Soon, there will be no walls left

[jmtorres]

Okay, right, the lack of female fans was atrocious, I was seriously expecting more crossplayers and somebody to be genderswapped Dean and Sam and stuff, the lack was disturbing, and it was particularly awful that the ghost actress was a Hooters waitress instead of a fangirl there fangirling, but I do wonder, um.

Was the multiplicity of Deans and Sams, and particularly the elevation of, a recognition that multiple interpretations are possible and valid? I got the feeling that maybe the gay Dean and Sam cosplayers were Kripke going, "Okay, your wincest Dean and Sam are not how I think of Dean and Sam but if it works for you..." Was that? Possibly intended as a conciliatory message?

(Though why Girl Dean and Girl Sam and Drag King Dean and Drag King Sam could not have been part of that multiplicity is beyond me...)

Comments

[gelasius]

Agreed with the lack of female fans, it was kind of skeevy. It seemed like Becky was practically the only one there, though I think there might have been one or two crossplayers mixed into the crowd. Alas.

[giandujakiss]

Okay, your wincest Dean and Sam are not how I think of Dean and Sam but if it works for you..." Was that? Possibly intended as a conciliatory message?

No, I really don't think so.

Sorry, I'm just really angry at this episode and I don't think it was meant as conciliatory - far from accepting multiple interpretations, this episode to me seemed about enforcing a single one: We were told by the "good" fans - the male fans, who never said anything about endorsing Wincest, and who got to be heroes - why you should like Supernatural and what's important about it. We were mansplained as to how to be a proper fan, and it doesn't include all this icky sexual stuff. I had a post about that phenomenon before, where shows actually tell fans how to be fans, and often that includes shows telling fans not to write sexual fanfic (ST: Voyager did that). And this to me was another example.

[jmtorres]

--without taking away from your interpretation, I think that my interpretation is equally as valid. I understand why it's frustrating as hell to listen to the guy say "but this is what Supernatural's really about," but dude, bizarre con full of mens had a panel on homoeroticism, and the Featured Cosplayers were partners. I *don't* feel like the show was condemning the slash here. But that's me.

[ladyvyola]

Yeah, when lovers are finding some sort of emotional resonance LARPing as brothers, I don't think I'm being told that a slash interpretation is invalid.

Also, I found it hilarious that the entire con didn't fill up the one room. Small fandom but hardcore!

[brokenbacktango]

You're really not kidding when you say "Soon, there will be no walls left."

Other than Becky, there was one pair of crossplayers (I wasn't even aware of this term before now, I love it) in the foreground at the beginning of the scene that revealed the featured fanboys to be a gay couple--that was it for female fans. I'm both disappointed and relieved that there weren't more fangirls in this episode. First and foremost this was a comedic episode so any more interpretations of female fans would have been crazy stereotypes like all the other fan characters. Becky met that quota and then some. The fact that it's reinforcing the notion that most fans active in fandom are men annoys me, however that is something prevalent in ALL media portrayals of fandom, not just Supernatural. Methinks that's a network problem more than a Kripke and Co problem.

I read your recent interpretation of the episode and I really enjoyed it. I'm afraid I don't have a lot to contribute to it since I'm still blurry-brained from sleep but I really appreciated reading it. Thank you :)

[jmtorres]

Did the crossplayers have lines? (nnng.)

[brokenbacktango]

No, unfortunately they were just extras background performers whose characters were being interviewed by a cop. I squealed like a little girl when I saw them, though :)