Dean and Mirrors

[juppschmitz]

Just wondering… are Dean’s mirror scenes all related to the Mark of Cain? Not that it really matters in any significant way, I was just wondering when I saw this gifset. What do the mirror moments even symbolize? Self-realization? Ending in destroying that self-image?

(hunenka on tumblr came up with some mirror moments unrelated to the MoC: 4x01 (at

Comments

[hunenka]

Hey there :)

I’ve thought about this a bit more, trying to find some sort of a mirror scene alternative for Sam. I think for him, those mirrors were quite often actual people - like Azazel’s special children in season 1 and 2. Comparisons were always drawn between Sam and those special children, so Sam’s exploration of questions like “Who am I?” “Am I turning into a monster?” “Am I the person I want to be?” was done through his encounters with them.

Sam’s also had more dialogue-based scenes in which he basically asks these self-examining questions and addresses them more directly (talking to Dean, Ruby, other people…). Contrarily, for Dean, these questions seem to be more internal, not explored in words, sometimes perhaps not even consciously acknowledged at all, and thus manifesting in these soul-searching mirror scenes.

[juppschmitz]

Ooh yes, the special children! Very good catch! That whole business never really amounted to anything really, what with Sam kind of being Satan's true vessel all along.

So your take of the children makes an awful lot of sense if you see them as a motif to shine light on Sam's self-reflection.

It just occured to me that in early seasons Sam usually used to get choked rather than thrown into walls. I'd like to think now that this might be symbolic of how he was "choked" by being drawn back into the hunting life. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an overinterpretation but I think it's more convincing than any sort of "Christ" interpretations.

[hunenka]

And it's not just the special children. Another Sam-mirrors: Madison, the rugarou in Metamorphosis, Jesse the Antichrist... There's probably more, though I think they were more frequent (or on the nose) in the first five seasons.

You're right about the choking -- it was almost exclusively Sam who got choked... Could be a symbol of being drawn back into the hunting life like you said. Or maybe a metaphor for how the supernatural world is trying to put its hands on him, grab him and make him become one of the "monsters"? Probably an overinterpretation too...

It would be nice to ask J2 if they know why it's usually Sam who gets choked, and why it's usually Dean who gets beaten to a pulp.

[juppschmitz]

...if I ever go to a convention... :D

[galwithglasses]

From 7.17 Of Grave Importance

[juppschmitz]

Aahh, yes, so many mirror scenes! Thanks for pointing them out!

And yes, Sam and cage imagery fits perfectly. This is actually exactly what I was thinking of. And I'll definitely have to look out for that! Very good point. Not paying attention to Sam means I would have never seen that.

I love when I still - eleven seasons in - find stuff that goes deeper than the actual story they're telling.

[lemanya]

Hi! Here's my interpretation

[hunenka]

Hi, I just remembered that there really is a mirror moment in WIAWSNB:

[juppschmitz]

Lol you beat me there! I remembered reading about the reflection in the family photograph in one of Sheila O'Malleys reviews.

But this (first?) mirror moment is probably the one that hurts most.

*sighs*

And thanks for including the gif, it's awesome!

[hunenka]

Yes, I also remembered it from Sheila O'Malley's review :)

[adelheide]

I love my smart, thoughtful fandom. :)

[juppschmitz]

This fandom, right?

[adelheide]

Oh, we can be nuttier than the squirrels attending the Pecan Harvest Festival. SuperWhoLock.

But this fandom is so creative and smart. I miss this part of fandom.

[juppschmitz]

IKR? What happened? Where did they all go?