Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Supernatural Fandom: United We're Boring
It's summer time, most TV shows are on hiatus, and that means there's not much to talk about on fansites. It happens every year: forum participation goes down and new threads stop popping up. Take away new episodes, plug the constant flow of spoilers, and hardcore Supernatural fans will do one of two things: argue about Sam's place in the series or complain about Dean's role on the show.
Supernatural is one of the few shows that has a main cast of two people. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki star as Dean and Sam Winchester (respectively). Fans tend to favor one brother over the other, so all summer long, it's the fall-back conversation. Who's the better hunter? Which brother is a better brother? Which brother has more fans (and which fan group is the best)? Back and forth, the same stuff over and over again. It's not centralized to one place-- the CW's forums, Supernatural.tv, even IMDB's messageboard--have had their share of redundant discussions that often turn to heated arguments.
Supernatural's fandom has that kind of loyalty and dedication because there are only two main characters. Attaching to one is easy, and pitting Dean and Sam against each other is even easier to do.
Imagine if the same thing happened in another fandom. Take Heroes for example. Who's your favorite? The choices are Hiro, Ando, Claire, Mr. Bennet, Peter, Nathan, Matt, Isaac, Sylar, Jessica/Niki, Micah, DL, Mohinder...and still more. The number of characters splinters the fandom, and in this case, that's a good thing. Even if one character has a huge following, chances are it won't be overpowering. Fans of the other characters keep each group in check, and it's less likely one following will be dominant.
It's a different story with Supernatural, though. Two characters, two followings, and they're head to head with few new topics to discuss.
We still have six weeks until season 4 starts.
Technorati tags: Supernatural, television, fandom
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You forgot to mention the most important question: which brother is hotter? LOL
ReplyDeleteI started out watching this show, but soon it felt like it was just a revolving episode. Some shows can get away with the single premise (here it's kill the supernatural baddies, one baddie at a time) and others can't. This one I lost interest in, unfortunately.
Thank you for your comment, Angela. You're right, that is the most important question and shame on me for forgetting it. :P
ReplyDeleteThe premise of the series is hunting supernatural things, so it can feel repetitive.