Supernatural Essay 1

Fangirls Take Sides: The Appeal of the Bad Boy Versus the Appeal of the Good Boy in SupernaturalBy Trish Milburn

The fangirl phenomena has likely been around as long as moving pictures, but it has exploded in the years since the Internet has been commonplace in homes. Now, female fans can not only dream of their favorite TV or movie hero, she also can create a fanlisting or Web site devoted to him. She can design banners and icons showcasing him to accompany her online forum posts. She can purchase a T-shirt from an online store like CafePress that proclaims her devotion. I admit it – I have Supernatural T-shirts and a pin proclaiming me to be a Sammy Girl. What is this Sammy Girl proclamation, you ask.

Perhaps as old as fangirldom is the debate over which guy in a show deserves all that adoration. And the division usually comes down to one’s preference for the bad boy versus the good boy. Spike or Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Captain Jack Sparrow or Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Henry Fitzroy or Mike Celucci in Blood Ties.

In other words, are you a Dean Girl or a Sammy Girl?

What makes a female fan gravitate toward Dean or Sam? Both have good qualities, and both have bad. I don’t think anyone will argue with the fact that they’re both smokin’ hot. It’s actually a mixture of things – physical attributes, their personalities, how they interact with those around them and each other – that cause fans to line up in their corners.

Physical Attributes

We know right from the Pilot episode which Winchester brother is going to be the bad boy and which is going to be the good boy. Visual clues tell us this as much as what the characters say. Dean has the bad-boy leather jacket, boots, and close-cropped hair that might have been inspired by his dad’s time in the Marines. Plus, who has time to mess with hair when he’s hunting things that go bump in the night?

Sam is the All-American college boy who wears newer jeans than Dean, sneakers, and loose shirts and jackets. Unlike his older brother, he has longer hair that takes a little more effort. Dean is a few inches shorter and a bit more compactly built. Sam is tall and rangy, though we find out in episodes like “Hell House” (1-17) and “Heart” (2-17) that Sammy is hiding a lot of muscles under those baggy clothes of his. (Hmm, I think my new favorite number is 17.)

Personalities

For two brothers who have the same, often lonely, mission in life, these two certainly have different personalities. And fangirls love them for those differences.

Dean is cocky and likes to have fun drinking, playing poker, shooting pool, throwing darts, and putting quarters in the Magic Fingers machine. He loves women, particularly of the “hot chick” variety. We see this early on in Season 1. In the Pilot, he gives Sam’s girlfriend, Jessica, that look of male appreciation when she comes into the living room in her sleepwear, including a revealing shirt sporting a Smurf. Dean says, “I love the Smurfs” and you know he really means he likes what’s in the Smurf shirt. In “Dead in the Water” (1-3), Sam interrupts him when he’s starting to flirt with a pretty waitress in a diner. Dean says, “You know, we are allowed to have fun.” He points at the waitress. “That’s fun.” Even when the brothers head to St. Louis to help out one of Sam’s college friends in “Skin” (1-6), Dean can’t turn off his strong pull toward women. When Becky says to Sam, “What do you think this is, Hooters?” Dean replies under his breath, “I wish.” Even faced with his imminent demise, Dean makes a hot-chick comment: “I’m not going to die in a hospital when the nurses aren’t even hot.” (“Faith,” 1-12)

Jensen Ackles plays Dean’s almost uncontrollable attraction to women to perfection, so it’s even funnier when Sam tries to snap him out of a lust-induced haze. In “Shadow” (1-16), Sam says, “Do you mind doing a little thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?” That’s a question that’ll win Sammy some fans among the ladies because most of us have at least thought that line regarding a guy at some point.

But even though Dean always comes across as the ladies’ man, he’s fun and attractive. And in “Route 666″ (1-13), we find out that Dean can indeed fall hard for a woman when he meets back up with Cassie, an old love. In fact, Cassie’s past rejection of him when he told her the truth about himself and his hunting may have contributed to him not wanting anything more than a superficial relationship with a woman now. When Sam is talking to him about Cassie, he says, “Everybody’s got to open up to someone sometime.” Dean’s response? “I don’t. It was stupid to get that close.”

Sam’s relationship with women is much different. He loved Jessica a lot and it’s eventually revealed that he was going to ask her to marry him. But when he lost her, it was a long time before he could even admit an attraction toward another woman. In “Hook Man” (1-7), Lori kisses Sam but he pulls away. He’s not over Jess yet. It’s not until “Provenance” (1-19) that Sam lets go enough to admit a new attraction and kiss Sarah at the end. But because of their job, he has to leave her and anything that might have developed between them behind.

While we figure Dean is having plenty of sex and enjoying every minute of it (as his partners likely are too), Sam doesn’t have sex after Jessica until he meets Madison in “Heart” (2-17). Because this is the first time since Jessica, it’s especially heart wrenching at the end when he has to admit that there’s no cure for Madison’s lycanthropy and he has to kill her. The anguish on his face just before he walks into the room, portrayed so well by Jared Padalecki, shows that when Sam begins to give his heart to someone, he doesn’t do it by half measures. That’s very attractive to women, to be loved like that. And it makes Sam’s female fans ache for him, that once again a woman he cares a great deal about has been taken from him.

Dean and Sam also differ in their senses of humor. Dean is snarky and has the best lines in the series. Here’s where I see a parallel with Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even though I was an Angel fan, I have to admit Spike had the best lines. Same with Dean. His quips reveal a lot about his character. He often uses jokes to keep distance between himself and others, as when Sam tries to apologize for his earlier comments about their parents in the Pilot and Dean holds up his hand and says, “No chick flick moments.” Cassie calls him on this defense mechanism in “Route 666″ (1-13) by pointing out that every time Dean gets close to emotional vulnerability, he backs off, makes a joke. He even uses this distancing mechanism with the people with whom they come into contact on their jobs, sometimes with comedic effect. In “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” (2-4), when he and Sam return to Neil’s house, he says, “Neil. It’s your grief counselors. We’ve come to hug.”

The Pilot is filled with lots of wonderful Dean snark, some of which reveals his affection for pop culture, particularly the horror genre, that will be revealed in many episodes throughout the series. For instance, when he and Sam pass the real FBI guys on the bridge, Dean, in a shout-out to the X-Files, says, “Agent Mulder, Agent Scully.” He references Ghost in “In My Time of Dying” (2-1) when his out-of-body self knocks over a glass of water and he says, “Dude, I full-on Swayzed that mother.” In “Folsom Prison Blues” (2-19), Dean even jokes while getting his police mugshot taken, even though deliberately getting thrown into jail to work a haunting inside the jail is the riskiest thing they’ve done so far considering they’re wanted by the feds. He looks at the man taking the mugshot and says, “I call this one blue steel,” and makes the famous face from Zoolander.

Sam’s sense of humor is a bit more understated, so when he does say something funny, it’s notable. Such an exchange in “Croatoan” (2-9) not only reveals Sam’s sense of humor but also the contrast between him and Dean in regards to school. Sam was always a straight-A student despite their crazy childhood and got a full ride to Stanford, while we get the impression that Dean barely skated by in school. When Sam notices the word “Croatoan” carved into a utility pole in River Grove, Oregon, he points it out to Dean.

Dean: “Croatoan?”
Sam: “Yeah. Roanoke. Lost Colony. Ring a bell? Dean, did you pay any attention to history class?”
Dean: “Yeah. Shot heard round the world, how bills become laws.”
Sam: “That’s not school. That’s Schoolhouse Rock.”

In “Provenance” (1-19), Sam uses a little humor with Sarah as he and Dean are digging up a grave so they can salt and burn the bones.

Sarah: “You guys are uncomfortably comfortable with this.”
Sam: “It’s not exactly the first grave we’ve dug. Still think I’m a catch?”

Humor and practical jokes between the brothers play a big part in “Hell House” (1-17). I still chuckle thinking about Sam sitting at the restaurant squirming because Dean put the itching powder in his underwear. Sam gets in another understated but funny dig at Dean in this exchange:

Dean: “People believe in Santa Claus. How come I’m not getting hooked up every Christmas?”
Sam: “Because you’re a bad person.”

More of Dean’s personality is revealed by the car he drives – a muscle car, of course. The classic 1967 black Chevy Impala with a trunk filled with bad-ass weaponry fits nicely with his love of classic rock and heavy metal music. When songs like AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” play, it just adds to the Dean-ness of the moment. While Dean distances himself from people, he loves his car and calls it “Baby.” He even shows this love and his way of joking in the face of death in “Faith” (1-12) when he tells Sam, “You better take care of that car or I’ll haunt your ass.”

Dean’s love of rock music often inspires his various aliases. In the Pilot, he tells the cops his name is Ted Nugent. At other times, he identifies himself as Father Simmons (Gene Simmons from KISS; he also identified Sam as Father Freeley, as in Ace Freeley from KISS), Dr. James Hetfield (from Metallica), John Bonham (from Led Zeppelin), and Agent Plant (Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin). It’s funny when the people to whom he’s speaking don’t get the connection, and equally funny when the guy in “Scarecrow” (1-11) isn’t so easily fooled.

Dean: “Hi. My name is John Bonham.”
Scotty: “Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?”
Dean: (Looking startled.) “Wow. Good. Classic rock fan.”

Another slice of personality that has become synonymous with Dean is his frequent use of the word “dude.” Since I too tend to use the word “dude” a lot, this makes me smile every time. A sampling:

Sam: “Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself.”
Dean: “I’m 26, dude.” (Pilot)

Dean: “Dude, I earned that money.”
Sam: You won it in a poker game.” (“Bloody Mary”, 1-5)

Dean: “Dude, sorority girls. Think we’ll see a naked pillow fight?” (“Hook Man”, 1-7)

Dean: “Dude, you’re fugly.” (“Scarecrow”, 1-11)

Dean and Sam also differ in their approach to their jobs. Dean is an action guy, often impulsive, the brawn of the duo. He knows the weaponry inside and out, and we often see him sitting in a dive motel room cleaning a gun or sharpening a knife. There’s an undeniable appeal of the action guy, one you know could protect you from all the baddies lurking in the dark. By contrast, Sam is often doing Internet searches or poring over old texts to research the lore behind the creature of the week. He’s cast as the geek boy, but the combination of good looking and smart is very sexy. The Winchester duo is formidable because they have both brains and brawn.

One aspect of how they approach hunting often causes friction between the brothers. Dean is a very black-and-white guy. Supernatural beings are evil, and therefore have to be killed. End of story. Sam isn’t so sure, especially when he finds out that there’s the possibility that he could have some dormant evil lurking inside him. He’s more willing to see shades of gray.

We see the difference in Season 1, in episodes like “Something Wicked” (1-18) when Dean wants to use Michael as bait for the shtriga while Sam wants to get the kid to safety. The different viewpoints really show up in “Bloodlust” (2-3) and “Croatoan” (2-9). During Dean’s conversation with Gordon, he identifies with Gordon’s black-and-white approach to hunting. But when Lenore shows that her group of vampires are telling the truth about not preying on humans, Dean sides with Sam against Gordon and helps the vampires get away from the hunter. He starts doubting his most basic belief that he’s carried with him his entire life.

Dean: “Think about all the hunts we went on, Sammy, our whole lives. What if we killed things that didn’t deserve killing?”

In “Croatoan” (2-9), Dean and Sam again find themselves at odds about how to deal with a supernatural threat. As residents of the town become infected with the demon virus, the brothers argue about who to kill and when. When they go to a house where a father and son are holding the mother hostage and doing her harm, Dean doesn’t hesitate to shoot the man. Sam, however, does hesitate to shoot the teenage boy because he’s a kid. Dean has the attitude that once someone gets the virus, he or she is a danger and needs to be put down like a rabid animal. That is until Sam becomes infected. Rather than kill his brother, something he will repeatedly refuse to do as the series progresses, he chooses to stay with Sam and give the Impala to the other survivors so they can flee the town. Again, he’s reminded that dealing with evil isn’t always cut and dried.

Sam is portrayed as the brother with the kinder heart, the one who offers sympathy to the victims and survivors with whom they come into contact. He also seems to have more of a conscience and feeling of guilt regarding the lies they tell and the credit card scams they use to fund their hunting. This appeals to those of us who value honesty and compassion.

Family Relationships

Sam and Dean have had very different relationships with their father, something with which most of us can identify. For those of us with close relationships with our fathers, or even those who don’t but wish they did, Dean’s unquestioning loyalty to John is attractive. But for viewers who may have had strained relationships with their dads and not seen eye to eye, it’s easy to identify with Sam. He feels John never understood him, and Sam resents how the hunting took over every aspect of his life as he grew up. That’s why he’s so resistant to being pulled back into that life in the Pilot, at least until Jessica is killed by the same demon who killed his mother and set his family on the hunting path.

The brothers seem to switch viewpoints after their dad’s death, and the reasons are also easily understandable. Dean grows angry with his dad because he sacrificed his soul so Dean could live, and John weighs Dean down with an even heavier and more horrible responsibility – the knowledge that he might have to kill Sam if he turns evil. Sam, on the other hand, feels guilty that he fought so often with his dad, his only living parent. That during their last conversation, he tried to pick a fight with John. That guilt leads to the need to hunt more because there is one less hunter to fight the fight. Part of him also wants to honor his father’s memory, to finish what John started. The switch is shown in “Hunted” (2-10).

Dean: “Screw the job.”
Sam: “You can’t run from this.”

While Sam and Dean also often argue over their views of their dad and how to deal with particular hunts, they are undoubtedly devoted to each other. Each would willingly die for the other. Dean is Mr. Keep Everyone at Arm’s Length, but his family is everything to him. After his father’s death, Sam is his only family. He’s been watching after Sammy his entire life, and he’s not going to stop now. We see the depth of that devotion over and over, as in “Born Under a Bad Sign” (2-14) when Sam asks Dean to kill him. Dean says, “I can’t. I’d rather die.” Sam was possessed by a demon at the time, but Dean didn’t know that. Even thinking Sam was starting to give in to evil, he couldn’t kill his little brother.

This not being able to let go of Sam is pushed to the extreme when Sam dies at the hand of Jake in “All Hell Breaks Loose, Parts 1 and 2″ (2-21 and 2-22). In ironic contrast to what he condemns Evan for in “Crossroads Blues” (1-8), and the action for which he’s angry at his dad, Dean makes a deal with the Crossroads Demon to bring Sammy back to life in exchange for his own soul. Even when the demon only gives Dean one year to live versus the customary ten, Dean makes the deal. And he makes no apology for it when Bobby figures out what he’s done and confronts him about it.

Dean: “I couldn’t let him die, Bobby. I couldn’t. He’s my brother.”
Bobby: “How’s your brother going to feel when he knows you’re going to hell? How’d you feel when you knew your dad went for you?”

Sam shows that same unwillingness to let go of Dean in “In My Time of Dying” (2-1). When he and Bobby are looking at the demolished Impala, this exchange shows that Sam is not about to give up on Dean.

Sam: “Oh man, Dean is gonna be pissed.”
Bobby: “Look, Sam…This just ain’t worth a tow. I say we empty the trunk and sell the rest for scrap.”
Sam: “No. Dean’d kill me if I did that. When he gets better he’s gonna want to fix this.”
Bobby: “There’s nothing to fix. The frame’s a pretzel, the engine’s ruined. There’s barely any parts worth salvaging.”
Sam: “Listen to me, Bobby. If there’s just one working part, that’s enough. We’re not just gonna give up on…” (voice trails off)
Bobby: “Okay. You got it.”

When he finds out about the deal Dean made with the Crossroads Demon to save him, Sam makes it his mission to find a way to save Dean. Even when Dean is seemingly accepting his fate by living a hedonistic lifestyle of women, beer and loaded cheeseburgers, Sam is searching every nook and cranny of the lore to find a way to get Dean out of his deal.

The type of dedication Sam and Dean show each other is powerful and attractive. What woman wouldn’t want to be with a guy who possessed that kind of dedication to family?

Contradictions to Normal Character

Sam and Dean are memorable partially because they are so three-dimensional. They are perhaps at their most attractive when they’re acting against their normal character – when the good boy shows a little bad or when we glimpse the good in the bad boy.

We know that Dean is incredibly attached to the Impala, so when he offers to let Sam drive it in “Wendigo” (1-2), something he’s never offered before, we understand this is his way of trying to help Sam over Jessica’s death. Anytime Dean cries, it’s especially poignant. That single tear in “Everybody Loves a Clown” (2-2) as he watches his father’s funeral pyre burn is heartbreaking. Unable to let out his emotions any other way, at the end of the episode calm, controlled Dean beats the hell out of the Impala, the car he loves.

Sam’s actions against type grow darker as the series progresses, tying into the idea that he might be headed toward the dark side. In early episodes like the Pilot, he just does things like making a fake 911 call so Dean can escape the cops. But by “All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 2″ (2-22), Sam has a very dark look on his face as he shoots Jake repeatedly and seemingly without remorse. Part of us wonders if the Sam that came back after the Crossroads Demon deal is the Sammy we know and love. But another part wonders if he’s just finally broken and all the loss and pain of his life has driven him to become more like his brother, who has been exposed to the hunting life longer.

To end on a lighter note, the writers have created a fear for each brother that is funny considering all the scary things they’ve encountered and fought. And they are common fears with which the fans can identify, making the brothers more real to us. Dean, as we learn in “Phantom Traveler” (1-4), is afraid of flying.

Sam: “Are you okay?”
Dean: “No. Not really.”
Sam: “What? What’s wrong?”
Dean: “Well, I kind of have a problem with, uh…”
Sam: “Flying?’
Dean: “It’s never really been an issue till now!”
Sam: “You’re joking, right?”
Dean: “Do I look like I’m joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?”

Sam doesn’t have a problem with the friendly skies, but he’s not particularly fond of clowns. And with good reason in “Everybody Loves a Clown” (2-2).

Dean: “I know what you’re thinking, Sam. Why did it have to be clowns?”
Sam: “Oh, give me a break.”
Dean: “You didn’t think I’d remember, did you? Come on, you still bust out crying when you see Ronald McDonald on the television.”
Sam: “At least I’m not afraid of flying.”
Dean: “Planes crash!”
Sam: “And apparently clowns kill.”

The Dean Girl versus Sammy Girl debate will likely rage on in the years to come, even after Supernatural has ended its run, much as the Angel versus Spike debate is still alive and well five years after Buffy and the Scooby Gang left Sunnydale behind. But that’s part of the fun. It gives us valid excuses to watch and re-watch the Winchesters do their thing. We’re searching for the reasons why our Winchester is the more attractive, and we’re enjoying the mighty fine view as we do it.