Dean + Food = thinky thoughts & picspam

[ash48]

I often have thinky thoughts about my beloved show, but rarely commit them to paper.... or the interwebs as it were. But after recently spending some time with Dean and his eating habits I made some observations and in fact realised that I had some set ideas why Dean eats the way he does.


One major observation is the way Dean "snags" food. If food is around he's in there, pinching it when he can. He's an opportunist when it comes to getting food:




I particularly like that Dean sees the opportunity for food even when he has a collapsed Bela in his arms. :)

We only have a few examples of Dean with food as a child, but I believe it's no mistake that whenever we get flashbacks of the wee!chesters food is involved:





In both cases Dean is feeding Sam. And in the Something Wicked flashback it shows Dean sacrificing his share of food for Sam:

Sam: I’m sick of Spagettios
Dean: Well, you’re the one who wanted them
Sam: I want Lucky Charms
Dean: There’s no more Lucky Charms
Sam: I saw the box
Dean: Ok. So maybe there is. But there’s only enough for one bowl and I haven’t had any yet.
Sam: PUPPY EYES OF DOOM!
Dean: Caves in and gives Sam the last bowl and Dean misses out. (Big!Bro awesomeness!)

Interestingly, there are also examples of Dean offering food to Sam in their adult life:



I get the impression that Dean probably went hungry during some of his childhood. I can't say much of his childhood (though I would like to), because we have no canon evidence of that but the chances are very high that Dean was not always satisfied when it came to eating.

He probably learned early on that if he needed/wanted food he may have had to either steal it or look for opportunities where he can "snag" if for free.

Sam, on the other hand, probably never went quite as hungry as Dean. Simply because Dean made sure of it. If Dean ever snagged food as a child (which I imagine he often did), then he would offer it to Sam first before he had any. And we see evidence of this when he offers food to Sam as an adult. That's not to say Sam never experienced hunger, but he may have relied on Dean to find food for him so never learned to seek it out the way Dean does.

The other thing that struck me, even more than Dean's snagging habit, is how content and easily satisfied Dean is when he is eating.





Again it's no accident that during one of my fav episodes "What is and What Should Never Be", there is a wonderful scene of Dean devouring a homemade sandwich. This is Dean's idea of heaven. Real food. Made by a real mother. With real love.

I often wonder if he links never going hungry with his memories of having a mother. (?)

Food as comfort is a psychological given in our lives. And for Dean, I believe, it's one of his true (and few) comforts in life. It may be linked to the connection he has with his life with a mother who never let him go hungry or days of being hungry and then the satisfaction that follows from being full and satisfied.

In many ways food is an easy comfort to Dean. Easier than family, easier than women, easier than the satisfaction of a hunt even. Sure, it might mean snagging it every now and then but for Dean I suspect there's a certain amount of satisfaction even in that.

Of course, Dean is not always satisfied by the food in front of him. One stand out example is in Simon Said when he eats his hamburger distainfully. You can see his longly for "real", honest to God homemade food. He's sick of having to eat take away food all the time.

And for me that's the crunch. (damn if that isn't a pun!) He learned to love food because it was scare in his childhood. He'll snag it when he can - particularly the "good stuff". But at the end of the day he's a simple man who would love nothing more than to sit down to a good old fashioned home cooked meal. And if it was made with love.... even better! (Sam, have you cooked Dean a meal lately?)

And now because I couldn't help myself...

Comments

[etoile444.livejournal.com]

Quite an excellent picspam + meta. What stuck me as I read is that food for Dean is a mother substitute. It's a wonder he isn't fat. If Dean wasn't a TV character who had to stay lean and handsome, he's likely be big like the LARPer Dean in 5.09.

Oh, and I need to add that I love how show never allows Dean to eat his pie. He asks for it, longs for it, but always is denied!!!! I think the message is that he can never be totally satisifed, totally at peace. The day Dean gets to eat his pie, might just be the last moment before the end of the world! :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. :)

What stuck me as I read is that food for Dean is a mother substitute.

Yeah, just something about this that strikes me as a possibility. Life would have changed so dramatically when his mother died and I'm sure the way he ate changed dramatically too. I think it was no mistake that they chose to show us Dean being feed by his mother in WIAWSNB.

Hee! And Dean can have his pie but he can't eat it! Poor boy. And wouldn't it be awesome if he does get to eat his pie after they've saved the world (which I have no doubt they will! *nods*).

I'm not one for pimping my vids, but the vid I made prior to this (and in fact inspired this post) makes reference to Dean and pie! :D :D

Thanks so much for popping in and sharing your thoughts. :D

[doylescordy.livejournal.com]

I imagine all the hunting and exertion that must come with it helped to burn some of that off too. It's like frequent exercise.

[ginzai.livejournal.com]

I just stumbled across this meta tonight and was skimming the comments when your's caught me offguard. It's funny you made that comment about Dean getting his pie only right before the end of the world, considering that Dean didn't get that pie until 5x15 (made by a zombie, no less!) and 5x15 should have aired before My Bloody Valentine, and that episode was really the tipping point where Dean really started to go downhill. He really did only get his pie right before his world ended!