Pissy 5.03 Meta

[glorious_spoon]

What is with all the ragging on the Dean - Castiel brothel scene in 5.03? I thought it was hilarious and kind of sweet, as well as being perfectly in character for Dean. So what the hell is with all the people going 'Nonononono Dean wouldn't do that, he is having ANGST about Sammy leaving! Angst, I tell you! And also there is a very serious mission tomorrow! He must be serious! This is backsliding into the fires of denial! He must have a good cathartic sobfest IMMEDIATELY!"

Dude. This is Dean. Please go back and watch, well, the entire freaking series. Yes, he's stressed out and lonely and scared. Now, pop quiz: typically, how does Dean deal with being stressed out, lonely, and scared?

Oh, right. He goes and gets drunk and finds the nearest available attractive woman he can finangle into bed. Or he starts a fight (or occasionally both). 4.10 notwithstanding, good cathartic sobfests are not and have never really been his style.

Also, observe the way he has constantly taken a proprietary interest in Sam's sex life, since approximately the middle of Season 1. To Dean, getting somebody laid is an expression of affection and a rite of passage. And in this particular case, it falls very neatly in with his more generalized attempt to blow off some steam.

I've actually read people complaining that it's crass and crude and therefore OOC. I think these are people who have become so enamored of fandom's vision of Dean that they forget how he acts in the actual canon. Crass and crude are kind of what he does, and for me it was actually refreshing to see him loosen up and act like his old jackass self.

But hey, what the hell do I know; after all everybody knows that if there are no Single Crystal Tears, it doesn't count as real Dean characterization.

</sarcasm>

Seriously, take a look at this video. Or this one. Or maybe this. These are all situations in which Dean is dealing with some serious emotional issues. Observe how he goes about it. Now tell me that brothel scene was OOC.

Comments

[vikki.livejournal.com]

WORD TO ALL OF THIS. The only character I had any issue with in this scene was Castiel, and then only the minor one of feeling that his nervousness was overplayed (but generally spot-on). Dean was just being himself: he enjoys sex unironically, which means everyone else should get to enjoy sex unironically - and if you're his friend, well, you're damn well gonna get laid. It's pretty much one of the ways he shows he cares. XD;

Thank you for an excellent post. I think people sometimes get a little caught up in fandom and, as you said, forget that our general fanon is not, in fact, canon. I laughed all the way through the scene. :)

[glorious-spoon.livejournal.com]

I agree re: Castiel, although Misha was comical enough that I'm willing to forgive the hamming. The funny thing is that I haven't really seen anybody complaining about Castiel's behavior; it's all been about Dean. You know, because his brother left and he's all upset and so how dare they have him go out to a brothel of all places?

Seriously, Dean's a righteous man, a martyr, a hero, maybe even a saint by some standards. He's also a crude, flippant, prank-playing horny smartass who'll hit on anything that moves and drag his straightlaced guardian angel to a brothel. That's kind of the whole reason he's awesome.