Why Teenagers Hate Supernatural
Yes, I said it. Teenagers hate “Supernatural.”
Okay, so maybe that’s a little harsh. When one looks at the fandom, it’s fairly obvious that most “Supernatural” fans are women over the age of 18. A good sized-portion of the fans is made up of teenagers, but for a network that is targeted towards teenagers, “Supernatural” doesn’t tend to do as well with that demographic. And this is a teenager speaking-a Supernatural loving teenager. And as much as I’ve tried to push the show on my friends and have begged them to watch it with me, I’ve only been successful once. And he hated it.
Two brothers fighting supernatural beings and other urban legends-boring. Yes, that is what I was told. My dear friend who I finally convinced to watch the show thought it was yawn-inducing. (Then again, he saw “Jus in Bello”, so maybe that wasn’t really the greatest episode to make him watch.) His exact remarks were that “the plot is cheesy” and “the characters were unrealistic.”
Okay, first of all…cheesy!? This show is cheesy!? My first reaction was to scream. Granted, my friend hadn’t seen the episodes that I considered my favorites, but “Jus in Bello” really wasn’t all that cheesy. This show has such great writing; it’s gone in directions most shows wouldn’t ever dream of going. One of the lead characters dying over and over again in just once episode? Another character is soulless for half a season? Both main characters end up in hell, for crying out loud! After episodes like “Mystery Spot”, “The Monster at the End of This Book”, “Changing Channels”, and “The French Mistake”, nobody can say that the writers are afraid to take risks.
Dean and Sam are not, by any means, unrealistic. Fighting demons, maybe that’s unrealistic. But doesn’t everybody have those “Hans Solo/Luke Skywalker” relationships? Dean and Sam, although they’re brothers, are different as night and day. Some of my closest friends and family are the opposite of what I am, but it makes me love them all the same. And doesn’t everybody have somebody that you would die for, go to hell for? Maybe not your brother, but a significant other? A child? A parent? A friend? I’m sure that most people can see glimpses of themselves in not only the Winchester boys, but Bobby and Castiel and Ellen and Jo and Rufus and whoever else. I know I can. “Dean and Sam Winchester are two of the most relatable characters on television!” That’s what I told my friend. And I meant it too.
But then, I remembered the words of Atticus Finch. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
I just tried to imagine myself as my friend or a “typical” teenager.
Now, I see why teenagers don’t watch “Supernatural.”
Most teenagers-most people, in fact-relate better to characters around the same age as them. Sam and Dean are adults. They were children and teenagers at one point, but children and teenagers that were forced to grow up way too fast. Most suburban teenagers, they can’t relate to that! And how could they? And the fact that there is such an age gap between the teenage viewer and the Winchester boys doesn’t help much. I’ve talked to a couple of my friends and described the characters to them, and my they just “don’t get it.”
I’m sure that many fans can sympathize when I say that I like TV shows that help me escape my everyday life. Supernatural does just that, and that’s one of the things I love about it. But talking to my friends and my classmates, I realized that most teenagers just “aren’t into that anymore.” Why would my best friends all watch Jersey Shore or Glee over Supernatural? Because it’s realistic. Most of the students at my school have said that they prefer reality television and hate fantasy or sci-fi shows . I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard somebody say that they want to be on Jersey Shore. And Glee is about high school students! Way more relatable then two grown men fighting monsters. My generation doesn’t want to imagine themselves fighting alongside Dean and Sam-they want to see themselves in Snookie or Kurt or Rachel. (I’m not picking on Glee or Jersey Shore-these are actual responses I received.)
I have met a handful of people my age that do enjoy “Supernatural,” and I love that, I do. But they have said the same things I’m saying-that they have tried to get other people to watch the show, and their friends all hate it as well. I’ve found that “Supernatural” just doesn’t cut it for most people my age, mostly because they can’t connect to the characters or the story. I don’t agree- “Supernatural” has touched me on a personal level that few other books and TV shows ever have-but you have to understand that the current generation isn’t interested in everything that “Supernatural” is. Of course, this might change as they get older, but most teenagers don’t enjoy sitting there and thinking. They don’t wonder how this character grew during this season or a slow build up of a storyline arc-it’s just not how their minds work. They want…well, frankly, a lot of them want “Jersey Shore.” A reality show that provides instant gratification-nothing more, nothing less.
But there are those of us who are young and love this show for everything it is-“cheesy and unrelateable” characters and all. We love it because it isn’t instant gratification. This show makes you think, if nothing else. About good, evil, souls, faith, family, destiny-you name it, this show probably covers it. We love it because we can see ourselves in Dean and Sam and other characters in this show. We love it because it takes us on this incredible ride. We love “Supernatural” because it’s “Supernatural.” And that’s something all fans can agree on, whether we’re 15 or 50.
*A huge thank you goes to mainegirlwrites, who wrote the article “How the Suburban Housewife Escapes, or Why I Love Supernatural”. The article inspired me to write about Supernatural from a younger point of view, so mainegirlwrites, thanks again!*
Hmm, couldn’t disagree more. I’ve watched this show from the start and I’m 22 now. Meaning I was 16 when it started… I’ve always watched it with my younger brother (who is now 18) and we both love it. Have a couple of friends who we’ve gotten hooked to it as well.
I think perhaps one reason lots of younger fans (male and female) are turned off by the show, when they dig a little deeper, is that they experience the fandom….
Which is a helluva lot of Sam and Dean”GIRLZ” who are loud and rabid. That’s why I tend to stay out of the fandom as much as possible, I watch the show for the story, not for the shirtless shots of the guys.
Good observations! I’m happy that there are such teenagers like you, that escape the usual description of the “average” teenager and are insightful enough to “get” what Supernatural is about.
When I started watching SPN almost two years ago, I remember scribbling some notes on my pc about “Why SPN is NOT a ‘teen-horror'”. I did it because sometimes, on some tv critics sites, I saw it referred at as “teen-horror”, like “The Vampire Diaries”, or “Buffy”, or movies like “Friday 13th”, “I know what you did last summer”, “FInal destination”, and so on.
I always found this description not entirely fitting: yes, Sam & Dean are young and good-looking (just what the female teenagers seem to love), but this is not enough to label SPN as “teen-horror”. Thinking about the matter, I came to the same conclusion as you: the lead characters in SPN are youg, yes, but not enough. In fact, they are young adults, and their issues, though sometimes can resemble the “typical” teenagers ones, in Sam’s (first seasons) struggle to “find himself”, “find his way” away from the father figure or from his brother’s (sometimes) over-protectiveness, or to come to terms with his “powers” and resources, limits and abilities (all of them the typical “coming of age” elements), many of the other issues are “adult” ones: responsibility for someone, duty towards the others and the world, contrast between desires and reality, self-sacrifice for someone or something and the meaning of this sacrifice… and then the problem of moral choices, and the ends vs. means, and destiny vs. free will… and the meaning of family, the struggle to be a family despite the obvious differences, to maintain relationships even when they are strained…
THis is really a bit “too much” for the average teenager, and I don’t say it in a dismissive manner: it’s just that average teenagers still don’t have to cope with such issues, they have other problems, other things to know or to come to terms with. Things they find more easily addressed to in shows like “Glee”, that show a reality (the school, the group of friends, the nerd, the beauty queen, the first sex experiences and consciousness of sex/gender identity…) more close to what they experience everyday, so they can relate more to Kurt or Snookie, than to Sam and Dean (or Han Solo and Luke Skywalker).
It would be interesting to make the reverse operation and to know what exactly teenagers who like SPN find so fascinating in it, why they can “relate” or “get” these characters and stories while other teenagers can’t do it.
I actually started watching the show when I was 23 and I’ll be 27 at the end of this year, but it had come out when I was in college and I just didn’t watch a lot of TV then.
What I think is awesome about Supernatural is that there is such an age variety that watches the show. Teenagers to people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and even beyond. So, maybe it doesn’t hit as hard in the CW’s targeted demographic, but with the age range it has, I’d say that’s pretty impressive!
I don’t know too many teenagers in real life anymore, but I do know that a lot of teenaged fans of the show hang out on tumblr.
I’m 28—soon to be 29, hey Jared, how is it, by the way?
I tried to get my friend, a woman in her late 40s into it and failed, so I don’t think it’s just your age group.
Some of the themes on this show are hard to grasp for some people. It’s not that they’re difficult concepts, it’s that they make you assess your own life at times. Good art does that.
To me, Supernatural is good art. It covers the human condition. Anything that examines the human condition in this manner can make people—uncomfortable. People shy away from uncomfortable. They want their entertainment, as you said about “Jersey Shore,” to be instantly gratifying and satisfying. They don’t want to have to think about this uncomfortable problem we all face as mortal beings. What is life? What is death? What is the punishments or rewards for this life I’ve led? What IS a family? How far will I go for mine?
I think it’s interesting that both Jared and Supernatural are currently in the running for the Teen Choice Awards. Before this article, I mused to myself that I thought it deserved the recognition, but didn’t see either Jared or the show doing well there. Jared’s got the biggest strike against him, summed in one word: MARRIED. It has nothing to do with his talent, nothing to do with his wonderful art on the show. He’s out of reach, older, adult. They can’t relate to him—as they might have done in his earlier career in shows like Gilmore Girls. He’s also grown into that frame of his so much so that he can be intimidating to those that don’t know the sweetness he possesses. Having met him, I wasn’t intimidated, but I knew if he had wanted to he could have easily snapped me in half with just his hands. They want someone who is skinnier, more like them in size—someone that doesn’t look like they can bench them.
Most teenager awards like this want to reward those in their own age group, the one they feel is their representative. Someone who is either 16-22 at the oldest (Though I think Robert Pattinson is 25 or so now, so he’s an exception), is unattached, and is usually doing shows or movies set in high school or around a high school theme. It’s probably why Ian Somenholder, who is fantastic at what he does, will succeed more than Jared.
Living on the run, hunting monsters, dealing with very adult problems such as life and death doesn’t appeal because to MOST teenagers (you’re an excellent exception to this rule, as there always are) don’t think that way. They’re convinced that they’re invincible, death is far off, and the notion that mortality is a serious matter just holds no sway. It’s why most Lit classes bore so many students. A lot of literature deals with the same concepts.
I do hope you’ll continue to show your view point on the show. It’s nice to see what someone younger thinks. I truly think Supernatural was designed to target, in the beginning at least, the mid to late 20s set. It just happened to suck a lot of adults in all age groups in, too.
This is interesting to me; it wasn’t something I’d thought about but I can see it (though I will say I appreciate [i]Buffy[/i] much more now than I did when I watched it–and enjoyed it–as a teen). I’m 23, started watching the show at 22, and completely agree in regards to Sam and Dean being two of the most relatable characters on television; their innate humanity and goodness in the face of some pretty major and even unspeakable evil makes them heroic and plain interesting.
I tried getting two friends–I’ll mention that they’re both male since that seems rare enough in our fandom–into the show. One is two years older and he has enjoyed it considerably. The other is two years younger and was not having any of it. And he would rather watch [i]Jersey Shore[/i], and I quote, because “they keep it real.” Uh huh. So maybe there is something to the age theory here.
It has struck me in seeing how people talk about the CW, saying that is is all teen shows, but Sam and Dean are older. Sam and Dean face more adult problems–yes, coming of age has been a big theme for Sam since he started out younger, but not so much in the high school way. I think there’s a pretty big difference in coming of age stories at 16 and at 22, so as much as I’ve found that story interesting and the Winchesters relatable, I can see where a younger audience might not. I think it’s unfortunate but I can see it.
A lot of shows on TV about adults are procedural crime dramas and those shows that teens might watch don’t deal so much with the human issues that SPN does. Then again, fantasy/sci-fi tends to get a bad rap–on TV and in literature–despite the fact that the genre tends to deal with the most human issues, exploring them in unique ways. It’s just not “cool” to be into genre shows or fiction. I’m a Publishing grad student and unapologetically advocate for genre fiction in my classes when my peers are all about literary fiction. The genre doesn’t get the cred it deserves and that turns people–especially impressionable younger people–away. And they miss out.
Haha, there are a lot of varying issues in that post. Rather fascinating.
Ah. The age old “Literary vs. Genre.” Been there. In my Creative Writing courses, my one professor HATED Genre and always touted Literary as a “fine wine.”
I see both view points.
The strike against Literary Fiction is that it is too stuffy in a lot of people’s eyes. It’s also a misnomer for those who uphold its superiority to genre, because each “literary” piece can be classified into a genre. The other issue with literary fiction is that it is a lot harder to sell to the general public. People like to know what they’re reading before they start and have an idea what they’re picking up. Literary may be classified into genres, but not quite fit one or more at any given time, making it harder to understand to those outside literary circles.
The issue with genre, and this is NOT true about ALL genre, is that it can lapse easily into the formulaic. It’s not hard to imagine a sci fi story or fantasy story falling into pitfalls, cliches, obvious traps to tell its story. Romance has the same issue. Each genre has “rules” and “formulas” that define it not just to the writer or literary circles as being bad or good, but to the general public. You know when you pick up a sci fi story you’re going to get technology. A fantasy piece might have dragons or wizards. Westerns involve horseback riding and saloons.
The trick to both literary AND genre is to revolutionize them, to attack them in a new and interesting manner. Basically, it is up to each writer to essentially reinvent the wheel, sell it as a new idea, and give us something within the story that is novel, fresh, and different than others done before it.
I think there’s too many misconceptions about both out there that it is easy for people to dismiss one, the other, or both. That’s the shame of it all.
I’m always reticent when the literary v. genre debate emerges. For me, genre fiction can be literary. I think of LeGuin here, among others. And literary fiction depends on genre in order to find itself a category.
To the article, I find this interesting. As someone who teaches mostly those in their late teens and early 20s, I often bring SPN up as an example and get many an eyeroll. I think it’s because they think I’m a cougar (hey, I’m still in the 30s, so I resent that, but oh well). Anyway, I agree with what you noted Far Away in that Supernatural is very much a human show, but it has very specific adult themes that many of us don’t really contend with until we are older.
I also think there is the bias toward reality television or pseudo-realism, as I like to call it, which presents (both in cinematographic but also dialogic ways) worlds that to quote Cas “appear similar to ours in many respects but are drastically different in others.” My students know Jersey Shore or Big Brother – they are not really interested in other types of entertainment much. And if they are, then they either refuse to acknowledge it or they are forthright about it to an extreme.
I also think that serial dramas require a lot more attention and time than the current adolescent life has resources for. And why watch a show about two hunters when you can get on an Xbox or PS3 and be a hunter?
There’s nothing real about “Jersey Shore” or “Big Brother.” They’re all fake and sold as “reality” to a public that eats up its nonsense.
Serial dramas DO require time and commitment on part of the viewer. It’s a long haul to follow any show during a prime time season, thus why DVD box sets seem to be so popular. You can digest an entire season literally in one weekend binges.
I agree. I think reality television is bogus to the extreme.
Weekend binge….oh how I want to watch season 2 now. Croatoan, I love your angst so much.
Mm, yes I completely agree about the time commitment issue. I much prefer serials so am always caught off-guard when people (especially those older than teenagers) aren’t interested in that type of show, haha.
I was out with some classmates a few weeks ago and mentioned Supernatural in passing and one asked me how the season had ended since she’d heard it had started out slowly. I told her about the noir aspect of the season and that things came together in the end, and she (my age, early 20s) replied that she didn’t like serials and would rather be able to watch any random episode at any time. She had, consequently, watched the first five seasons of SPN via DVD box set which was why she was curious about season 6. It’s all very intriguing.
That’s just it. People don’t want to have to worry about connecting a storyline arc over an entire season scape. It’s why sit coms are largely the more popular show format overall—or have been for a long period of time. Their decline is a whole nother ball of wax.
With those types of shows, you can miss a week or two—or a month’s worth—and not have missed all that much. The story will have moved so fast and have already moved into the next section, usually with a loose basis for relating the events together, that a casual fan could enjoy it.
The same can be largely said for the procedural cop show. Each case is a complete and new story, with small threads of character growth embedded within that may or may not fly over a viewer’s heads, but not totally distract them from the overall episode.
A show like Supernatural, the X-Files, True Blood, or Fringe have season long story arcs. They have smaller storylines that may or may not be wrapped up in a episode or two, but for the most part it is a SEASON long story. It’s another reason why I am oft to reserve judgment of a season of this show type until I’ve seen the entire package.
That type of commitment is hard for some. They’re busy with jobs and families, or they have other activities they would much rather do and thus would much rather the show be open to a casual viewing. It’s just how it is, I suppose.
With anything, people will do it if they seriously want to, though.
Oh, I completely agree that there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument. I quite enjoy good literary fiction–or adaptations based on something literary. But the more I delve into the publishing industry, the more sense I get about anything genre being labeled “low-brow” without concern for its content. There’s good genre fiction and bad genre fiction, just like there’s good literary fiction and bad literary fiction. I just find it unfortunate that genre works–whether they be literature or television or film or what have you–tend to be dismissed automatically.
I came across this article yesterday and think it applies (in the sense of SPN being considered genre fiction): “Tolkien, Lewis, George R.R. Martin: Why Fantasy is a Real Part of Literature”: [url]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576474430386670622.html[/url]
It’s true. There’s a ton of “fine wine” literature floating about that is absolute tripe. There’s a ton of BAD genre that gives it all a terrible name.
I’m curious, as I am only a writer and have never seriously looked at publishing itself, what do you learn in your classes? Mine were all on how to TELL a story. I’m guessing yours is on how to SELL a story. That would be a neat thing to see. (Side note, I must go to the library at some point and look at the Writer’s Market for this year and next)
Ooo, a meta article to read later. Yay!
Now, I must be off to write my damn novel. It most certainly will not write itself, now will it?
I’m the student who takes both writing and publishing classes–I’d like to write but I’d also like to have a job that pays the rent so I figured having a job in the industry seemed like a good way to go about the whole thing.
As for my publishing classes, we have to take book and magazine classes (since the two are very different), so we cover various aspects of the industries, from acquiring work to editing (ranging from developmental to copyediting) to working with a writer, as well as more technical behind-the-scenes stuff like production, design, and so on. I’m also taking a class on E-Publishing next semester. It’s a wide gamut of things to study 🙂
We never had that option in my college. It’s just strict writing or a basic English Lit degree. It’s funny that our English and Creative Writing program is so big in some ways, yet we don’t have a Journalism or Publishing subsection.
My job is retail at the moment. I would love to get into real writing for money and living, but I never went into my degree pursuit in order to get a job. I went in to it to become a better fiction writer.
I’d love to see a book list to read up on some of it, though!
Yeah, my B.A. is in English with a focus in Creative Writing and when I was trying to figure out what do do post-graduation, I was amazed to find out there were some Master’s programs for Publishing. Most are M.S. (like NYU) but the school I’m going to is one of the only M.A. Publishing programs since there’s crossover with the Creative Writing side. I’d be happy to give you a list of some of the books we’ve been assigned, but this is getting totally off-topic, haha.
There was a topic?
That’s pretty neat. Mine never had that. Just didn’t. Shame.
I’m a fan of Buffy, Angel and Supernatural but also like the way Robert Graves, James Fraser and Robert Campbell explained the meaning behind myths.I think you have to have a questioning mind to enjoy these types of work.
I am 13 years old and I am possibly one of the biggest SPN fans out there. But I have to say most of my friends who have seen Supernatural have really disliked it opting to watch the Vampire Diaries or True Blood or Glee instead. I though have watched this show since I was 11, a very young age to watch a show with this much violence, language, and sexual references and scenes. Even though many of my piers have rejected Supernatural and all its awesomeness I have a small group of friends whom I have lent out my DVDs and now they are addicted to the show that is Supernatural.I relate to the characters, even though I am considerably younger them, because of the relationship the brothers have, the trust. I have since made my 9 year old brother watch the first 5 episodes of Season 1 and I am proud to say he is also hooked. Though I think I will wait until he is a little older to watch any more episodes.I love how the seasons build up and it took me a long while to catch up to actually understand the show when I first started watching. I understand why many other teenagers do not enjoy Supernatural, but many of them just don’t give the show a shot.All I can say is I am a teenager and I could not live without Supernatural!
I understand why teenagers may like reality TV and, as a result, not as often watch shows with season-long story arcs, but I can’t help thinking it’s a little sad. Like TV is breeding an age of ADD viewers who can’t focus for that long.
I can also relate to the age thing. For example, I don’t like the Twilight story because they’re all teens and I’m 40. And, while Sam and Dean are younger than me, they deal with heavier subject matter, and in a realistic way. Granted, I don’t have to worry about most of the things they do, but there are parallels.
I have turned a few people on to SPN (co-workers and family) and one of them was my teenage nephew. I’ll consider that a win.
So how did Jared score a nomination for Teen Choice Award? Please don’t make me defend the Teen Choice Award.
I run a youth bible study and yes, all are teenagers and alot of them reserve their Fridays to watch Supernatural. I never told them about the show until one night they asked me if I knew about Supernatural and upon finding out I did, asked if I could incorporate it into the bible study class. I said hell no to that one.
Btw, I’m about 5 years older than most of my students; I’m continuously amazed that they actually listen to me, and obey!
I’m not quite sure how Jared scored this one. I know he was a presenter or a nominee once upon a time when he was about 17. This time? Beats me. It seems kind of arbitrary to me. Sure, Jared deserves the recognition, but I’m puzzled by this selection considering the Teen Choice typical awards.
You and my kid sister just had to remind me of the Teen Choice Award, which btw voting ends on August 5. So any teens on this board go vote now.
Call me crazy but I believe teens do recognize Jared’s stellar talent as an actor, after all supposedly it was teens that submitted the nominations. Teens have critical and cynical eyes and they know it’s more challenging to play multiple sides of a character and convincingly portray a character that is always changing versus Dean’s character who is a constant character.
Cassy, these are interesting points you brought up I enjoyed reading all the comments. I’d like to make a comment from the opposite end. I just turned 59 and I’ve watched SPN from the first night. I got excited when I heard the concept of the show during summer of 2005 and loved the show from the start. I am just as enthralled with the Winchester brothers as much as the next person. My choice in men ((heroes, fantasy dreaming etc) makes Dean the guy I’m attracted to. Even tho I’m old enough to be his mother that is quite depressing as I don’t feel 59, I feel like I’m in my early thirties and would be a very interesting gal who Dean should really get to know! In other words I am Not looking at him as a son, but as a lover. Hey a girl can dream can’t she hehe. This show has a very broad fan base in ages. I love that the show makes you think, laugh, cry lots and mourn loses. BTW I watched Buffy and Angel with just as much enjoyment and was not a spring chicken in my years but to this day I am very young at heart.
Some of my most favorite episodes have been the cheesy ones … like, say, when Sam and Dean find themselves stranded at a haunted hotel hosting a Supernatural convention. And then there was the episode in which the Trickster trapped Sam and Dean in TV land and they were jumping from show to show. We learned that Dean had a thing for … wait for it … male soap leads?!
Unlike many other shows, Supernatural has shown an ability to poke fun at itself … to not take itself too seriously.
For me, that has always been part of its charm.
I have 40 and there are people my age for me as ridiculous as I am a fan of the series and the boys. To me the same happens to you. Series helps me escape from my everyday life! sad but true!. As for the teens I have a 16 year old son who loves and another 12 who did not want to see!. So I do not think this is an year question but rather a matter of taste!
That was a great article Cassy. You are definitely a teenager with great taste! I’m 48 and I absolutely love SPN, and like a lot of other people, I watched Buffy, Darkangel also and loved those as well.
I’m a librarian at a high school for girls, and I have my fellow SPN fans that come to see me on Monday mornings to discuss the show. But I do see what girls read, and most of them like the stories with girls their own age that they can relate to. Unfortunately, too many of them like “Gossip Girl” or “The Clique” and other such drivel. But a lot of them are into fantasy so there is hope for the future!
My niece is 23 and she is a huge fan of SPN, and so is her boyfriend, so I can at least talk to them about the show. No one else in my family understands my obsession. This is why I love this site, I can come here and meet like minded people, whether they be 16 or 50.
Gotta say I disagree. It sucks that your friends don’t like it, but I know A LOT of teenagers who love Supernatural. I’m 21, and I’ve been watching since I was 16. I was introduced to it by (similarly aged) friends, and I subsequently introduced my younger siblings to it. Now they and most of their friends watch too. I think it really just depends on who you are and what your preferences are. My best friend is a big Grey’s Anatomy fiend, and most of her other friends and I can’t stand it.
That being said, it did bother me that you implied that only mature teenagers watch Supernatural, and those who don’t like it are shallow and in need of instant gratification. I love Supernatural–and I also love House, Top Chef, Project Runway, and yes, Glee. I’m not trying to insult you or your article, but I would suggest that you not use such broad classifications for our entire generation. You had a good point when you said that we watch what we relate to. Just because people our age tend to prefer Jersey Shore and Glee to Supernatural, that doesn’t mean that “most teenagers don’t enjoy sitting there and thinking. They don’t wonder how this character grew during this season or a slow build up of a storyline arc-it’s just not how their minds work. They want…well, frankly, a lot of them want “Jersey Shore.” A reality show that provides instant gratification-nothing more, nothing less.”
Frankly, I think you’re selling our generation short, and making a gross generalization. This May, I had a party for the Season Six finale. Myself, aged 21, my sister, aged 19, and my brother, aged 16, all attended, along with a big group of our friends, all 14-25 years old. The people in that group were theater geeks, athletes, chess club members, poets, accounting majors, and car mechanics. Aside from Supernatural, they all are fans of different shows, ranging from the History Channel to, yep, Jersey Shore. My (entirely too long winded) point is, our generation is awesome because it’s so unique and varied. And while I may think that those who watch Supernatural represent the best of our generation, that doesn’t mean I think the others are shallow, in need of instant gratification, or unable to follow complex stories. You and I are part of an unbelievably cool generation–please don’t dismiss them so quickly.
I’m nineteen, but started watching SPN when I had… hm. Just turned seventeen? And I’ve been fairly successful in converting friends!
I might say more later, but for now, I will say that there are genre people and then there are people who just don’t like hints of fantasy of any type, or their fantasy has to fit certain ideas they have and they don’t watch outside their box. I tend to watch or try to watch, nearly anything genre I can fit in my schedule, thanks to my DVR (and before that, tapes). I also watch USA network shows, most HBO shows, Dexter, and some shows like Castle. Honestly, there is too much to watch nowadays, so many choices, and cable networks and even regular networks now, do off season shows in the summer. I used to look forward to the summer catch-up break, ha ha ha. Anyway, there is a difference between what I simply watch, what I love, and what I become obsessed with. I watch way too much tv for my own good, but currently SPN is the only show I’m obsessed with. It may be because Sam Winchester/Jared Padalecki is my tv boyfriend and I just can’t let go until there is no new Sam Winchester on my tv screen each season. Not sure how it works, but there it is.
When I watched Lost, I decided to stop worrying about the plot and just watch the characters and I loved it all (except maybe that second season with the tailies). I adore Fringe and find it much more about family than SPN is most of the time. But I’m just not obsessed with it the way I am Sam and Dean, or SamnDean. I’m not a Wincester, I just like the idea of their unshakeable bond and trust and love in each other. And I honestly haven’t felt I’ve gotten that since season 4 began. It started creeping back in with fits and starts at the ends of season 5 and 6 but I hope it is finally here to stay in season 7.
When I was a teenager, I watched whatever was on the networks, so that was mainly sit coms or detective shows. Genre was very few and far between and series got cancelled all too quickly. What got me into genre were reruns of Star Trek and the Twilight Zone. I think viewing preferences are influenced by a lot of factors.
I’m nineteen, I was seventeen when I started watching and I love it. The person who first got me into it – my seventeen year old best friend. My fifteen year old and seventeen year old brothers? They love it. So I can’t really agree, tbh. I think that the themes that run through Supernatural – family, love, grief, overcoming obstacles – are pretty universal and something you can relate to no matter your age.
Cassy, thank you so much for sharing your
insight into the relationship of teenagers to Supernatural. I really enjoyed reading your piece. 🙂
I think Supernatural can be a hard sell to any age group because the show is so hard to define, categorize or explain. It’s about monsters, urban legends, and spooky stuff. Oh, and its about the relationship between two brothers ( and their Dad). Oh yeah, and their Mom died tragically. And it is about fate vs. free will and angels vs demons and who is God and what is his (or her ) role in the universe. And sometimes the shows are deeply emotional and sometimes they are hilariously funny. It’s about heroes and villains and everyone in between. PS: The two main characters are HOT.
I teach at a middle school and some of the students there are very into SPN, but usually they are also the ones who read scifi, fantasy, and dystopian literature.
Not many of my colleagues are into SPN. Most of my friends really prefer reality tv shows to any other type. 😥
Thank you, Nitewoman 7. I am another 59 year old who loves Supernatural (and also loved Buffy and Angel). However, I was not obsessed with them as I am with Supernatural.Something about the characters and plot just hooked me at the stage in life I am at right now. It doesn’t hurt that the guys are really smokin’ as well as being top notch actors. And, like you, I don’t [i]feel[/i] 59. I look in the mirror and go, “Who is that old lady?”
So, Supernatural may be a tough sell- but certainly worth the effort. 🙄
I’m 16 years old and I absolutely love Supernatural and have for years now. My friend is 16 and she is obsessed with Supernatural as well. My other friend is 15, likes supernatural…. Another friend: 16, he loves Supernatural.
I’ve gotten like 5 people into Supernatural as well, most of them teenagers… so… 😛
I started watching the show in season one and found it to be excellent. I got my Dad hooked and it turned into one of our weekly programmes. Season two although not as good as season one was quite good too. However the third season was just went straight down hill, erasing a nice plot device of a gun with only so many magic bullets, to Dean running out of time and whining about it alot. Don’t get me wrong I love character development but for two guys who try to be cool but fail so they can share there emotions with each other (that’s not opinion by the way, you may notice they always try to remain cool after anyway).
BUT then enter Castiel and the other side of everything, heaven. It refreshed the story making it anew. The prospect of the end of the world seemed more exciting and Castiel was a great (and cool) character. Then ensue the race to stop the end of the world in the form on Lucifer ensues and they have a good season of fun trying to stop him but undoubtely fail. Then back down hill it goes with the end of season finale of the excitement of seeing the struggle between how the brothers get away from the devil is taken away from us by God. Then as usual the brothers spend the rest of the season killing the four car drivers of the apocalypse (aside from death of course because he’s the coolest) and discovering angels are also (in a ridiculous way) are trying also to end the world, which in itself is not in an angels nature as the good ones are nice and kind. Then, it may just be me reading too much into it, but I like to think that all the old forgotten religions of the world would never go for a conference about Lucifer in America and then all get massacred by him, subtly saying that Christianity is superior to all. That was the starting point of when I didn’t want to watch anymore (real Norse Odin could probably stand a good fighting chance against the devil, nevermind a whole room full). Then of course we got to the episode we’ve all been waiting for, Michael vs Lucifer. The fight of the century. The battle that will destroy the earth. When the delivery is a nice chat in a park followed by Dean getting beat up and then they both go to hell. It might just me being a man but I wanted just a little more of a fight between them than that. But then at the end of the episode, we see God who turns out to be a writer (again, I might be reading too much into it, but cmon ego’s much writers?). After that I watched a few of the new season but it didn’t have the same great stories behind it. From what I’ve read it sounds silly anyway, with Crowley still knocking around, where as they should of just killed the bugger by now.
I did enjoy many aspects mind you, my favourite episode’s being Dead Mans Blood and the Bend’s. That was great story telling and brilliant stories. But as time went on the main plot just got plain silly. I would be interested to know if it picked up (from my viewpoint) but I don’t think I could listen to yet another Winchester bitch about how he was in hell.
I was a teenager when I watched it, but don’t think I stopped to watch Jersey Shore or some rubbish like that. There are just much better TV shows with much better stories (i.e Dexter, True Blood) that put Supernatural’s wild stories to shame.
Hi! I really enjoyed your article and I’m glad you left the comment section open so people who came late to the discussion can still add their 2 cents. Thanks!
With that said, I personally really cannot STAND SUPERNATURAL at this point. I’m an adult woman in her 30’s, not a teen. I started watching the show when it came out & I was really excited about it. But I got caught up with life and missed several seasons. Luckily I went to TV Shack or some other online free site where I got caught up & noticed the show started getting really religious!
The End Of The World, angels vs demons, fighting Lucifer as Michael or Gabriel, Dean was supposed to be the angel Michael’s “Sword”, ect.! Supernaturla is so heavy-handed with the religion, and then I see a Shape shifter or ghost or vampire episode thrown in here & there to make the show look like it’s paranormal or supernatural. I now think this is to cover the show’s real intention, which is to -in my mind now- promote or sell Christianity in some way. Idk. Just an observation. ……Also, Dean & Sam make (verbally) a lot of references to 1980’s TV show heroes & just listen to 70’s music. What teenager in 2013 is going to know who Colombo from the ’70’s TV show Colombo is?? Also, they listen to maybe Cobra Starship or Panic At The Disco or Muse, not Led Zepplin!!
When I watch Supernatural, I feel like it’s for middle-aged , Christian White men to relate to. All the demons seem to be young, hot girls (Lilith, Meg, Ruby, ect) & the angels of power are men. Even the all-powerful horsemen (Famine, Death, Plague, ect) were all men. The “prophets” seem to be male (the novelist and the Asian student), and both good. The female prophet ended up being a fake prophet & evil. I forgot her name but she was in a town telling people that she had visions & they ended up killing each other.
Supernatural reminds me of Twilight, where it was argued that there were unsavory messages hidden in this Young Adult fiction & passed off as “romance”. I feel like that about Supernatural. And speaking of Literature (as you mentioned), Supernatural is just Jack Kerouac’s book On The Road (mixed with X-Files). But that’s just my opinion. I think the show started off well but got too sidetracked into all of these heavy-handed religious elements .
Hi! I forgot to say this (sorry) : Maybe the people in Supernatural could be a little bit more diverse. I guess I’m the only one that thinks this way but….all this traveling Sam & Dean do across the country and I don’t see many Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and so on. It’s like the same people from Gatlin, Nebraska are the same people in Missouri, and the same in Wyoming, Ohio, and Los Angeles. The people S & D meet all dress the same, sound the same.
Did you notice that Ruby & Lilith dress pretty much the same-the tight shirt, the leather jacket, tight jeans, shoulder-length hair with a little wave in it (but not too much)? The men wear flannel and regular jeans. Maybe that’s what some people mean about the show being UNREALISTIC in some ways. They’re killing Demons and after a while I started noticing how the demons seem to have more diversity among them than the humans in the show. With Sam & Dean, no matter where they go, there they are. The towns look the same, the people look the same, so it doesn’t give a real feeling that they’ve traveled “600 miles to find Dad”. Add that to the fact that Sam & Dean don’t seem to change outfits, and it just gets BORING. Something’s got to change-either the background or them.
“It might just me being a man but I wanted just a little more of a fight between them than that.”–SAMMAG
@SAMMG, no it’s not just a guy-thing, I’m female & I wanted a showdown, too (Michael vs Lucifer), but hey, by that time I didn’t expect that they’d do that. Remember, this is the show that has NO MAKEUP OR SPECIAL EFFECTS WHATSOEVER. That’s quite a feat when the whole basis of your show is MONSTERS, DEMONS, ANGELS, ect. Nope, everybody just looks human in Supernatural. My point is, SAMMG, the show would’ve needed FX for an angel/devil fight & Supernatural will never spend $$ on FX, so I knew it wouldn’t happen. I knew they’d just chat & leave. Ha ha.
I turned on the Tv one day right as a rerun of “Monster at the End of the Book” was starting on TNT. I sat there for 25 minutes glued to the screen before I shut it off and ran to watch it on Netflix. I watched seven seasons in just a few weeks and then season eight came on right after (it’s my favorite show and I’m in love with everything about it). I was seventeen/eighteen at the time (I just turned nineteen). During season eight I got my little brother hooked, he watched new episodes with me and also got caught up on Netflix before the finale, he’s sixteen. Couldn’t get my dad hooked though, he’s 53 and the first season was too gory for his taste. Although, he has walked past while I’m watching later episodes and always asks what it is and is surprised it’s the same show. So, maybe there’s hope yet…