Season 8 non-thoughts

[ratherastory]

I have lots and lots of thoughts about Season 8. The problem is that I'm a little too anxious to post them here or anywhere else, because it feels like all I've seen online lately is people getting more firmly entrenched in a pro-$brother position. As though somehow one brother has to be unconditionally right and the other unconditionally wrong. A lot of it is anti-Sam, which hurts my little Sam!girl heart, but I've seen enough anti-Dean commentary to make my stomach hurty as well. :P In fact, it's making me actively avoid any meta/commentary posts even by people I normally trust, because I can't trust that the comments won't be full of vitriol, and I'm worried that even these lovely, sane people might somehow fall down the same rabbit hole and then I would be sad. (No, it's not rational, whatever.)

I hope I can safely say that it isn't about who's right and who's wrong. Both boys have been very badly damaged/hurt by what happened, and they're each coping in their own way. They're both entitled to their feelings, and they're both right and wrong. That's always been the strength of the show: that every character has their reasons for what they're doing, and while we may disagree with the choices they make (and for the record, mistakes are choices by definition, otherwise they'd be accidents), we can understand where they're coming from and why they're acting the way they are.

Also, it feels like it's frowned upon to not have strong feelings about the season. You're supposed to love it or hate it, but you're not allowed to like some parts and not others. God forbid I enjoy the show but at a lesser level of involvement than I used to feel.

In short, I don't think I can post my thoughts without having to put in several thousand caveats first, and that is sucking the fun out of it.

FML. People, PLEASE don't post comments in here about how Show is "clearly" favouring one brother over another. You are PROVING MY POINT about why I am reluctant to post anything or even click on meta links. Take it to your own journals! Please and thank you.

Comments

[chloe-amethyst.livejournal.com]

That's always been the strength of the show: that every character has their reasons for what they're doing, and while we may disagree with the choices they make (and for the record, mistakes are choices by definition, otherwise they'd be accidents), we can understand where they're coming from and why they're acting the way they are.

Yes! Something I like best about the show is these are not perfect characters. They are damaged, sometimes make bad choices with awful consequences, but they also have a tremendous capacity for nobility, bravery, compassion, and forgiveness. Anything else would be so very dull. And I like the JJs, too, as they seem like really good folks who stay out of the gossip pages and rehab. :-) And yes, sometimes I don't care for an episode or a storyline, maybe even a lot, but I believe in letting writers tell their stories, and I don't presume that if I curse enough on boards about them they'll cave to the pressure. Even in my least favorite episodes, I always find a few things I really appreciate.

I've been watching since early season 2, and I've always seen lots of fandom vitriol (either directed at a character, at fic writers of certain genres, or at the JJs themselves) in waxing and waning cycles. I stopped reading discussions except for maybe 1 or 2 lighthearted folks, and I unfriended people who no longer could tell the difference between real life and TV. I prefer to read about the cinematography, look at raloria's on set pics, or read fic.

I tremendously enjoyed the fic you posted a few days ago!