Description
Book Synopsis What makes a horror television drama interesting? Like any other drama, it is often the character development or plot, and this certainly applies to the dramatically-resonant Supernatural and its beloved characters. However, Supernatural has achieved a dedicated fandom and a record-breaking 15-season run by skillfully engaging with the social reality inhabited by the show''s audience. Additionally, the show plays with the fourth wall by having an in-world fandom for the main characters. Supernatural''s many layers have garnered the attention of academics who analyzed the show''s engagement with diverse topics such as the #MeToo movement, consumerism, and the American Dream. This collection of essays studies the topical issues and politics that added depth and maturity to Supernatural, separated it from X-Files knock-offs, and garnered the show its own cult following.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Lisa Macklem and Dominick Grace
Part One—Being American
Post-Crash Politics: Supernatural Masculinities in the Mid-West
Leanne McRae
"I killed Hitler": American Exceptionalism and Triumphalism in Supernatural
Cait Coker
Dean's Yellow Fever: Acts of Forgery in Genre
Camille DeBose
"You guys getting hungry?" On Leviathans, Consumption and American Politics in Supernatural
Angélica Varandas
Part Two—Text and Context
Re-Constructing Monstrosity: Faces of Evil, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the TV Show Supernatural
Tatiana Prorokova-Konrad
Knowledge Is Power: Information Literacy in Supernatural
Paula S. Kiser
"There is no singing in Supernatural!": Fan/Producer Relationships, Metanarrative and Supernatural's 200th Episode Special
Keshia Mcclantoc
Part Three—The Politics of Fandom
Slash Fiction: Homoerotics and the Metatextual Fangirl
Emily E. Roach
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Fandom Representation in Supernatural Canon
Kimberly Lynn Workman
Monsters Make Gender Trouble
Megan Genovese
"Driver picks the music": Tracing Supernatural's Long Road Trip to Discovering Fan Identity
Laurena Aker
Coda—Engaging with Engagement: Following a Creator/Creating Followers
Lisa Macklem and Dominick Grace
Appendix One: Episodes Cited
Appendix Two: Main and Major Characters
About the Contributors
Index
