some stuff and invite others to do so if they want to, without retribution (not that I ever get that *hearts you all*, but I just want to warn that I want to create a space for people to chat about Show concerns). It's really about getting stuff off my chest - and yours too if you want to.

Disclaimer: I still love the show. I love Dean. I love these characters. Wanting more for a character I adore isn't me hating on the show for no reason.



I've tried so many times to write up some reasons why I'm despairing about S10 and basically Sam's lack of - well, everything: presence, storyline, emotion, hair etc. etc., but I can't seem to assemble cohesive thoughts. I have many drafts but I can't post them because I read through them and all I seem to be doing is complaining. Which is essentially what I'm doing, but I wanted to give good, sensible, compassionate reasons for why I'm complaining. And I just can't seem to. Not well anyway.

I did make one post - which I took down - which stated "Sam's storyline is fucked". I took that down because it didn't seem fair I should say that without reasons. The reason I wrote that is because after writing reams of words I came to that conclusion. And not just because we don't ever get to hear from Sam, but because his actually story-line (since S8) makes no sense.

But mostly it's the Show's utter disregard for anything that has gone before for Sam. I actually have no issue with the current supportive Sam, or protective Sam (at all!) - but I hate that they have not given us resolutions to ANYTHING that has gone before (and also make it seem as though this is a Sam we've never seen before. It's as though "Sam" started in S8 - when he decided not to look for his missing brother). We just have to accept that Sam is suddenly ok. That Sam was misguided for be angry with Dean last season and his "I lied" was his "I'm over all that" transition to this season. I am so frustrated and sad that we've not had one episode (or even a moment) that has given us any exploration of how Sam went from the last 2 seasons to this one. And as much as I love that Dean's character is being thoroughly explored and a clear story arc is emerging, I just wish they'd balance it with giving us just a little bit of Sam. I'm not asking for much, just a littlebit. A Sam that isn't merely "bad, thoughtless brother" or "silent supportive brother".

On top of that, I'm finding the fact that fandom is loving this Sam so much, disconcerting. I mean, it's so much better than "Sam should kill himself, he's an ungrateful, whiny, selfish brother who doesn't appreciate Dean" but it suggests that the "best" Sam is a silent, supportive Sam. I get that current Sam is the one we love - being there for Dean, accepting Dean for who he is, saying the right things, being a tower of strength - but he's all those things without depth or reason. I know WE can make up those reasons (and there's a bucket load of them!) but I want the SHOW to do that. Show us that because Sam has been "other" that he understands what Dean is experiencing. Show us that Dean knows that's why Sam is so strong. Show us that Sam has a deep understanding of what it's like to carrying "evil" within his veins and that's why he's so good at this. Show us that Sam has beaten this and that's why he knows Dean can. Remind us that Dean actually locked Sam up when Sam was fighting his demons - and beat the crap out of him when he found out he lost his soul. In all honesty, I don't think they even remember what Sam has ever been through.

I dunno. I wrote on twitter that it's a bad time to be a Sam!girl. It just feels like that. We've had a season where his character went back to another universe where he only wanted a normal life, to a character who was prepared to die to save the world but failed, to a character who is betrayed by his brother and loses his autonomy (S9), to a character (this season) who worries about his brother. All this without ever really getting to know how he feels about any of it. And I don't mean feelings like "anger" and "love" and "worry". It's about feelings in context to everything else. Like we are seeing with Dean. Dean's unravelling story arc is deep and full of emotion tied to his childhood and past mistakes and self esteem and sense of worth and how he feels about Sam and pretty much everything we know about him. Sam's is tied to…? *sounds of crickets*…. (I think it's tied to aa writing team and show runner that haven't quite figured out who Sam is. They prefer the plot devise, emotional catalyst (for Dean) and enigma).

And maybe that's deliberate. I think we're heading for S4 Sam soon (as we've already had S1, S2 and currently S3 Sam) and I'm not at all feeling confident that we'll get the corresponding emotion we got back then. We currently have S3 Sam - worrying about Dean and trying all he can to save him. But at least we had Mystery Spot back then to give us great insight into Sam's sense of helplessness.

Is there light at the end of this tunnel? Perhaps I should just be satisfied with "good brother" Sam. And boy am I going to love it when he turns "dark side" and completely wipes out any progress he's ever made as a character. Or maybe I'm jumping the gun. If Sam actually manages to save Dean without compromising his character I'll stand corrected on all of this (though if they want to give us dark!Sam and dark!Dean together and really go there, I'll go along for the ride).

(dammit. It's late. I'll post this anyway. I'm sure there's a million typos…)

Comments

RE: Re: 2/2

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

It's interesting you should ask about the purpose of the tease. Assuming my reading is somewhere in the ballpark (and you're right, it's possible I'm off target with this -- who can really know their plan without being in the writers' room), I think the value is twofold: it's deniable, and it value-adds to the audience.

Think of it this way. You want to get as many eyeballs on the screen as possible. You have a marketing department talking about demographics and what the market (the advertisers and the audience) want. And you quickly realise that conservative audiences will be put off by certain plot threads... but queer (for instance) audiences will get by on the sniff of an oily rag and Charlie, and the Asian American audience will tune in on the strength of one character.

These are gross generalisations, but when you're storytelling by numbers, these are (as far as my casual reading of autobiographies, interviews, trade mags etc, can confirm it) some of the drivers behind certain characters choices and plot arcs, or subtext, being included in shows.

They are not trying to engage the whole audience with these things. They are trying to add extra eyeballs without alienating the mainstream audience. It's value-adding.

And that's why so much of it is at the 'tease' level. It means they can keep doling it out, and both a) deny it if they need to for mainstream cred (Oh, no, Dean's not bisexual, you're imagining it), and b) continue to write it in and attract that particular segment of eyeballs. Similarly, they can have dozens of secondary characters with different backgrounds (eg. Charlie, Kevin), while still having their pretty white male leads.

Why might Sam's arc have fallen into this category? I can actually think of a few reasons, but it's all speculation. For instance, if they have some demographic data saying there's been a huge spike of interest in Dean, they might focus on Dean hoping to capitalise on that, without getting rid of Sam, who still has devoted eyeballs.

I don't have their marketing department data, or access to their writers' room, so all I can go by is the shape of the show itself, and the kinds of things I see the team reported as saying in PR and stuff. But I have read enough industry stories about test audiences and so on to know that this kind of storytelling by numbers happens in these kinds of shows all the time.

And as a writer, I can tell you, I've done this kind of thing, on a much smaller and less cynical scale myself. For instance, I always try to even up representation in my slash stories (which so often focus on white male leads), by introducing as many women and people from diverse backgrounds as I can in any other roles the story has (I actually have more complicated thoughts about this, but I won't digress about them here). People really do notice this kind of representation. But only some people -- those who are hungry for it.

To give you a personal example, in one SGA story I wrote, I got a review from someone who thanked me profusely for putting a black female scientist called Dr Uduchuku in a lab scene. They said they had literally never read anyone like them in that kind of role before (again, I have complicated feelings and thoughts about this, but won't digress further).

Obviously, that's a tiny example, but the principle holds. That's why shows make those kinds of choices and tease things like queerness rather than making them overt, and add in secondary characters rather than diverse leads. It hooks the people who are hungry for it. It's really problematic actually, because it continually sidelines all characters but the white men instead of creating a more truly diverse cast and story.

But for what it's worth, that's my answer to your question.

RE: Re: 2/2

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

As an addendum to this: I actually really admire how good TV writing teams manage to consistently create compelling stories while negotiating these kinds of demands. But even more, I admire those who don't play these kinds of coy games, and create shows like Orphan Black or Orange is the New Black. They might not always get it right, but they are trying to present something other than a whitewashed male world, in an industry which is still very much run by conservative white men.

Re: 2/2

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I admire good writing too. As much as I love my show, I acknowledge that the writing just isn't that great. I don't like the teases and the promises of something to come that they have no desire to see through. Nor do I think the unfulfilling resolutions they keep giving us represent good writing.

Re: 2/2

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

You speak truth.

Although... the show is actually better written if you do read it as queer, in my experience. It makes a whole heap of things make more sense. Still not super great, especially at paying things off, but more nuanced and convincing in terms of character motivation.

Re: 2/2

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That makes sense. And actually, I would say definitely that as Dean is the more popular character of the two, it's not surprising that we see a lot more from him. I've always accepted that. I just think, as you mention below, it's just more overt now. There is just SO much Dean that the lack of Sam is more noticeable than before.

But yes. I get that about the tease. And for a show like SPN, they need as many viewers as they can get.

Re: 2/2

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

I've always enjoyed Dean as a character, because we share some issues (as elder siblings). I find Sam interesting, but don't get him in the same way.

I'm actually a bit sick of Dean's relentless shit, though, at the moment. A big part of the show's enjoyment is the way they riff off each other, so you don't get tired of either of them, and that feels really out of whack right now. I miss it. As I said before, in my best case scenario, I'm hoping that's on purpose (form following function -- it's a clever technique when done well, and in this case, it's highlightly their alienation from each other by making us feel it too), so that the domino effect will happen, and we'll get the big explosion that's been brewing since s1. Finally. And then we can get them healing and becoming more than the damage from their childhood endlessly playing out.

But until then, we have a show that feels out of balance, and not in a good way. :(

I'll guess we'll find out if they're doing that on purpose to make us feel edgy when the arc plays out (or *doesn't*, more tellingly).

As for the "as many viewers as they can get" thing, I have some ironic thoughts about that. It's wild speculation, but you might appreciate them.

There was a spike of interest in s8, when everyone thought the show was just about out of legs. And I can tell you that at least part of it was the queer community telling everyone to tune in again, because it looked like the show was ramping up the Dean and Cas story.

[Gonna digress here for a second. I know you don't see it, and as a I said before, that's totes legit. But just as a hypothetical exercise, try to imagine Anna playing Cas' role in s8. With the whole window scene and self-sacrificial Purgatory stuff and the parallels between Sam and Benny and their ladyloves, and Dean with Cas. Can you see Anna staring in the window at Dean in the rain? Or Dean thinking he sees her at the side of the road? Or her having a shower and afterwards the camera panning up her legs from Dean's POV? Romance tropes galore. *That's* what I mean when I say the text is really queer. It's so obvious from a heterosexual perspective when it's Anna; we're just not as tuned in to recognising it when it's two guys playing out the tropes. It doesn't mean the writers will pay it off, but as structures within the text, they are deliberately written, they have to be or else the writers are enormous hacks who don't know what they are doing; and I doubt that because the the use of these themes is fairly nuanced and well crafted. So anyway, with that temporary image of how you'd read those scenes if Cas had been Anna, read the rest of my speculation...]

I honestly do wonder if the show being nearly finished (so they thought) is why we had all the extreme queer romance set up in s8 -- they were actually planning to play out the bisexual Dean storyline in some form and go out in a blaze of glory, when it no longer mattered what the mainstream thought.

Here's the ironic part. The show started to rate again, better than a lot of the brand new shows debuting that season (I checked the figures back then). And right around that time we got all those tweets from suddenly interested upper management saying, "No, Dean's not queer!"

So I can't help but wonder if the queer ramp-up was on purpose, the queer community tuned in and bumped the ratings, and then the 'blaze of glory' plan was chucked out the window because the show was important to the network again.

See, this is what queerbaiting does to people. They come up with black-humour conspiracy theories to try and explain what's as clear as day to anyone queer, and might as well be nonexistent to everyone else.

Because laughing is the only sane response to this kind of shit.

I don't know how to laugh about Sam's diminishing role though, so I can't help you there. But I did think the show did a pretty good job of black humour in Fan Fiction, with the whole childhood-flashback scene. Now that was some classic black humour!