I came across a tweet that
says of mysterious texts, "There's a monster at the end of this book. It’s
the blank page where the story ends and you're left alone with yourself and
your thoughts." Its relevance to the title of the Supernatural episode we
watched is worth exploring. In Supernatural, the story has two ends—one for Sam
and Dean and one for us, the viewers. For Sam and Dean, the monster - the blank
page - appears in the final moments of the episode, after they've left Lilith
and Chuck. In the car, driving away from the horrifying motel, they're left with
more questions than answers—what happens now? Why is Lilith so ready to bargain
with them? Do they have free will, or can they escape what Chuck predicts about
their future? There are real monsters in the show, but the metaphorical monster
that looms over them in the car might be the most important. It’s the reason
they're still uneasy, despite escaping with their lives; it's the reason that
ending scene doesn't seem like a true ending, but more like yet another
beginning.
For the viewer, the
monster is less scary and more confusing. You're left wondering, what did i
just watch? (Or, more often in this class, what did I just read?) The show ends
and it's up to you to decide what's real. There is manipulation everywhere in
the episode – Lilith manipulates Sam; God manipulates Sam, Dean, and Chuck; and
in return, Sam uses Chuck to manipulate God. Who’s telling the truth? Is it
Lilith, scared and trying to save her own life, telling Sam she doesn’t expect
him to believe her even though she’s being honest? What about God, using Chuck
to force his idea of destiny on the brothers? How about Sam and Dean, desperately
trying to hold onto the idea that they can make their own choices? All these
questions are the monsters that plague viewers as we try to unravel the meaning
of this episode. The story ends and you cant help but think about it, think
about the way you’re manipulated into caring about what happens to the
characters.
I really like your use of that tweet, because it speaks to something that has been bothering me for a long time. Why is there a stigma associated with being alone?
ReplyDeleteIt's seen as sad, as antisocial, and I think that we as a society fear it. And yet, being alone with your thoughts is so valuable. It's a time to hone creativity and self-reliance. I'd be willing to bet that Cat's Cradle wasn't written in the equivalent of the KJ atrium. This book is a work of the 3rd floor of Burke.
Are we losing something then, when we stigmatize and judge someone who sits alone in Commons at noon, staring at their food or into space, but think nothing of the person who sits alone on their laptop, or carelessly flipping through pages on their iPhone?
Has there been a sort of loss of innocence, an ending of the world, in the development of technology & social media? And do we lose something in the collective consciousness we find here at Hamilton, a consciousness that dictates what parties are "fun", and what constitutes "lonely"?