Supernatural Audience

You can’t spell subtext without S-E-X: A supernatural study on contested memory
Supernatural is a TV show broadcast on the CW. It follows two brothers Sam and
Dean Winchester as they travel across the United States of America killing all things
supernatural along the way. In season 4 they meet Castiel and with the three of them, they
embark on adventures for the next 11 seasons to come.
In my paper, I will be answering the question: ‘Why is there contested memory in the
TV Show Supernatural between democrats and republicans?’ I will be doing this by
analysing why Democrats and Republicans feel enticed by the show. After this, I will analyse
how it fits into the contested memory framework by connecting the show's social-political
problems to see how the opinions of both sides differ.
According to market research done by E-poll in 2016, "Republicans prefer programs
that are family-friendly, funny, plot-driven and have storylines that involve 'good versus evil.'
When applying this to Supernatural it is clear why the show sits well with this side of its
audience. (1) The show is relatively family-friendly. There are no swear words aside from the
occasional ‘son of a bitch’ From Dean, there are only 26 shirtless scenes from Sam and Dean
in all 15 seasons and no obvious drug or alcohol abuse besides the occasional beer. (2)
Though the show has its serious moments it has entire episodes directed at humorous
adventures. For example, in episode 3 of season 3 when Sam and Dean attempt to get rid of a
cursed rabbit's foot, resulting in Sam being the unluckiest person on earth. (3) it is plot-
driven. Though every episode could stand on its own with each episode having a new
monster, there is an overarching plot in every season. (4) And lastly, there is a clear good vs
evil in the show. With some exceptions, the general rule that applies is everything that is not
human is bad.
According to that same market research, "Democrats prefer programs that are sexy,
edgy, emotionally involving and ethnically diverse.” This side of the audience takes a bit
more puzzling to understand its enthusiasm for the show. (1) The show could be considered
sexy because the main characters are attractive, but as mentioned previously there is no
nudity and barely any sex scenes. (2) The show is certainly edgy considering the amount of
gore it represents, so, that one fits. (3) The show is also definitely emotionally involving. But
then again, when following three characters for 15 years it is bound to be. (4) But the last
criterion does not fit in the slightest.
The main cast consists entirely of white people. Only in seasons 7, 8 and 9 is there
one Asian man in the main cast. Black characters in the show more often than not end up
either dead, villains or generally unlikable characters. In most cases, all three of the above
apply. Of any other ethnicity is no trace in the entire show. Any other type of diversity is not
shown either. The female characters in the show, are always just skin, bone and boobs, but no
personality to go with it. And to top it all off there is an astounding lack of queer
representation.
This analysation leads to incredulity. Why has this side of the audience watched
Supernatural loyally for 15 years, when the show just barely manages to fit the democratic
requirements for a good TV show? I believe that the answer lies in the show’s subtext.
Besides all the previously mentioned controversies there is one more matter that raises
debate between the two political parties. This is the relationship between Dean and Castiel,
conveniently named Destiel. The democratic half of the audience remembers their
relationship differently than the republican half does. The democrats believe that they had a
romantic connection that was never explored in the show while the republicans deny this and
instead remember them as being best friends. Which side is correct is never confirmed by the
writers or the CW, which begs the question: how can people that watched the same show
disagree on something paramount in the show’s plotline?
To piece together how this contested memory regarding Destiel manifested I will be
looking at one specific event in the series, which is an event in episode 18 of season 15. This
event summarises perfectly how the writers of the show managed to keep Destiel alive for the
democrats through subtext and interpretation but keep it ambiguous enough for the
republicans through paltering and equivocating.
In this event, Dean and Cas are running from Death. They have no way of fighting her
but Cas remembers that he made a deal with a cosmic being, the deal on his end entailed that
the cosmic being would come to take him in a moment of true happiness. Castiel then
confesses his love to Dean saying “happiness isn’t in the having. it’s in just being. it’s in just
saying it.” Before he gets swallowed up by darkness along with Death whilst leaving behind a
devastated and heartbroken Dean.
This ‘confession scene’ perfectly shows the queerbaiting, the ‘bury your gays’ trope
and toxic masculinity that has plagued the show since Castiel first appeared in episode 1 of
season 4. It explains the queerbaiting because only one-half of the ship confessed his love,
which is just barely enough to call it a love confession, and therefore barely enough to call it
queer representation. The ‘bury your gays’ trope fits because Castiel, who has been a fan
favourite and main character for 11 seasons is mentioned a mere 2 times in the last two
episodes. And toxic masculinity is the reason Castiel’s love was never reciprocated by Dean.
On the queerbaiting, the ‘bury your gays’ trope and toxic masculinity I will elaborate
more in my paper, after doing more research.

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You can’t spell subtext without S-E-X: A supernatural study on contested memory

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