Reaction to 6.21 Let It Bleed
So, there's been a lot of wank going on over on tumblr at the minute, mostly about Dean slapping Ben. And to honest, it makes me all WTF.
"Seriously? People are talking about how it wasn't right for people to slap Ben? It was fucking hilarious. I replayed it over and over again I was laughing so hard. It wasn't fucking child abuse, it was meant to be comedic, which it was. It was also the best part of the episode, since the last two sucked."
"I thought this was a very important scene. I think it was there to show why Ben and Lisa really will be better off without Dean. We all love Dean so much I think we sometimes forget that he is a very damaged, extremely violent individual with little to no experience of relating to people outside the hunting community. He is an uncompromising, aggressive alcoholic and even if he’s been like a parent to Sam their whole life he still hits him quite severely on more than one occasion. I think the smack in the face that Ben got is just a shadow of what Dean really could be capable of if he’s under enough stress."
"Absolutely agree. Look at how Dean deals with Sam - the person he cares most about in the world. When he’s angry with Sam or Sam won’t do what he wants, he hits him. Even in this episode, he threatens to break Sam’s nose if he mentions Lisa and Ben again. In all likelihood he learned this behavior from John. Maybe it isn’t such a surprise that Sam took off for college after all. And maybe Dean learned to be such a good soldier because he wanted to avoid being hit by John."
“It was meant to be comedic.”
"I’m sorry, I must have missed that. Because it WASN’T. Maybe it was funny to YOU because you have a really weird sense of “humour”. You replayed it over and over? This is so incredibly disgusting, you must be trolling. Or so I wish."
"There’s a lot of wank about this scene, which is important, I think, I unfollowed quite a few people for posting that gif of Dean slapping Ben. If that is your kind of humour, then we’d surely not get along in RL. You’re entitled to your opinion, but I am entitled to the feelings that this scene caused in me. And they’re not good ones. They’re horrible ones, and that’s why I have a goddamn right to be disgusted by the scene itself and people laughing about this."
"I’ve read somewhere on another post about this “Comedy spares no one.”. Yeah, well, it doesn’t, but that makes it neither ok, nor does it make some people not HURT about something.
I’ve read on another post: “Well, I was abused as a child, and I thought it wasn’t bad.” Yeah, well, your opinion and experience doesn’t make the hurt of other people not valid. If that is YOUR experience, congrats, you’ve either dealt with it or suppressed it well enough, but there are enough people out there who could possibly be triggered by something like this, and it is their fucking right to be pissed or hurt about it. YOU don’t get to validate other peoples emotions.
While I think the writers could have handled this scene differently, I think this was an effective reminder of what Deans character is about. This is what and who he is, TOO, whether we like it or not."
"In all likelihood he learned this behavior from John. Maybe it isn’t such a surprise that Sam took off for college after all. And maybe Dean learned to be such a good soldier because he wanted to avoid being hit by John."
"It is not comedic that Dean slapped a fucking child. A child. A child that idolizes him. It sucks, and it hurts a lot of people that a person they also idolize did something like this. It also sucks when people believe it’s alright to belittle someone for their opinions and feelings."
Most people seem to be going along the vein of OMGCHILDABUSE, HE HIT BEN, and one sad misguided person seems to think that it was for comedy. Apparently, I'm the only person who believed it was for a valid reason.
BEN WAS IN SHOCK. Dean had to snap him out of it, or he couldn't have helped Lisa. Admittedly, there was probably a less... volatile way to do it, but the meter's running here, and he needed Ben.
THEN, people seem to be thinking along the lines of "I'm not surprised Dean hit Ben, look at how he was raised, look at how he treats Sam, etc, etc"
...um. Hi. My name is Rachel. There's this show, Supernatural. You should try watching it sometimes.
Yes, Dean is abrasive and yes, he can be violent (Mostly a knee jerk reaction that occured in earlier seasons, as opposed to LETS KILL SHIT FOR FUN) and I'm not saying he had the most stable upbringing, but ABUSIVE? No.
Dean is in no way, shape or form emotionally abusive, so that's a complete non-starter. Are we then to assume that people are saying that he's physically abusive towards his brother? That is essentially what the assorted masses are saying. "Of course he hit Ben, he abuses his brother every other episode." Or something to that effect. Because seriously people, I can remember exactly one time where Dean hit his brother in anger, or anything that wasn't jest, and that was the end of When The Levee Breaks. I mean, I can count on one hand the episodes they've physically fought, but they've always been possessed, or shapeshifters, etc, etc. Admittedly, there was the start of Pilot, but I don't count that, because Sam didn't know it was Dean, and Dean was just defending himself from being clouted by a moose with bangs. But I disgress.
Now, I'm not saying that their relationship is HEALTHY, because, especially in earlier seasons, they are dangerously codependant, but there is nothing abusive about their relationship, that I can see anyway. But maybe I'm missing something.
...so this started off as a rebuttal to all the wank, and turned into a Dean/Sam relationship study halfway through. Ah well.
"Seriously? People are talking about how it wasn't right for people to slap Ben? It was fucking hilarious. I replayed it over and over again I was laughing so hard. It wasn't fucking child abuse, it was meant to be comedic, which it was. It was also the best part of the episode, since the last two sucked."
"I thought this was a very important scene. I think it was there to show why Ben and Lisa really will be better off without Dean. We all love Dean so much I think we sometimes forget that he is a very damaged, extremely violent individual with little to no experience of relating to people outside the hunting community. He is an uncompromising, aggressive alcoholic and even if he’s been like a parent to Sam their whole life he still hits him quite severely on more than one occasion. I think the smack in the face that Ben got is just a shadow of what Dean really could be capable of if he’s under enough stress."
"Absolutely agree. Look at how Dean deals with Sam - the person he cares most about in the world. When he’s angry with Sam or Sam won’t do what he wants, he hits him. Even in this episode, he threatens to break Sam’s nose if he mentions Lisa and Ben again. In all likelihood he learned this behavior from John. Maybe it isn’t such a surprise that Sam took off for college after all. And maybe Dean learned to be such a good soldier because he wanted to avoid being hit by John."
“It was meant to be comedic.”
"I’m sorry, I must have missed that. Because it WASN’T. Maybe it was funny to YOU because you have a really weird sense of “humour”. You replayed it over and over? This is so incredibly disgusting, you must be trolling. Or so I wish."
"There’s a lot of wank about this scene, which is important, I think, I unfollowed quite a few people for posting that gif of Dean slapping Ben. If that is your kind of humour, then we’d surely not get along in RL. You’re entitled to your opinion, but I am entitled to the feelings that this scene caused in me. And they’re not good ones. They’re horrible ones, and that’s why I have a goddamn right to be disgusted by the scene itself and people laughing about this."
"I’ve read somewhere on another post about this “Comedy spares no one.”. Yeah, well, it doesn’t, but that makes it neither ok, nor does it make some people not HURT about something.
I’ve read on another post: “Well, I was abused as a child, and I thought it wasn’t bad.” Yeah, well, your opinion and experience doesn’t make the hurt of other people not valid. If that is YOUR experience, congrats, you’ve either dealt with it or suppressed it well enough, but there are enough people out there who could possibly be triggered by something like this, and it is their fucking right to be pissed or hurt about it. YOU don’t get to validate other peoples emotions.
While I think the writers could have handled this scene differently, I think this was an effective reminder of what Deans character is about. This is what and who he is, TOO, whether we like it or not."
"In all likelihood he learned this behavior from John. Maybe it isn’t such a surprise that Sam took off for college after all. And maybe Dean learned to be such a good soldier because he wanted to avoid being hit by John."
"It is not comedic that Dean slapped a fucking child. A child. A child that idolizes him. It sucks, and it hurts a lot of people that a person they also idolize did something like this. It also sucks when people believe it’s alright to belittle someone for their opinions and feelings."
Most people seem to be going along the vein of OMGCHILDABUSE, HE HIT BEN, and one sad misguided person seems to think that it was for comedy. Apparently, I'm the only person who believed it was for a valid reason.
BEN WAS IN SHOCK. Dean had to snap him out of it, or he couldn't have helped Lisa. Admittedly, there was probably a less... volatile way to do it, but the meter's running here, and he needed Ben.
THEN, people seem to be thinking along the lines of "I'm not surprised Dean hit Ben, look at how he was raised, look at how he treats Sam, etc, etc"
...um. Hi. My name is Rachel. There's this show, Supernatural. You should try watching it sometimes.
Yes, Dean is abrasive and yes, he can be violent (Mostly a knee jerk reaction that occured in earlier seasons, as opposed to LETS KILL SHIT FOR FUN) and I'm not saying he had the most stable upbringing, but ABUSIVE? No.
Dean is in no way, shape or form emotionally abusive, so that's a complete non-starter. Are we then to assume that people are saying that he's physically abusive towards his brother? That is essentially what the assorted masses are saying. "Of course he hit Ben, he abuses his brother every other episode." Or something to that effect. Because seriously people, I can remember exactly one time where Dean hit his brother in anger, or anything that wasn't jest, and that was the end of When The Levee Breaks. I mean, I can count on one hand the episodes they've physically fought, but they've always been possessed, or shapeshifters, etc, etc. Admittedly, there was the start of Pilot, but I don't count that, because Sam didn't know it was Dean, and Dean was just defending himself from being clouted by a moose with bangs. But I disgress.
Now, I'm not saying that their relationship is HEALTHY, because, especially in earlier seasons, they are dangerously codependant, but there is nothing abusive about their relationship, that I can see anyway. But maybe I'm missing something.
...so this started off as a rebuttal to all the wank, and turned into a Dean/Sam relationship study halfway through. Ah well.