Supernatural: Heavy Meta
You all know by now that we love Supernatural, and for good reason: It’s got great actors, good plots, clever writing, and the added bonus of monsters and blood and gore.
But sometimes when we enthuse about the show to the uninitiated, they get a sort of glazed look in their eye. In many cases, that’s because Supernatural falls into the category of a “genre” show – it’s about horror, monsters, things that aren’t (we hope) real. And a lot of people equate genre with brainless entertainment. So since Supernatural is genre, they think, and genre is brainless, then Supernatural must be brainless too, right?
Of course, we know better. And leave to Supernatural’s legion of exceedingly brainy fans to prove the point.
As an example, check out Giggling Kat’s music metas, dissections of how the show’s music choices underlie and amplify what’s going on onscreen. And this isn’t in the “they’re using strings, so we’re supposed to be sad” school of emotional manipulation – this is good, deep-thoughts stuff. She breaks down the song, line by line, matches it up with the visuals, and delves into the deeper implications of what the music and lyrics are saying about what’s happening in the Supernatural world.
We asked Kat, who lives in Florida – “where all the weird stuff happens, according to Dean” – to tell us a little about these music metacommentary pieces:
“Music tends to shamelessly manipulate emotion and project it on whatever you were seeing. What Supernatural tends to do better than other shows is deliberately twist the knife with something they already created. I like that they put the effort behind it rather than let the music do the work for them or let the music decide what the emotion is.”
As an example, Kat cites Renegade, the classic, operatic and entirely ass-kicking Styx song used at the end of Night Shifter. We were content to headbang and bellow along (gotta love Styx), but Kat gave it a little more thought.
“I gotta tell you – I wasn't sure about the episode, “ Kat said. “Obviously, they weren't dead or in federal prison the next week. So it just seemed like a bit of a cheat to set up the FBI and just let them get away. And then Tommy Shaw crooned ‘Oh, momma I'm in fear for my life...’ And right there - I knew they were going to follow up and there WERE going to be consequences. The music told me without the show ever needing to.”
It’s stuff like this that we point to whenever anyone rolls their eyes and says “Yeah, but isn’t Supernatural just some horror show?” It’s a lot more, and fans like Kat help prove it.
Kat also pointed up to a central place for all sorts of metacommentary on Supernatural – Heavy Meta Poisoning. First of all, we love the title. Second, it’s a great place to while away the time getting a new perspective on a lot of things that happen on the show. Wonder about the significance of John’s USMC t-shirt, or the parallels between Jess and Dean? Someone has thought about it, and they’ll give you something to ponder. It’s the perfect place to get backup when you’re arguing for Supernatural as a smart, meaningful show.
What do you think? Do you dig metacommentary, or do you prefer your fan art and commentary to stick to the funny? Or do you think that there’s room for both smart and funny in this fandom – just like there is in this show? Let us know, and keep sending us fan art recommendations!
Comments
Fire of Unknown Origin - I've heard people say that Dean picked the wrong song - but he just turns the tape on or up in the scene. The tape was already on. It's been months since Jess died and unless she liked BOC I don't see why Sam would associate it so closely. *WE* associate classic rock to the plotline. The characters don't know they have one. My friend died in a crash - I don't associate all death songs or crash songs to him. I get the concern but my reaction was - "Dude. They are on crack. I can't believe they made that joke."
It's noteable, however, that Dean put the spoon in Sam's mouth in preparation for that chorus. Dean was listening to the tape and knew the chorus was coming. I heard the song and knew the chorus was coming, too. I believe the song was intended to be part of the prank. And, yes, it was ragingly insensitive -- but what are big brothers for? And it's part of why Sam is so pissed off about it.
Posted by: Meredith Milewicz | April 14, 2007 2:28 PM
If you love Supernatural so much, please promote it more and renew it already.
I keep seeing Smallville promos but zero of Supernatural.
And don't pay attention to that stupid Kristin poll, it was rigged since the beginning and when people found out and called her out she deleted all posts.
Cheers!
Posted by: Anonymous | April 14, 2007 2:21 PM
Awesome meta kat. Thanks for thinking so hard.
Posted by: fangirl | April 13, 2007 11:42 PM
Understandable - I do know that I am pretty much the only one looking at these songs this way. (I am weird.) I'm really curious if Reaper isn't an age thing though. To me the song is creepy as hell but to my cousin the association is "MORE Cowbell!"
Because I'm watching the scene and they start it from the beginning almost as mood music.
Posted by: Kat | April 13, 2007 5:19 PM
Well, that's all well and good, Kat, but I'm not talking about all of that;) I'm talking initial reactions as you're watching the scenes. Not everyone is going to delve into the deeper meaning of the songs and even if they did, I'm still talking about how the song affects the mood of the scene initially.
For example, I had friends (they like the show but don't go out of their way to watch it) over when I first watched "Faith" and they laughed at "Don't Fear the Reaper". Not that they didn't like the song but they were all "WTF?" because it didn't seem to fit the mood of the scene. And I sort of agree, as I stated before.
As for "Fire of Unknown Origin", that was kind of the opposite with me. As I was watching the scene I was into it because I didn't think about the lyrics but once I did, it just felt wrong. lol. Whether or not Dean picked it is really neither here nor there, and it really doesn't matter that Jess had died months ago. Her death is what had been driving Sam all season long and it just felt wrong for Dean to be singing those words. So I guess the joke fell flat for me in the end.
But, you know, it's all subjective. Your mileage may very.
Posted by: Lola | April 13, 2007 2:54 PM
Fire of Unknown Origin - I've heard people say that Dean picked the wrong song - but he just turns the tape on or up in the scene. The tape was already on. It's been months since Jess died and unless she liked BOC I don't see why Sam would associate it so closely. *WE* associate classic rock to the plotline. The characters don't know they have one. My friend died in a crash - I don't associate all death songs or crash songs to him. I get the concern but my reaction was - "Dude. They are on crack. I can't believe they made that joke."
Don't Fear the Reaper is a song convincing someone to commit to a suicide pact. The fact that the singer is so "chipper" about it adds to the creep factor. The good pastor and his flock are enthralled and pouring out energy to a creature sucking out the life of one person to give to another. The song also works because it does in fact accurately tell you that the Reaper is not what you should fear or worry about. It's the "40,000 men and women every day... we can be like they are..."
It's the people in the tent who refuse to question the miracles that are the threat.
See? I do this for all of them.
Posted by: Kat | April 13, 2007 8:25 AM
Yay! Thanks for recognizing Kat, one of the many brilliant minds in this fandom - and hilarious, to boot.
This is what makes fandom fun. It's do-it-yourself. You make it what works for you. And terrific meta like hers, as well as a whole boatload of others on Livejournal and beyond, are what makes it fun to participate in.
Posted by: laivine | April 12, 2007 9:36 PM
I love the music on this show and do think they place songs really well but sometimes it doesn't quite work for me. I mean, in "Hell House" when Dean is singing along to "Fire of Unknown Origin" it really ended up kind of bothering me because of the lyrics there. "Fire of unknown origin took my baby away". Sure, it's fitting in the overall scheme of things in the show but I couldn't help but think how insensitive it seemed for Dean to be happily singing along with such a song considering what happened to Jess.
And as much as I loved hearing "Don't Fear the Reaper" in "Faith", the use of the song there conflicted me. On the surface it's fitting enough but the song is so up tempo and the vocals are so pleasant that it just left me with an odd feeling while watching that scene. The reaper's stalking a girl and then sucking the life out of her and I'm happily singing along with the song. It just didn't seem to evoke the appropriate feeling there for me. So, I was ambivalent with that scene. But I love the song. I have older brothers and grew up listening to all of that stuff. I even still have some of the albums. Yes, albums. lol.
Posted by: Lola | April 12, 2007 8:56 PM
There's room for everything in this wonderful fantastic show!
Posted by: rachel | April 12, 2007 5:28 PM
This is an amazingly good read!!
Posted by: Olivia | April 12, 2007 5:10 PM