Y'know, I've never really seen the sexism and racism that other people see. I grew up around that shit, and I don't get it. I mean, yeah, there's damsels in distress, but there's also guys, too, that are in trouble. And there are strong women in the show, like Ellen or even that little bitch that need never return Jo. Ruby's strong-- she may be a demon, but she's a fucking 'good' demon. She kicks some serious ass. Bela was a strong kickass woman, too. I didn't like her at all, but she still was more than a match for the brothers. And she was human.

I've heard complaints about the crossroad demon(s) being female in form. Well... Duh. It's usually men that are coming around to make these deals, so of course they're going to take feminine form. Women have been seducin' men for ages, and that goes both ways, too. The demons want a deal and want to use whatever will get them that deal. A pretty face? Hell, makes sense.

And racist. I don't get the racism. Yeah, Gordon was a wackjob, but so was Caleb, and a shit ton of other guys and girls they've come across. Hendricksen went off the deep end, but hell, if you walked into their world and had yours turned inside out repeatedly you'd go around the bend, too.

Shit. And I've heard people complaining that there's no black ghosts or demons or whatever. But you know, as soon as there was, people would be bitchin' about that! Just can't fucking win. It's a goddamn show, people. Fight that shit on the stage that matters, the real life stage of public life and the courtrooms and the legislature halls.

And this ain't nothing against you, I just don't get it. I mean, I read that meta on how all the women are helpless on the show. Well, confronted with this shit, yeah, they are helpless, because they don't know what the fuck to do or even what to believe.

I like the one about how it perceives all women as whores because of the ones the brothers sleep with. Uh, hello, just because a woman sleeps with a guy she's only known maybe a few days or hours doesn't mean she's a whore. I take offense to that bullshit. People want to believe that those shenanigans don't go on. Please. My family has worked at truck stops and cheap hotels and we can tell you that this shit is as regular as clockwork. Truck drivers, vagabonds, crews, guys on road trips, it happens.

Damn. I didn't mean to go on a bitching rant, but I'm just tired of it all.

Well... you see what you see, and I see what I see. If you don't see it, I won't be able to explain to you what it is that I see that bothers me in a way that makes you understand, and you won't be able to convince me it's not there. But I'm glad you don't see it because it does occasionally get in the way of the fun... and I'm all about the fun.

It's a goddamn show, people. Fight that shit on the stage that matters, the real life stage of public life and the courtrooms and the legislature halls.

OKAY ONE LAST THING ON THIS TOPIC before I stop thinking about SRS BSNS issues: The problem here is that all people (except the gays, so sad for them!) are basically equal under the law now, and the only places sexism remains are in real life and entertainment, and even then, mostly in undercurrents and subtleties. I know that if I'd not taken classes that had huge sections on sexism and racism (required courses at my university), I'd never have noticed any of it. Because it's so subtle and pervasive, it's worth raising a fuss about wherever it is, because even if just one person sees it and changes their behavior... well, that's ONE MORE PERSON. That's basically my opinion on it. I am by no means an expert in these things (like some people in fandom) and my awareness of them was only really raised like two years ago (so, fortunately, I'm still at the point where I can remember what it was like to not notice this stuff and can empathize with you there) so I'll just stop talking now. I'm sure you know all the places you could go to get more information.

And you didn't like Jo?!? I loved her! But part of the reason I started watching SPN was because I realized Alona Tal was in some episodes (I had also really liked her on Veronica Mars), so I went into things all jazzed about her character. I would be so, so happy if they added her as a regular, even if they played up the "Dean and Sam's fake kid sister!" angle more than a romantic one. (Though I, uh, totally do ship Jo/Dean. DON'T HATE ME PLZ.)

Tangentially, I'm on the episode with the back-country people-hunters and Dean is tied to a chair! TIED TO A CHAIR! LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A DREAM! The chief back-country people-hunter just was all "ARE YOU A POLICEMAN?" and Dean went "If I tell you, do you promise not to make me into an ashtray?" and I just thought about how if it had been JOHN SHEPPARD, he would have said something like "... I could be if you wanted me to?" instead. looooool. I wonder if there's fanfiction with Dean and John like, lamely trying to out-cool each other. That would be so entertaining.

edited because I can never remember to close parentheses. WHY SO FAIL, TYPING SKILLS?

Oh, hey, I'm more than willing to listen. I like hearing about other viewpoints. It's my nature; I want to look at something from every angle possible, no matter how traditional or skewed or anywhere in between in may be.

Battling entertainment itself wouldn't work, I believe. The industry wants to give the public at large what it wants and what will make it money. A small group (relatively speaking) fighting the industry isn't going to change what they believe. Fighting it abroad in real life will sway a larger amount of public opinion and, I think, will put more pressure on the entertainment industry to wake up and catch up if it wants to keep its revenues. Hollywood doesn't want to look like a good ol' boys club, even if it really is. It wants to be young, helpful, and seen as something good and positive. That's why today it's so much more accepted and even expected that actors, companies, and really the whole business gets behind causes such as Darfur and global warming. The public perception of these things changed, and they wanted their entertainment heroes to change, too. And they did.

So I don't think fighting the industry head-on is going to work, at least not quickly enough. Bring the battle out to every person, and let them see what the industry is, and then the industry will have to change or lose everything.

No, I didn't like Jo. And it's not because she had this crush on Dean-- I mean, who could blame her? I didn't like her because she didn't listen. She swore that she was mature enough to hunt, but she wasn't mature enough to realize that she was the rookie and that Sam and Dean have been doing this as long as she has been alive. Instead, she just sulked and pouted and did what she wanted and it damn near killed people. And I hate people like that. Honestly, I think they went far too easy on her-- I would have ripped her a new one until she was a quivering mass of tears on the floor and then dumped her sorry ass back at the Roadhouse and told her to wise up and grow up or never pick up a gun again. And she could have either sulked and did just that, or she could have realized she fucked up big time and that she had a lot of maturing left to do.

That being said, I call her strong because she's been raised to be strong. She's a rookie, but not stupid, and she can handle herself better than most girls her age could ever hope to do.

LOL, there is a crossover out there that has Xander and Spike (warning: Spander), John and Rodney, and Sam and Dean as this big kickass dream team in Atlantis. It was never finished, but it was entertaining. You probably can find it over at sn_crossovers.

That's actually the first episode I ever saw. It's called 'The Benders' and is loosely based on a family called The Bloody Benders (http://www.prairieghosts.com/bender.html). I actually always kind of laughed at the fact that the father was called John Bender, like the character from The Breakfast Club.

But see, there are plenty of shows at least as successful as SPN that are way less sexist/racist. People want to see good entertainment and mostly don't care or even notice sexism/racism, so if it's excised... no one's gonna miss it (it's just that it takes awareness to do). I don't think any of the racism/sexism on SPN (or in most entertainment) is being done on purpose -- I actually think that at least in the first season of SPN they tried to deal with some of those issues... just in a kind of lame way. Like, my favorite guest girl other than Jo was Kat, the girl from "Asylum" who almost shot Dean in the face. She was AWESOME. I read on the SPN wiki that they'd written her as the strong character and her boyfriend as the shrieking, fainting mess purposefully to subvert gender stereotypes often found in the horror genre, so obviously they've been thinking about it some (and there's also the racist monster truck episode, which had the AWESOME moment of Dean Not Getting Racism and the other characters giving him these "wtf are you even smoking?" looks, which made me CRACK UP omg). But the reason that entertainment is important is that SO MANY people take their social cues from it. It's what happens when you get to the post-modern and post-post-modern world, that whole, and god I think I'm quoting song lyrics here, "tv imitates life and life imitates tv" thing, where entertainment has become so important to our culture that it is the arbiter of social standards. It's not the real world that's important; it's what's on tv. AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT I LEARN IN SCHOOL ANYWAY. I would flesh this comment out and engage in more discussion but it is nearly bedtime as soon as I stop LJing and finish this Supernatural episode.

And Jo, yeah, the not listening was annoying... but I figured she was supposed to be like, idk, 17 or something. But then she saved Dean in BUaBS! I think they could have developed her character in really awesome ways, so it's sad that they didn't. I don't know much of anything about Bela and Ruby (other than a lot of people hate them) but I was sad to hear that they were gone because I'd like to have a constant female character on the show.

I actually always kind of laughed at the fact that the father was called John Bender, like the character from The Breakfast Club.

AHAHHAHA THAT IS SO GREAT. Man, I need to watch that movie again.

True, very true. On a flip side, though, I kind of... Well, I don't want to say that I like seeing it, because I don't; I hate them both. But in a way it is a reflection of real life, and I know entertainment is supposed to be fantasy on some level, but I usually prefer a taste of reality to things, even if it is bitter.

*shrugs*

I don't know. The industry and I haven't been exactly friends, especially with the deluge of reality shows. I'll admit I watch some-- American Idol is far too addicting some times, as is So You Think You Can Dance. (See Mark and Chelsie icon, lol.) But so many of them are just stupid. Pretty much any of the ones on VH1 are, and CMT, too. I admit I'm watching this season of Gone Country, but that's mostly because of Chris Kirkpatrick (OMG he's such a SWEETHEART.)

I squeed over Amy Acker's guest star (she was guest star to me anyhow) in 1.03 Dead in the Water. :D My favorite recurring character though is tied between the awesome Bobby and kickass YED. Even if every time YED spoke he reminded me of Hades (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjkX6XBYKBM)! XD

OH GOD YES THE AMY ACKER CHARACTER. I SHIP ANDREA/DEAN SO HARD JUST BECAUSE OF HOW PRETTY THEY WOULD BE. *is shallow* I almost didn't watch that episode though because I was afraid her character would die -- I had to look up online whether she did or not because I knew if she did I'd have this whole Fred/Illyria flashback and start crying, lol.

Oh, Fred. I'm a diehard Spander shipper (and hate Spike-with-a-soul), but I totally loved her and her interaction with Spike and how she looked after him and cared about him. I actually wrote a friendship story about the two of them, though I've never posted it, lol.

Every time I hear that song "A Place Called Home" I remember the flashback scene of her they showed when she was getting ready to leave home for college and it just breaks my heart. Why must they kill the good characters? Why couldn't they, like, kill Angel or Buffy? (More so Buffy than Angel, because at least I like David Boreanaz. I hate Sarah Michelle Gellar.) And Wes! God, poor Wes. :(