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A review by goodverbsonly
Supernatural Psychology, Volume 8: Roads Less Traveled by
Pain - suffering - incredible rage. The emotions of watching Supernatural or trying to get through any book on it? We'll never know. To quote Dean Winchester: I'm so very very very very very very very very tired.
Firstly, this book begins with the same navel-gazing, hopeless naivety and romanticism of what #spnfamily is as the other one, which in fairness to THAT book is about #spnfamily. The attempts to explain the #spnfamily, about how "we're" different from other fans, how it's a real community of people, instead of like, a barely contained hostile force in the world that can, has in the past, and will in the future, make regular social media use impossible come off just...self congratulatory AND delusional. I'm among the Older Fans, coming up on my Ten Year Anniversary of Watching Supernatural. This has been an unpleasant, toxic relationship. I hate this show. I love this show. In fairness, I think there was a period of peace during the Late Seasons Era, where much of the enthusiasm for the show itself died down and so maybe, at the time this book was published, pre-finale, fans of the show are interested in basically one thing: making Dean and Cas kiss, and knowing, in their dumb little hearts that they were going to (I'm sorry, kind of). They didn't, of course, and this is where the book gets it wrong. There is no passion for the show in Main Stream Fan Culture, there is only passion for Destiel, which from my perspective isn't the same thing. There isn't community. There's the Destiel Polycule (they are literally calling themselves this and I am very confused); there's the war hardened old j2 bibros (a term that wasn't even in USE until like 2015) who returned to fandom with the promise that Supernatural would be over and excitement over the show (Yes, clearly I'm biased, but I think my spot on diagnosis of Prequelgate in June entitles me to being the Holder of All Correct Supernatural Opinions); there are strident non-destiel anti-wincest shippers somehow I guess; there's a GA who is probably the most loyal and steady, though least profitable, section of the audience who doesn't factor into this at all. We are at war with each other. We are blocked for unknowable reasons. 17 year olds are like, scouring my 10 year old tumblr to find out how many thought crimes I've committed since I was 15 and they were learning addition in second grade. The second Jared expresses and opinion, NAY, an emotion, on social media, people rally and start sending him death threats! People start sending Jensen death threats for Jared getting death threats? People start sending death threats to Jared for Jensen getting death threats. This is not a family, except in the way that I don't know or have anything to do with most of the people in #spnfamily, and as much as I fundamentally disagree with them, we're all stuck together. Also, these people DO have insane, unhealthy relationships with the show, including me, which this book tries to argue isn't true and is on it's face ridiculous. No one who could count themselves as part of the #spnfamily has a healthy relationship with the show, which mostly I think has to do with how intense j2 are and how long the show went on for. It's a show that causes irreparable damage to your brain. There's nothing to do about it.
The second thing it gets wrong is the show itself. I said this in the review, I think, of the other book, but Supernatural isn't about found family. It is, however, about loneliness. In the beginning it was a ghost story and it was ghost stories. It was about an entangled pair of brothers and their messed up little family, and it was about the wasteland of the American midwest and the people there -- the people whose lives are tragedy and on the outside, and the people who are safe and happy. Can you be one if you've been the other your whole life? Can you be safe and happy without people who give that up for you? Do you have to give it up so other people can be happy? Mostly, it's about ghosts, and it's kind of about class, and because it asks those questions, though most of the time by accident, it's not really a wonder that it appeals to people in the armed forces. But because sometimes these questions seem to be about something else -- sexuality, or gender, or race (they're not, really), and about being othered down to your bones, to your DNA -- it's also appealing to a lot of other lonely people. Girls mostly. Young, weird, lonely girls because at the end of the day, what they like about the show is the way j2 look and are drawn in by their chemistry.
At some point along the way, Supernatural loses all of that (except for j2), but it has it's moments; a line in season 6, a few looks in season 7, some elements of dean's arc in 9-11; some Sam Winchester of It All Moments in late seasons where he's like, got battered wife syndrome ONLY to the credit of Jared and no one else; the climax of the show, which is in 15x17 and sam delivers the world's most perplexing line of dialogue as dean POINTS A GUN AT HIM AND PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE. And the book ignores all of this -- the grounded moments of suffering, the transcendental nature of certain season finales (3, 5, even 8) -- for the sort of more ridiculous answers about community, about hope and strength. Supernatural is a tragedy of family and of self. The heroes win, but at what cost. And for most of us - or at least for those of us who are engaging honestly with it - this is what we're reacting to.
Anyway, that aside, main stream supernatural fans are my enemy. Who commissioned this book, the Dean is A Martyr Brigade? Legitimately, my biggest gripe is that...Sam...where is he? Oh let's talk about Dean's attachment issues, but mention 45 times that Sam's main attachment is to Dean and that's why he has healthy relationships, but ignore that by season 12 Sam doesn't HAVE non Dean relationships, while Dean does. Let's devote an entire section to torture and spend so much time devoted to Dean's PTSD (fair enough) but literally not mention that Sam ALSO went to Hell and is forced, consistently, to interact with his torturer, to work with his torturer. He is tortured at the beginning of season 12 and then forced to work with Toni at the END of that season. That's relevant and timely information per the publishing of this book! Sam's character does like, a 180 after he comes out of Hell! "The parentification of Dean Winchester" shut up!!!!! Shut up!!!! Sam's entire season 7 arc is about how he's so deeply traumatized by his time in Hell he's hallucinating the devil, he is having ongoing psychotic symptoms in EVERY episode of season 7! "Oh well, Sam stands up to his father so he's healthy :)" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. AHHHH. "Sometimes Sam seems to have self-esteem issues. This is probably because his daddy was around very much and Dean was only a little baby too. But Sam is much healthier than Dean." Why did they spend so much time devoted to Crowley and Cas and like the only time they talked about Sam in depth was to talk about how he's more well adjusted than Dean? I am returning to sam!girl tumblr where we talk about how Lucifer ruined Sam and how he's deeply insane never to return. Me and Jared are talking about Sam's hypervigilance and kissing on the mouth. Horrible. Terrible. I am so angry on my own behalf, on the behalf of Sam Winchester, and also JARED, who did all that work for nothing! Goodbye!
Firstly, this book begins with the same navel-gazing, hopeless naivety and romanticism of what #spnfamily is as the other one, which in fairness to THAT book is about #spnfamily. The attempts to explain the #spnfamily, about how "we're" different from other fans, how it's a real community of people, instead of like, a barely contained hostile force in the world that can, has in the past, and will in the future, make regular social media use impossible come off just...self congratulatory AND delusional. I'm among the Older Fans, coming up on my Ten Year Anniversary of Watching Supernatural. This has been an unpleasant, toxic relationship. I hate this show. I love this show. In fairness, I think there was a period of peace during the Late Seasons Era, where much of the enthusiasm for the show itself died down and so maybe, at the time this book was published, pre-finale, fans of the show are interested in basically one thing: making Dean and Cas kiss, and knowing, in their dumb little hearts that they were going to (I'm sorry, kind of). They didn't, of course, and this is where the book gets it wrong. There is no passion for the show in Main Stream Fan Culture, there is only passion for Destiel, which from my perspective isn't the same thing. There isn't community. There's the Destiel Polycule (they are literally calling themselves this and I am very confused); there's the war hardened old j2 bibros (a term that wasn't even in USE until like 2015) who returned to fandom with the promise that Supernatural would be over and excitement over the show (Yes, clearly I'm biased, but I think my spot on diagnosis of Prequelgate in June entitles me to being the Holder of All Correct Supernatural Opinions); there are strident non-destiel anti-wincest shippers somehow I guess; there's a GA who is probably the most loyal and steady, though least profitable, section of the audience who doesn't factor into this at all. We are at war with each other. We are blocked for unknowable reasons. 17 year olds are like, scouring my 10 year old tumblr to find out how many thought crimes I've committed since I was 15 and they were learning addition in second grade. The second Jared expresses and opinion, NAY, an emotion, on social media, people rally and start sending him death threats! People start sending Jensen death threats for Jared getting death threats? People start sending death threats to Jared for Jensen getting death threats. This is not a family, except in the way that I don't know or have anything to do with most of the people in #spnfamily, and as much as I fundamentally disagree with them, we're all stuck together. Also, these people DO have insane, unhealthy relationships with the show, including me, which this book tries to argue isn't true and is on it's face ridiculous. No one who could count themselves as part of the #spnfamily has a healthy relationship with the show, which mostly I think has to do with how intense j2 are and how long the show went on for. It's a show that causes irreparable damage to your brain. There's nothing to do about it.
The second thing it gets wrong is the show itself. I said this in the review, I think, of the other book, but Supernatural isn't about found family. It is, however, about loneliness. In the beginning it was a ghost story and it was ghost stories. It was about an entangled pair of brothers and their messed up little family, and it was about the wasteland of the American midwest and the people there -- the people whose lives are tragedy and on the outside, and the people who are safe and happy. Can you be one if you've been the other your whole life? Can you be safe and happy without people who give that up for you? Do you have to give it up so other people can be happy? Mostly, it's about ghosts, and it's kind of about class, and because it asks those questions, though most of the time by accident, it's not really a wonder that it appeals to people in the armed forces. But because sometimes these questions seem to be about something else -- sexuality, or gender, or race (they're not, really), and about being othered down to your bones, to your DNA -- it's also appealing to a lot of other lonely people. Girls mostly. Young, weird, lonely girls because at the end of the day, what they like about the show is the way j2 look and are drawn in by their chemistry.
At some point along the way, Supernatural loses all of that (except for j2), but it has it's moments; a line in season 6, a few looks in season 7, some elements of dean's arc in 9-11; some Sam Winchester of It All Moments in late seasons where he's like, got battered wife syndrome ONLY to the credit of Jared and no one else; the climax of the show, which is in 15x17 and sam delivers the world's most perplexing line of dialogue as dean POINTS A GUN AT HIM AND PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE. And the book ignores all of this -- the grounded moments of suffering, the transcendental nature of certain season finales (3, 5, even 8) -- for the sort of more ridiculous answers about community, about hope and strength. Supernatural is a tragedy of family and of self. The heroes win, but at what cost. And for most of us - or at least for those of us who are engaging honestly with it - this is what we're reacting to.
Anyway, that aside, main stream supernatural fans are my enemy. Who commissioned this book, the Dean is A Martyr Brigade? Legitimately, my biggest gripe is that...Sam...where is he? Oh let's talk about Dean's attachment issues, but mention 45 times that Sam's main attachment is to Dean and that's why he has healthy relationships, but ignore that by season 12 Sam doesn't HAVE non Dean relationships, while Dean does. Let's devote an entire section to torture and spend so much time devoted to Dean's PTSD (fair enough) but literally not mention that Sam ALSO went to Hell and is forced, consistently, to interact with his torturer, to work with his torturer. He is tortured at the beginning of season 12 and then forced to work with Toni at the END of that season. That's relevant and timely information per the publishing of this book! Sam's character does like, a 180 after he comes out of Hell! "The parentification of Dean Winchester" shut up!!!!! Shut up!!!! Sam's entire season 7 arc is about how he's so deeply traumatized by his time in Hell he's hallucinating the devil, he is having ongoing psychotic symptoms in EVERY episode of season 7! "Oh well, Sam stands up to his father so he's healthy :)" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. AHHHH. "Sometimes Sam seems to have self-esteem issues. This is probably because his daddy was around very much and Dean was only a little baby too. But Sam is much healthier than Dean." Why did they spend so much time devoted to Crowley and Cas and like the only time they talked about Sam in depth was to talk about how he's more well adjusted than Dean? I am returning to sam!girl tumblr where we talk about how Lucifer ruined Sam and how he's deeply insane never to return. Me and Jared are talking about Sam's hypervigilance and kissing on the mouth. Horrible. Terrible. I am so angry on my own behalf, on the behalf of Sam Winchester, and also JARED, who did all that work for nothing! Goodbye!