Fan Phenomena: Supernatural - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1783202033 ISBN 13: 9781783202034

Publisher: Intellect Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

Supernatural premiered on September 13, 2005, on what was then called the WB Network. Creator Eric Kripke was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, putting his heroes, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, in a big black ’67 Impala and sending them in search of the urban legends that fascinated him. The series attracted a passionate fan base from the start and was described as a “cultural attractor” that tapped into the zeitgeist of the moment, reflecting global fears of terrorism with its themes of fighting unseen evil. The chemistry between the lead actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, contributed to the show’s initial success, and Supernatural found its niche when it combined demon-hunting adventures with a powerful relationship drama that explored the intense, complicated bond between the brothers. Supernatural is as much a story of familial ties, love, and loyalty as it is of “saving people, hunting things.”

Fan Phenomena: Supernatural explores the ongoing fascination and passion for a show that developed a relationship with fans through eight seasons and continues to have an impact on fan culture to the present day. Essays here explore the rich dynamic that has developed between fans and producers, actors, writers, directors, the show creator, and showrunners through online interactions on Twitter and Facebook, face-to-face exchanges at conventions, and representations of fandom within the show's meta-episodes. Contributors also explore gender and sexuality in the show and in fan art; the visual dynamics, cinematography, and symbolism in the episodes as well as the fan videos they inspire; and the culture of influence, learning, and teaching in the series.

About this title

About the Authors

Lynn Zubernis is a licensed psychologist and associate professor at West Chester University.

Katherine Larsen teaches courses on fame, celebrity, and fandom in the University Writing Program at George Washington University.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Supernatural

By Lynn Zubernis, Katherine Larsen

Intellect Ltd

Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78320-203-4

Contents

Introduction LYNN ZUBERNIS AND KATHERINE LARS EN, 
Teaching Through Supernatural: Using SPN in the College Classroom PAUL BOOTH, 
The Monstrous Male Body BRIDGET KIES, 
I See What You Did There: SPN and the Fourth Wall LISA MACKLEM, 
Post, Reblog, Follow, Tweet: Supernatural Fandom and Social Media JULES WILKINSON, 
Family Don't End — With Blood: Building the Supernatural Family MARY FRANCES CASPER, 
Supernatural: Making a Difference is the Meaning of Life MARY F . DOMINIAK ('BARDICVOICE'), 
Life Changing: Supernatural and the Power of Fandom MISHA COLLINS, 
The Pro of Cons RICHARD SPEIGHT, JR., 
Contributor Details, 
Image Credits, 

CHAPTER 1

Teaching Through Supernatural: Using SPN in the College Classroom

Paul Booth

Then ...

Like on most Friday nights, my wife and I walked our dogs, ordered the sushi, and at 8 p.m. tuned to the CW to catch the latest episode of Supernatural. As was my habit, I had my laptop open while the show was airing (I know, sacrilegious for a fan, but I think my students had an assignment due that night). And while I wasn't really playing with the computer, I did have the screen up on my latest project: (re)designing the syllabus for MCS 271: Media and Cultural Studies ...

Now ...

... It felt as if Castiel Himself led me to see the connection between the show that was airing and the syllabus on my laptop. Although I'd been looking for a way to 'shake up' the foundation of our College's required cultural studies course, I hadn't had a great deal of success. But thanks to that moment of concomitant viewing – that moment of divine intervention – I was able to see how Supernatural could be integrated into each lesson taught in that class. In the past, I have included 45-minute screenings of television shows and short films to illustrate the different cultural studies methods of analysing media. Most recently, I used relevant episodes of Supernatural that fit into the schema of the class. I hoped this would allow me to use my own fandom for SPN as a way of demonstrating to the students how different theories of the media worked together. And, Supernatural not only succeeded, but excelled at this goal. In this chapter, I'll be discussing the ways that I integrated episodes of Supernatural in my Media and Cultural Studies course. I'll begin by summarizing the structure and teaching emphasis in the class itself. Next, I'll offer some lesson plans to more fully articulate the multiple interpretations of Supernatural. Finally, I'll look at the ways students seemed to respond positively to Supernatural.

'Nightmare': Teaching cultural studies

The course objectives for MCS 271 ask that at the end of the course, students be able to:

1. Write clearly and cogently about theories of the media;

2. Demonstrate the application of media theories to media texts; and

3. Criticize contemporary media texts through the use of theories.

Using Supernatural helped reach these objectives. It also reached, however, a higher-level objective that I didn't necessarily intend. When I talk about 'levels of objectives', I'm referring to Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives (1984), which ranks the levels at which different skills are necessary for learning. For example, the first level is 'knowledge', which asks students to know and repeat back important information. As the levels increase, the difficulty of attaining that level rises. The next skill, 'comprehension', requires knowledge as well as critical thinking. The other levels – 'application', 'analysis', 'evaluation', and finally 'creation' – come with more intense styles of learning. Because MCS 271 is an introductory course, I aim for the simpler levels: knowledge, comprehension and application.

The first time I taught the course, I found that students were able to approach the application stage. They could view each text and apply the theory we were learning to it. The second time I taught the course – the SPN time – I found that students were able to reach the analysis stage – a more advanced level. Because we watched episodes from one television show instead of multiple texts, students were able to make connections between the different media theories. I believe this is partly because of what TV scholar Jason Mittell would call the 'narrative complexity' of Supernatural – that is, the way the show uses both stand-alone episodes as well as a longer narrative arc to tell multiple stories. Students understood the connections between episodes even if they didn't follow the whole narrative because they at least knew that there was supposed to be an overarching story.

I break the course into ten topics, each of which revolves around issues in cultural studies. Given the audience of the class, freshmen and sophomores, I aim for breadth rather than depth. The ten topics are:

1. The Subject (and Study) of Culture

2. Semiotics and Structuralism

3. Ideology and Hegemony

4. Political Economy, Marxism, and the Economics of Culture

5. Representation and Race

6. Psychoanalysis and Gender Studies

7. Reception Studies and Fandom

8. Postmodernism and Contemporary Philosophy

9. Genre Studies

10. Digital Culture

When I first taught MCS 271, I used multiple 'classic' texts to illustrate the topics. None of these classic texts related to one another. In class, however, I found that students were generally able to make comparisons between the theory and the text for that particular topic, but didn't seem able to make these larger connections between the theories themselves. When I added Supernatural, as the following section demonstrates, students were better able to achieve higher learning objectives.

'Devil's trap: Introducing Supernatural to cultural studies (and vice versa)

Generally in class I take students (via discussion) through the different types of 'meaning' to be found in media texts, as described by the classic film textbook Making Meaning (1991) by David Bordwell. For Bordwell, there are four ways to find meaning in a text. The first, the 'referential', is the most obvious: the basic plot. In class, I ask students to identify what happened on-screen, how the characters reacted to this and what the results of that were. When we explore the second way to find meaning, the 'explicit', I ask them to describe the moral of the text. This is usually stated in the show as the lesson to be learned.

The class tends to have more difficulty with the third level of meaning, the 'implicit', as it only arrives through careful consideration of what the producers of the media text implied by the moral. This isn't something stated in the show, but rather a more general feeling or theme. Finally, I ask students to explore the 'symptomatic' meaning, which examines the ideology that shaped the text, and then what we can learn through critical reflection.

To enable this fourth meaning, I give students two readings for each class. The first is a 'theory' reading from the textbooks I use, Professor Greg Smith's What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss (2010) and Arthur Asa Berger's Media Analysis Techniques (2011). The theory reading explains the topic for the day. The second reading tends to be an example of that type of theory when put in use. I then try to pair each class with a specific episode of SPN that demonstrates that particular theme, as illustrated in Table 1. Although in this chapter I don't have space to discuss all ten classes, I will go into detail with four of them: The Study of Culture, Ideology, Psychoanalysis, and Postmodernism.

The study of culture

The first class introduces students to cultural studies, which I define as the analysis of critical thinking about the way humans construct their existence in the world. By showing the students 'Pilot' for the Subject (and Study) of Culture, I meet two goals. The first is introducing the characters, narrative and themes of Supernatural in the way the producers intended. The second is letting the students learn about the way culture is constructed through a relatively easy-to-read episode. The first episode doesn't rely on viewers' inherent knowledge about the show and includes some pretty simple themes throughout. For example, a common analysis in media studies is to look at the representation of women in the media (is it stereotypical? Do they fulfill traditional gender roles?). In the case of Supernatural, there is a strong emphasis in the first episode on linking Sam and Dean's mother to Sam's girlfriend. We can see this in the representations of the death of Sam and Dean's mother (Figure 1) with the death of Sam's girlfriend (Figure 2). By linking these two characters visually, the show links them thematically – that is, it is drawing a connection between motherhood and femininity. It's a rather obvious visual trick in the show, and even without much experience in cultural studies, my students have been able to identify it pretty easily.

We engage in other discussions of theme in this first class, including the show's violence and the way it links familial bonds, vengeance, and the educational system – Dean is wiser because he is 'street smart'; despite his schooling, Sam has a lot to learn about the 'real world' – something my students enjoyed noticing. I intend this first class to introduce not only the show, but also the way scholars can investigate the media.

The class on Ideology, coming third in the schedule, is really the first time the class explores an unfamiliar and confusing topic. I define ideology as the way our cultural belief systems are constructed by factors all around us: the media, our families, politicians, even the educational system. My goal for the class is that students learn that what we believe to be a natural way of thinking is usually constructed by others for us to believe. Using the episode 'Hammer of the Gods' to illustrate ideology works well because it offers a chance for students to talk about value systems without delving into their own personal beliefs.

I talk with the students about the representation of the different religions on-screen. The conversation generally turns to how some are violent, others are animalistic, and some are seen as scheming. This, I say, is explicit in the show. We discuss how this represents religion in general and the underlying meaning of religion in this context. The point of our discussion, though, arrives when we talk about the implicit depiction of the religions. Which religion, I ask, is 'in charge'? Which are subordinate to it (Figure 3)?

When the class identifies Christianity as the major religion, I ask why the producers would have done this. The class seems to see this as an automatic choice – a decision that required no thought because the producers are working in a Judeo-Christian environment for a largely Judeo-Christian audience. Putting Odin as the 'head' of the religions wouldn't have made sense given the underlying ideological structure of the culture in which the episode appeared. This then offers a useful entrance into talking about how some ideas became naturalized and how others then become alien to us. I can then usually transition smoothly into the formation of false choice (are these the only religions?) and interpellation – how the media address viewers.

Psychoanalysis

For the topic of Psychoanalysis, I use the episode 'Dead Man's Blood'. In that episode, the Winchesters come across a nest of vampires who are trying to get their claws on John's magical Colt. One scene in particular stands out in class: one (female) vampire erotically 'turns' a (female) human into a vampire (Figure 4) for the pleasure of her (male) vampire companion (Figure 5). The audience watches the male watching the women.

This echoes precisely the three 'looks' of the cinema, as introduced by film scholar Laura Mulvey. For Mulvey, the three 'looks' of the cinema – the camera at the actors, the men on-screen and the audience at the characters – are all shaped by sexism. That is, all three objectify women. This scene from 'Dead Man's Blood' perfectly fits all three looks (in truth, the same could be said in reverse: Sam and Dean are often objectified as well in the show!).

Furthermore, throughout the episode, the three Winchester men – Sam, Dean and John – all vie for power to see who will be in charge of their attack. Dean acts impulsively, doing what he feels best. Sam acts rationally, trying to 'out-think' the others. John tries to mediate between the two of them. After reading through the section of the textbook on Freud's discussion of the id, ego and superego in human consciousness, the class quite easily identifies each Winchester with one of these characteristics. Our discussion allows us to explore how Freud's categories can be seen across different episodes as well – there's almost always an impulsive character (the id), a rational character (the superego), and a character that mediates (the ego). This happens in most media texts. In this way, I can use the episode to focus class discussion more specifically on both the way women are objectified by the media and on the way the media represents conflict through Freud's psychoanalysis.

Postmodernism

I follow a similar trajectory through the analysis of Postmodernism and 'The French Mistake'. Postmodernism is a type of analysis that relies on (among other things) self-referentiality to highlight the 'constructed' nature of the media. This episode tells of the brothers' trip into a parallel dimension where Sam and Dean Winchester are characters on a television show played by the actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Sam and Dean have to pretend to be these doppelgängers in order to get home. The self-referentiality of the show continues throughout – the producers share the names of their on-screen counterparts, jokes about the show's low ratings abound, actor Misha Collins portrays himself as a sycophantic wannabe actor, and Dean even finds a 'Supernatural Magazine' (Figure 6).

Beyond the obvious humour of the episode, there are a number of postmodern elements that make discussing the show in class easy and fun. From philosopher Peter Barry's chapter titled 'Postmodernism', we identify the major characteristics of this philosophical movement, including the fact that there is no inherent truth (what is the 'real' reality in 'The French Mistake'?) and that there has been an increase in the use of 'intertextuality' and 'pastiche' in the media. Both intertextuality and pastiche describe how different styles or genres can be pasted into a piece of media to create a new type of story. I ask students to point out an example of that characteristic from 'The French Mistake', an example from a different episode of Supernatural, and an example from something else they've watched. When we discuss, we find as a class how these characteristics manifest throughout contemporary media.

Supernatural has proven to be a useful teaching tool in the class. Not only does it offer a unique reference point for each topic, but it also provides a continuing narrative to which my students can comment. Furthermore, because of my own fandom of Supernatural, examples of which I am happy to share with the class, the show becomes more meaningful to the students; it has a real presence in their minds because of the excitement I show and the devotion I describe. In the next section, I'll go into a bit more detail about how my students responded to the show.

'Something wicked': Teaching with Supernatural

Although an imprecise measurement, student course evaluations are useful for at least generating discussion about the ideas and methods of classroom instruction. And in that respect, the evaluations I received for teaching with Supernatural were universally positive, in contrast to the course evaluations in the past that were more hesitant in their praise.

Reactions to the class emphasized the usefulness of using this media text over using many. For example, one student wrote that Supernatural 'taught me different ways of looking at media and essentially, the world'. Another said that as a media text, the show had 'excellent use of examples for practically every topic covered'. Finally, a third thought that 'Supernatural is really entertaining too and it helps to see what we learn in class in actuality'. In contrast, evaluations from the previous class included statements like 'The topic of Ideology was definitely interesting, [but] it [...] was the most difficult topic to grasp'. Students in the past seemed to have trouble making the connections and seeing the bigger picture than did students in my SPN course.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Supernatural by Lynn Zubernis, Katherine Larsen. Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Intellect Ltd.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Intellect Ltd
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1783202033
• ISBN 13: 9781783202034
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112
• Editor: Zubernis Lynn, Larsen Katherine