The SPN Mytharc and Ways of Being a Presence in Fictional Universes

[rheasilvia]

bowtrunckle has posted a lovely, thoughtful and insightful SPN meta essay titled "Tension, Conflict, Motivation, and Plot: Why the Story is About Dean and We Do Know Sam". She makes a lot of fascinating points – not just about SPN but about constructing narratives and dramatic tension in general – and has a wonderful geeky chart, too. :-)

Her essay almost – but not quite – addresses an issue that has been making me uneasy about where the SPN mytharc might be going since S1. And so, because it was time, I finally committed SPN meta myself.


Vague mytharc spoilers up to 3x12, no spoilers for unaired episodes. I am unspoiled for any and all unaired eps and wish to remain so, so please, no spoilers in comments!



To my mind, there are different ways of being a presence in a fictional universe. "Plot time" – meaning involvement in and/or moving forward of the plot – is not identical with "importance within the fictional universe". It's the latter arena where I fear that SPN may turn lopsided in the future; it hasn't quite done so yet, IMO, but it has set up a lot of factors that make it seem like the mytharc is going there at full tilt.

Let me explain what I mean by citing one telling instance that exemplifies a trend woven throughout all of the mytharc plot threads: Dean's deal and the powerful, as yet anonymous demon who's holding the contract for his soul.

I have a feeling that in the end, this mysterious and powerful demon who wants Dean's soul so badly will turn out to want it not because of Dean himself – because he's killed Azazel, say, or because his hunting prowess makes him a threat, because Anonymous!Demon thinks he'd make an excellent weapon against other demons, because he chews with his mouth open or his wisecracking ways are just plain irritating or what have you – but rather because Dean is Sam's brother, and can be used to threaten, torture or influence Sam.

In other words: I fear that in this instance and in the fictional universe of SPN at large, Dean's importance not to the plot, but to the fictional world is derived solely from Sam's importance.

If this does turn out to be the case, that doesn't mean that Dean has (or will have) less plot than Sam in the sense of driving events, discovering key facts, occupying screen time and the like. It also doesn't mean that Dean holds – or is intended to hold – a lesser role in the actual story being told; the story has always been and will always be about Sam and Dean equally, and that won't change, no matter what the mytharc does.

But, again – it would mean that Dean's importance within the fictional universe is second-hand, a reflection of Sam's. This isn't something that will bother everyone, but it will most certainly bother me.

An imbalance of "worldly" importance doesn't bother me in every fictional world, because there are so many other factors that can come into play. But for me, the story of SPN is a straightforward action-oriented tale carried by a very closely intertwined duo of protagonists, and not possessed of additional layers of narrative meaning. In SPN, if one of the duo of protagonists is a creature of legendary, apocalyptic power who has been variously manipulated, hunted, stalked, revered and feared by demons and other legendary, apocalyptic powers for his entire life, and the other protagonist is his brother... then that's a radical imbalance that isn't balanced out by any other factor.

If Sam is The Antichrist, and Dean is Sam's Brother, then for me, that is A Problem.

But for many others, it isn't. It's a question of personal preference in the construction of narratives.

I received what I feel is a telling reply to a comment I made once about my apprehension that it will, in the end, turn out to be All About Sam. The fan I was speaking with told me: "If it is All About Sam, that's okay because Sam is all about Dean – so, see, it comes out even in the end". She doesn't perceive the chasm between the characters' relative importance within their world as a bothersome imbalance, because to her it's evened out by other factors.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Which doesn't mean I'm not still holding out hope.

Comments

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

This bothers me, too (although it wouldn't bother Dean!) and I've see so many fics recently where Dean gets the Maiden In Distress role and Sam does all the saving - even where that saving is mostly doing research! - that I start to wonder if the balance is tipping fandom, too. I'd like to think that the show is setting up an All About Sam climax then switching it out on us, but they sort of did a version of that at the end of Season 2 (Dean with the Colt, John getting out of Hell, Sam having 1.5 episodes of being Super Important Guy then just standing around at the end), so I'm really not sure.

Then again, I'd really like to see Sam *do* something (or actively choose not to) if he's so important, rather than just be chased around, so maybe these frustrations are feeding off each other.

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

it wouldn't bother Dean!

It absolutely wouldn't! Dean's world has always been All About Sam anyway, so to Dean, it would only be natural and expected if that turned out to be an even more wide-spread phenomenon.

I've see so many fics recently where Dean gets the Maiden In Distress role and Sam does all the saving (...) that I start to wonder if the balance is tipping fandom

I haven't noticed any particular upsurge of Maiden!Dean fic, but then, I probably just ascribed it to the circumstances of Dean's deal - after all, Sam's forced to do all of the heavy lifting with this one because Dean's hands are tied...

But I certainly do have the impression that a large part of fandom is more than happy to run with MassivelyPowerfulAndImportant!Sam and SupportiveAndLoving!Dean (or even Pet!Dean in some AUs and apocalypse fics I've seen). Many fans like extremely high-powered and hyper-important versions of Sam and don't mind the resulting Sam-Dean-imbalance. And hey, fair enough, to each their own... I'd just feel a *lot* better if this particular imbalance weren't actually threatening to become canon. :-/

I'd like to think that the show is setting up an All About Sam climax then switching it out on us

That might be one way out - I'm really hoping for something of the kind myself...

Thing is, there's only so long canon can go on hinting at the extent of Sam's awesome (if as yet dormant) powers - and shoving more and more fateful entities at him to follow/oppose/watch him because of his pivotal role in the apocalyptic war to come - and then not going anywhere with it.

Then again, I'd really like to see Sam *do* something

Yeah, that gets old, too. :-) You can only delay the denoument for so long before it becomes annoying rather than intriguing.

[charlidos.livejournal.com]

You make a very interesting point. I can't say it bothers me per se, but I see what you're saying. And it does seem likely that the mytharch is heading this way.

I do feel that Dean's role in this might be bigger than just being Sam's brother, though. For one, if Dean wasn't there, Sam would most likely be in very different place, right now. But that would still make Dean's role here a, in effect, passive one. But I also think he does have an active role to play, in regards to the mytharch; I'm not sure in what capacity, but I think Dean's role in the big picture is very important, and not just in relation to Sam. It's not impossible that Dean's the one who can REALLY put things right in the end (such as preventing the world from ending, or something *g*) and NOT Sam. Dean's a bit of wild card here, after all, and I think he's crucial to how things turn out. Thus, I do think there IS a certain balance.

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

I can't say it bothers me per se, but I see what you're saying.

It's really just a matter of personal preferences in narratives, like I said - I'm a very difficult customer when power imbalances and hierarchical relationships and the like come into play. It's an anti-kink for me. ;-)

I kinda wish I could join you in not being bothered, because I'm pretty certain that the mytharc is indeed going there...

I think Dean's role in the big picture is very important, and not just in relation to Sam. (...) Dean's a bit of wild card here, after all, and I think he's crucial to how things turn out.

*wistful sigh* That would be *so cool*. I so hope you're right that Dean will have an active and none-reflective role of his own to play... I'm certainly holding out hope for something of that kind!

Your word in Kripke's ear. :-)

[bowtrunckle.livejournal.com]

*waves*

I've spent the last couple of minutes searching through the comments to that meta because this exact thought was echoed somewhere at some point by someone in the not too distant past (of course it could've been in a different post *headdesk*).

"Plot time" – meaning involvement in and/or moving forward of the plot – is not identical with "importance within the fictional universe".

Yes, exactly. :) This was something I couldn't address in my geeky chart because I was defining categories (Sam (P) and Dean (P)) on a single occurrence and not the duration of each. In the comments to that post, Zazreil mentioned she tallied up Dean and Sam's screen time in order to get a sense of "who the story was about", and they came out roughly the same. But still that doesn't directly address what you speak of which seems, to me, to tie directly into the mytharc (plot) and highlights the pesky question, "WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST?"

Yeah, really. Who is the protagonist? Can there even be more than one technically? And if so, it would seem they'd always be a push-pull tension between them and the mytharc (plot) as they jockeyed for dominance. I'm not sure if it's quite possible to strike a balance because, in fiction, what drives the story forward is imbalance. It's the struggle for power (even if that power is intended to be a positive thing ... the Winchester trait of self-sacrifice that undoubtedly ends horribly wrong) that keeps the wheels spinning. Maybe "equal footing" is an impossibility based on story construction?

I fear ... Dean's importance not to the plot, but to the fictional world is derived solely from Sam's importance

I totally understand this. It would be lackluster if the driving forces behind Dean's deal are only using Dean as a pawn for their endgame solely focused around Sam. I do feel that Dean's plot and Sam's plot are going to merge somewhere down the road and, therefore, one of them will have to take a back seat to the other, but I don't want to see one plot stepping aside to completely defer to the other. I want to see the plots get tangled and messy.

What intrigues me is humans damned to Hell become demons. And that seems to be where there could be some wiggle room with respect to how Dean's deal plot merges with the demon plot. Who's to say that Sam will be the only character to be directly linked to demons and, therefore, the main demon plot? I'm also placing some hope for Krikpe's secrecy surrounding Dean's amulet and why Dean has never been possessed in the reality of The Show.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

There's definite truth to that. And I think it's especially relevant to this fandom that, IMHO, tends to see things in terms of dual opposites which easily translates into or is interpreted as deficiencies (what Dean has Sam doesn't and vice versa) instead of seeing things as gradients or complimentary pairs.

Great thoughts. Thanks for writing this all down and linking me to your post! I really enjoyed it. *wanders away thinking* :)