Metafiction, Supernatural and the Double Death of the Author
Metafiction, Supernatural, and the “Real Author”
The original power dynamics between Author, characters, and audience are introduced in season four. In “The Monster at the End of This Book,” Sam and Dean come across a series of novels called Supernatural. Disturbed by how accurately and intimately the novels portray their lives, Sam and Dean find the author, Chuck Shurley, who hadn’t known Sam and Dean were real. Here we see what Waugh describes as an example of “the Real Author stepp[ing] into the fictional world, cross[ing] the ontological divide.” Chuck is the “Real Author” of Supernatural within the fictional realm, and also the avatar of Eric Kripke.
As Chuck speaks about his books, he, as Waugh writes, “splits [the ‘real’ and ‘fictional’] apart by commenting not on the content of the story but on the act of narration itself, on the construction of the story.” In that fashion, while speaking with Sam and Dean, Chuck bemoans some of the mediocre episodes: “Did you really have to live through the bugs?” in reference to season one’s “Bugs” and “What about the ghost ship?” from season three’s “Red Sky At Morning.” He goes on, “I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing— If I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass.” He further comments on the narration when discussing his current book: “It’s kind of weird…It’s very Vonnegut…It’s ‘Kilgore Trout’ Vonnegut. I wrote myself into it. I wrote myself, at my house confronted by my characters.”
But it turns out that his books, like the real life television show, have a small but devoted following, and Sam and Dean find themselves at a Supernatural convention in season five’s “The Real Ghostbusters.” As exemplified by the constructed lives of Sam and Dean that appear in the Supernatural books beloved by a small group of fans, “[m]etafiction suggests,” according to Waugh, “that history itself is invested, like fiction, with interrelating plots which appear to interact independently of human design.”
In this vein, Chuck, it is revealed, is a prophet, simply writing down the visions that come to him, making his work seemingly impossible to subvert. Events happen as Chuck sees them, no matter what Sam and Dean do to try to stop them. Thus, once more, Chuck stands in for the writers of the series, since events happen independently of the characters, depending instead on the writers in “real life.” Sam and Dean have no power over the writer’s room.
To completely break the fourth wall, in the sixth season’s “The French Mistake,” Sam and Dean are thrown into an alternate universe where everyone thinks they are actors named Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who star as Sam and Dean Winchester on the television show Supernatural. It is through this shift in reality that we see what Waugh calls an “examination of fictionality, through the thematic exploration of characters ‘playing roles.’” Sam and Dean are forced to confront their identities as fictional characters in this world and see how little control they have over their lives, which are reduced to script pages. Once they return home, they must choose between bowing before the odds against them making meaning in their lives or moving forward anyway.
Another Supernatural death: That of the Author
In true Winchester fashion, Sam and Dean move forward despite all odds. And it is that perseverance that helps them beat the system and take hold of the power granted to characters in a metafictional narrative. They eventually buck Chuck’s prophesy; in choosing to stand by Sam despite the distance between them at the end of season four, Dean makes a choice that Chuck does not see coming and thus affects the prophet’s future narratives. And by the end of season five, the brothers have fought against a Heavenly-decreed fate; Chuck, as author, ends up along for the ride rather than dictating events through prophetic visions.
Indeed, “[a]s soon as a fact is narrated no longer with a view to acting directly on reality but intransitively, that is to say, finally outside of any function other than that of the very practice of the symbol itself,” Barthes writes, “the voice loses its origin, the author enters into his own death, writing begins.” Power has shifted as Sam and Dean take fate into their own hands and make a future that no one saw coming. This forces Chuck not to predict the future, but instead to document the present. Sam and Dean have become the writers of their own narrative instead.
Season five closes with Chuck’s words: “Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny, and God himself, they made their own choice: They chose family. And, well, isn’t that kind of the whole point? No doubt, endings are hard. But then again, nothing ever really ends, does it?” Because Sam and Dean made their own choice and thwarted their destinies, Chuck’s authorial power has diminished and he vanishes, his final manuscript complete—literally, the death of the author. Future seasons represent the unknown; Sam and Dean will have to create their own meaning since the omnipotent authorial power is gone.
Double Author death: A major shift in power
The second author death comes at the expense of the powers-that-be. The power on one level shifted to Sam and Dean because they made the unexpected choice to continue fighting together. However, the authorial figure in Supernatural is gone. So who is left? Barthes says, “we know that to give writing its future, it is necessary to overthrow the myth: the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.” Since the latter requirement has been fulfilled, the former comes in to play. The reader of Supernatural is the audience. Despite the end of the original five season arc Kripke envisioned, fan support got the show renewed for a sixth, and an eventual seventh, season with an eighth looking promising. Kripke, the ultimate Author, stepped down as showrunner after season five—just as his avatar, Chuck, disappeared.
The season five finale was not just a swan song for the original story, but also for the author. Seasons six and seven have existed, and any future seasons will exist, by the virtue of the readers’ power. If the readers withdraw, then the text dies. When Barthes says “the modern scriptor is born simultaneously with the text,” it follows that the scriptor—the current powers-that-be working on Supernatural—also dies with the text. The writers of the show no longer exist when the text, as determined by the readers, no longer exists. Thus, the second author death is a direct result of the influence of metafiction. Power has shifted completely not once, but twice.
So what?
When Barthes challenges the traditional view of storytelling as author-based, he is also challenging the very notion of identity. In the literary realm, he puts forward the solution that the death of the author means the rise of the reader, thus reshaping the identity of writing. But if we were to take this a step further to challenge the traditional view of the narrative and what makes for “good” storytelling overall, Barthes has no solution for us, especially since his essay predates the digital era (1977).
But when we look at the evolution of storytelling with the digitization of content, streaming, the influence of fandom, and so on, it becomes apparent that, as the world and the narrative changes, so does where the power of storytelling lies. And Supernatural, with its loyal following and cast and crew that willingly engage with the fandom, is at the forefront of that power shift. Appealing to consumers is the wave of the future, meaning that it is the fan favorites like Supernatural, which have been traditionally dismissed as trite genre fare, that will pave the way for the narrative’s evolution.
Thanks Purplehairedwonder!
Fascinating article and something to think about.
Thank you! One of my favorite things about Show is how many levels it can get you to think at. It always seems like there’s another level no matter how far you go. I have a lot of fun exploring it as I can.
Purplehairedwonder – Thanks for taking the time to write this. It is heady stuff for sure but…. I really enjoy these types of articles.
Reading this reminded me of one of my favorite books “Simulacra and Simulation” by Baudrillard. If you haven’t already, give it a peek. Seems like something you may enjoy based on your article. This article inspired me to pull it from my bookshelf and start looking at it again. I am putting it bedside and going to give it another read.
Interesting, I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for the rec!
I actually adapted this article from a much longer essay I wrote for a lit theory class in grad school. I was writing about “Death of the Author” for a metafictional book (Nabokov’s [i]Pale Fire[/i]), film ([i]Stranger Than Fiction[/i]), and TV show ([i]Supernatural[/i], of course). I was just so fascinated by the topic and how well it fit with Show that I delved a bit more into the SPN side.
I know the academic stuff isn’t for everyone, but I think it’s fun to see how we can get into even that with Show 🙂
Well done. I think this era is going to determine much of the stories we see now and in the future. The middle man is largely removed in all forms of media, and I think the “Fourth Wall” that is continually smashed by Supernatural and other shows will eventually disappear or become so transparent it will no longer be necessary.
I loved the point about how the text is kept alive not by the writer’s hand but by the reader’s. Too often, people envision writers in a so-called Ivory Tower aloof from it all. It’s a social activity, and therefore text is born of both writer and reader.
Truly thought provoking.
I think with the rise of social media, the power of the reader/audience is becoming greater and greater, though the evolution is a long-term one. Because Supernatural has a cast and crew so willing and interested in communicating with their fanbase, it seems the perfect case study for “new storytelling” to go with “new media.”
Supernatural is already quirky so the risk of doing something strange or revolutionary is inherent in the material, so I think that makes the reward all the greater–for the people on both sides of the spectrum. Hence the metafictional aspect of the article; a show not so willing to go to such odd places might not have such great luck on the new frontier. It’s a fascinating dynamic to consider.
Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Supernatural — story by committee — it’s doomed!
I like to think of it as a hopeful future, new frontier and all, haha 🙂
You know I have a particular fondness for Barthes and your commentary is insightful about how the show has moved from simple self-reference as comedy to using comedic self-reference as a point of resistance to traditional ideas of authorship.
When I had my students read Barthes’s essay, they all concentrated on the line you quoted about the birth of the reader. I found that interesting because his observations do foreshadow the interactive nature of storytelling in a world that has the technology for immediate feedback. And while many mourn the death of the author, I think the show has embraced it to a large extent. The meta episodes can be viewed, on one level, as a directed conversation with the reader, a conversation that could not have really happened before digital technology. Or at least couldn’t have had the same impact on storytelling.
Great job, Caitlin. It was a pleasure to read.
-Linda
Yes ma’am, writing this made me think of you, haha. Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I do find the concept of the birth of the reader really fascinating, especially since Barthes’ essay predated the digital era that makes all of this possible at all. The death of the author will like yield mixed results with storytelling, but that such risks are even possible to take is rather fascinating to me. And the way Supernatural has, by and large, been successful with it even more so. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with storytelling as everything is digitized. It’s literally a new frontier for storytelling and I see the show as an innovator in that regard.
You might also be interested in the book we just published on Supernatural and its fans, Fandom At The Crossroads. There’s a chapter on breaking the fourth wall that includes the episodes you cited above, along with fans’ (mixed) reaction to having the fourth wall broken and interviews with ‘the author’ himself, Eric Kripke, bringing the reciprocal relationship between fans and the creative side full circle. I love that SPN itself is capable of as many “thinky thoughts” as its always deep-thinking fandom 🙂
Thanks for an interesting read!
I certainly give Fandom at The Crossroads my 5 star endorsement! The link to purchase the book on Amazon is on our Home Page, halfway down on the right side. A must read!
You know, it’s actually on my Amazon Wishlist at this very moment 🙂 I look forward to reading it soon, hopefully. Thinky thoughts about Show are my favorite!
The reader/watcher has been engaged with the author/writer before. Certainly the fans had a lot to do with Friends ending with Ross and Rachel finally getting together. In addition fans of Castle this year are getting itchy for him to get together with Beckett. And of course LOST wherein the fans were getting impatient for the authors/writers to get on with the story is a good example. And all were not pleased at the ending and used the internet to express that.
I think the idea of the birth of the reader is most prevalent with genre shows since we are the ones who usually comment on each episode/chapter of our shows. However, I do feel above all, that the author/writer should still be the god of their book or show, and not the audience. And I think that the writers still rule on Supernatural, otherwise there would not have been that many deaths on the show. They still rule, which is how it should be.
Thanks so much for this. I love having my little brain challenged by this kind of stuff, meaning both your article and metafiction, be it through films, tv or books.
I know the season is almost over (sniff) but I’d love them to do another metafictional show. Maybe next season (she thinks hopefully).