Supernatural, Slash, and Subtext: Part 6
Therefore, heteronormativity is the word and law on television. We see Mulan (the only gender non-conforming Disney Princess, which is its own can of worms) fall in love with Aurora on Once Upon a Time, only to hear that her lady love is totes preggo with Prince Phillip’s baby right before Mulan was about to confess her true love. Oops. And we get forced, awkward, sometimes unintentionally hilarious or even repulsive scenes of Castiel having sexual relationships with random female characters with whom he shares little to no chemistry, in or right after episodes focusing on how much he and Dean love and need each other. (Curious George T Shirt making my exact face when Cass started making out with Demon Meg) Take that as you will, but I can’t help but feel it as a slap in the face.
But times are changing, sometimes even for the better. In the series finale of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: the Legend of Korra, (SPOILERS!) the love triangle-square-thingy was resolved by putting the two female leads together. And this is on an animated all-ages family show, as opposed to a rated TV-14 cable network show marketed on it’s sex appeal, especially to straight (or queer) women. That speaks to me of hope and of comfort.
Supernatural, Slash, And Subtext: Part 5
No show has been more often accused of blatant queer-baiting than Supernatural, and for good reason. I know many straight male fans of the show who watch it now, hoping that Dean and his favorite angel get together in the end. That seems to be where the show has been and is heading, despite writers and show-runners unable to agree on anything or even make up their own minds as to whether they support the relationship as romantic or not.
I personally think that they’ve written themselves into several dark corners, because they now have a larger queer (or queer-friendly) audience than a straight, conservative one, and because they might feel as writers that the show would lose its edge or jump the shark if the guys actually got together, or even implied a true romantic or sexual connection. After all, Moonlighting and the X-Files were ruined by their leads getting together and they didn’t have homophobic backlash as an excuse.
All that is besides the fact that Dean and Castiel weren’t ever meant to be the stars of the show; it was originally for more than 4 seasons a show about two brothers hunting monsters and saving the world in a cool car with awesome music. (More like the Blues Brothers, with gore instead of singing, “Mission From God” pic from our Movie T Shirts collection.) If Destiel becomes cannon, who or what do the writers do with poor lonesome Sam (Jared Padalecki)?
Supernatural, Slash and Subtext: Part 4
But why is Destiel a thing? Or JohnLock? Or just everything about the character of Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman and star of both Doctor Who and his own spin-off show, Torchwood: why are gay (or bi or pansexual) men in fiction so appealing to straight (or bi or pan) women?
Sure, there’s something to be said for positive and diverse representation of sexual minorities in fictional worlds, especially Sc-Fi or fantastical ones, but that doesn’t seem to be where the vast appeal stems from. Straight men understand the idea of “lipstick lesbians” or of hot girl-on-girl action, but somehow we’ve evolved into a world where homosexual male subtext is the norm in genre fiction, especially if it wants to do well with both men and women. ( Iron Man T Shirt from our Avengers category, because Steve/Tony/Bruce Banner is my OT3). 
But there’s a harsh side to that edgy ideal; fandom has dubbed this most dubious honor the dreaded “Queer-Baiting”; meaning to bait a gay/ bi/ pan/ questioning audience with stories full of sexual tension between supposedly straight (invariably male, with some exceptions such as Once Upon a Time and female detective shows) characters between them, only to never deliver sweet, sweaty cannon satisfaction. This is the story teller’s version of having one’s cake and eating it too: you get a straight audience that won’t be offended or scared off because of an unwillingness to see what’s there, and hook a periphery demographic of hip young queer folks with sexy, flirty, funny guys (and gals) in ambiguous situations.
Supernatural, Slash and Subtext: Part Three
While at Supernatural Con 2014 Fan Q&A, Misha Collins asked a young lady if she wrote fan fiction, and she said that she’d tried, but to no avail because of her own distracted laziness. So, Misha tried to help her out, especially after it had been explained to him that “50 Shades of Grey” was a “Twilight” fan fiction originally. He told the audience to raise their hands if they would be willing to work with the young lady to help her write and publish a sexy fan fiction for Supernatural, and maybe actually make some money on it. Many hands were raised, including my own. (Girls “I like Guys with Cars and Money” batman hoodie because Misha Collins is amazing and has both things.)
I’ve never read “50 Shades” nor written any fan fiction, slash or otherwise, but I have had erotic original works published and made some money off of it and I do like the idea of Castiel sort of endorsing Destiel style writings being out in the world. Misha called on a young man closer to the front row to exchange information with her instead of me, which was just as well. I have a full plate of writing to do without taking on special projects for a stranger.
Supernatural, Slash and Subtext: Part 2
While at Supernatural convention SF, 2015, Misha Collins was answering fan questions and a young woman, maybe 17 or 18, asked him if he had read any of the Slash fiction that fans had written about his fan-favorite character, Castiel and his not-quite-boyfriend, Dean Winchester (Jenson Ackles), lovingly dubbed by fan-girls (and rarely but not unheard of boys) as “Destiel”. Misha had not read the fan’s manuscripts, except when he was new to the role and accidentally stumbled upon some in 2009 while looking up what people thought of his character in general. His response was shock and awe, saying “Cas! You are being a very naughty angel,” in the most good-natured and ribbing way that Misha has when talking to fans.
(Jimi Hendrix “Kiss This Guy” from our vast music t-shirt collection.) Since then, the writers of the show have dropped innumerable “hints” that the relationship between Dean, the surly pretty-boy alchaholic and his socially awkward, trench coat sporting, blue-eyed pal are more than just friendly. Misha tried to play coy with the audience and at other conventions, Jenson has dodged similar questions, sometimes even outright accusations from real world gay or bisexual fans who are offended at his teasing portrayal (who I guess don’t realize that he’s not in control of what his character says or who he ends up dating in fiction).
Supernatural, Slash and Subtext: Part 1
Supernatural isn’t a perfect show, but then again, nothing is ever perfect and if it were, would we as a viewing audience still tune in? The Walking Dead is massively flawed, but sometimes I get the impression that people tune in just to try to parse out what they might have done differently as writers/ producers or even actors. Back to Supernatural, and to shows that do well, specifically within a certain demographic: What do shows such as Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Once Upon a Time and even the original series of Star Trek all have in common? Well, they are or were all wildly popular and successful, especially among women ages 18-35, though still appealed to the “target demographic” of straight (ostensibly white, cis-gendered) men of the same or even broader ages.
(image from one of the many Star Trek novelty t shirts in our collection)
Science Fiction and to some extent, fantasy has always been a man’s world. The writers are men, the show’s producers are men, the showrunners and the majority of the lead actors and characters are all usually male. But so many of the fans are female, and straight females who are either tuning in with hopes of seeing two men in an intimate relationship with each other, or creating works of fan-fiction, better known as “Slash” in which their own fantastical, sexy projections and/ or interpretations of characters and events can finally manifest. (Star Trek T Shirt “Shoot that Thing!” because Kirk/ Spock was the original Slash.)
Supernatural Convention 2015
Thoughts on Family, Fun and Fandom.
As fun as all of that was, and it really was, the best part of the convention was seeing the stars of the show as themselves rather than as their parts, in person and they were all uniquely lovely. Jarrod and Jenson weren’t there on Saturday at all, and they are quite pricey to get a picture or autograph with, but I honestly wasn’t there for them. I was there to see Misha Collins, whom I follow on Twitter and Facebook, who has his own charity, GISHWES, and who most people know as playing Castiel, the guy I was dressed up as. (Dary Dixon T-shirt from our vast Walking Dead T Shirt collection, because I want to see Cas and Daryl cross over).
I was also surprised and excited to see Sci-Fi god Mark Sheppard there, in all his cranky British glory, presiding over unruly fans with aplomb. Mark plays Crowley, the King of Hell on the show, the bad Angel to Cas’ good. Both of these gentlemen spoke a great deal about the importance of fandom, of family, and of taking care of ourselves and each other especially in the face of a world which can so often be cruel. They spoke out against bullying and Sheppard even spoke about self-harm, and about himself being a recovering alchaholic, now 20+ years sober. He said, “When you reach out in fandom, make sure you are extending a hand and not a fist. Because this is about love, including love for yourself. Lift each other up.”
Supernatural Convention 2015 Part 1
Family doesn’t end with blood.
The CW’s hit show “Supernatural” has been on the air for almost 10 years and just been renewed for its 11th season. What started as that other show about sexy people hunting monsters on what was then still the WB network, has turned into a flagship for its parent company and a rallying cry for a huge fandom that explores themes of what it means to be human, what it means to be a family and what it means to fight evil, within as well as literal things that go bump in the night.
During its first season, the tag line for Supernatural’s promos was “Scary just got sexy”, and it was described (not unjustly) as “The X-Files meets the Hardy Boys.” (X-Files image from one of our many novelty t shirts) But now, the line is changed firmly to “Join the Hunt.” Still, perhaps it might be better encapsulated with a line from one of the show’s own characters: Jim Beaver’s beloved portrayal of Bobby Singer (a gruff father figure named as a joke by the crew after one of the show’s head writers and executive producers) told the two main characters, brothers Sam (Jared Padaleki) and Dean (Jenson Ackles), that “Family don’t end with blood, boy!” and that has made a world of difference for people on social media, for youths exiled due to being LGBTQ, for fans and strangers to the show alike.
Supernatural Convention Part 2
I personally have been a fan of the show for about 5 years now, and the line “Saving people, hunting things: The Winchester Family Business since 1983” seemed especially appropriate to me as I was born on January the 17th, 1983, and the middle day of the Supernatural Convention at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt took place on my birthday. Much less like other nerdy conventions or even fan get-togethers, Supernatural Con is more similar to a 3 day rock concert with special celebrity guests on tour. This is both astounding and an enriching experience for any seasoned fan of the show, but be warned that it is one of the more costly fan expos I’ll ever attend.
I told every vendor that it was my birthday, and once I had shown proof, they even gave me discounts, and I participated in or volunteered for anything available, which also garnered me free stuff. I participated in a trivia contest with two other fans chosen from the audience (we did not win, despite best efforts. It was really hard), and I was one of maybe 100 people dressed as some version of the character Castiel, the rebel angel and sometimes ally/ assumed love interest/ big bad friend of the two main men on the show. 
I didn’t place in the costume contest either, though I felt really handsome in my long coat and disheveled necktie. (the zombie image from the classic horror movie t shirt I pulled just because in any nerd costume contest you can count on at least one zombie) The competition was steep and diverse, and the guy who won had made full sized black angel wings with pneumatic strings that allowed him to invisibly puppeteer them up and down.
Supernatural Convention Part 3
“King of Hell or President of the United States?”
There were also plenty of funny and hectic moments with both Collins and Sheppard, separately and together, not to mention the numerous other panelists and guests that took the stage that Saturday. I enjoyed hearing long lines of fans during Q&A’s ask the same 4-5 questions (reworded very slightly) to each guest in turn: “What was your most awkward moment?” “What’s your favorite episode?” “What’s your acting process?” “Who’s your celebrity crush?” “Can I have a hug?” And so on. Every once in a great while a really good fan question would come up, like someone asking Mark Sheppard, “Which did you like more: Being on Supernatural or being on Doctor Who?”
“I’m not going to answer that,” Mark said, instantly turning into the lovable raspy-voiced jerk he’s most known for portraying in fiction. He’s quite British, you see, so his preferences need not be stated. (Doctor Who t shirt selected with love from our Funny t shirt category because it’s pretty damn funny.) Everyone did their own impersonation of Sheppard at some point, usually just by saying the word “No”, or, occasionally the word “Cardio” for some reason.
