Here is the first of four individual character polls for Supernatural. Thank you all for submitting your nominations of character traits and voting in the qualifying polls yesterday.
You get three choices in today’s poll. Voting will be open for a week. The topic of discussion is Sam’s character, characterization, and why you chose what you chose. Dean will be up next weekend, followed by Cas, and Bobby.
The answers listed in the poll scored top in the number nominations and in the qualifying polls, but there were many great submissions that unfortunately I could not include.
Here is the full list of submissions for Sam:
Addicted
Angry
Brainy
Brave
Caring
Compassionate
Confident
Control issues
Cunning
Curious
Determined
Driven
Earnest
Educated
Emotional
Empathetic
Ethical
Faith
Faithful
Forgiving
Free spirit
Friendly
Friendship
Future-focused
Geek
Geeky
Hairy
Head-strong
Heroic
Honest
Honor
Hopeful
Humble
Independent
Intellectual
Intellectually curious
Intelligent
Introverted
Issues with control and power and feeling deprived of those for most of his life
Kind
Kind-hearted
Knowledgeable
Lonely
Longing
Loyal
Loyalty
Moral
Obsessive
Optimistic
Passion
Passionate
Perseverance
Persistent
Proud
Puppydog-eyed
Questioning
Rational
Rebel
Rebellious
Resentful
Resourceful
Ruthless to his villains
Secretive
Seeking
Self-aware
Selfish
Self-sacrificing
Sensitive
Serious
Sexy
Smart
Socially adept
Strength
Strong
Stubborn
Susceptible
Sympathetic
Tall
Thoughtful
Torn
Tough
Unpredictable
Willingness
Supernatural - Describe Sam's Character - Poll
25 Nov 2012
CD Polls Supernatural
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My inspiration for these polls was a visit to the CW website a few months ago – reading Sam described as a “sweet, reluctant hero” and Dean as a “rugged badboy.” My thought was that “sweet” describes an innocent 15-year-old boy, not a seasoned hunter who lost his innocence at 9 years old, has gone dark, and has literally been to Hell and back. Also, Sam hasn’t been a “reluctant hero” since season 1, although apparently he’s been cast back in that role in season 8. As for Dean being a “badboy,” he drinks too much, hits on women, and has snark, but he’s also the one who always followed his father’s orders and who carries a guilt complex bigger than the Chrysler building (sorry Cas). For the record, we didn’t have a single nomination for “sweet” or “reluctant hero” for Sam, or “badboy” for Dean. Ha!
ReplyDeleteSo this incident, in addition to an observation around the debate on whether Sam would not look for Dean, made me think about a big divide that seems to exist in the fandom around what Sam’s true character is. Obviously there’s the divide between the perceptions of those who love Sam vs. those who hate Sam, but there’s also a divide among people who say they love Sam. There are those who see Sam as Sammy – Dean’s sweet, younger, puppy-eyed
brother who should always support Dean and follow Dean’s lead. And there are those who don’t want Sam’s history with conflict, demon blood, and Lucifer, and all of his war wounds,
swept under the rug. They don’t necessarily want a repeat of all that, but this is all part of who Sam is. This group likes when Sam questions Dean’s thinking and pushes back, and wants him to be portrayed as Dean’s equal partner, and a leader in his own right – not a follower.
I fall in the later camp. There are also divides in perceptions of some of the other characters as well, but I’ll get into those more when we get to those polls.
So with that said, I feel like some of the character writing for Sam that made him a more layered, complex character has been dropped in recent seasons. While I like supportive
and compassionate Sam, I also liked the Sam who was independent, who didn’t take what he was told at face value, who was driven occasionally to the point of obsession to make a world a better place for himself and everyone else, and who displayed character flaws – control issues, struggles with power, and occasional anger.
compassionate,lonely and intelligent
ReplyDelete...I.think must move ..CARING..to a LOWER..position and put rebellious on third is MORE PRECISE
ReplyDelete..this poll is very HARD TO CHOOSE..because SAM IS LIKE TORNADO..all pieces fit inside .swallow the good and bad stuff at the SAME TIME..also a puzzle which piece is the BEST.cause me a headache .OUCH,.OUCH,.HA,HA HA
ReplyDelete"Sam is like a tornado," I like that. There's been a lot of intense stuff with him over the seasons.
ReplyDeleteHard to choose but I went with Smart/Intelligent, Heroic and Compassionate.
ReplyDeleteI think Sam is hard to define, he changes from one episode to next quite often just to fit with what the writers need him to be.
I do find it interesting how fans find him less heroic than Dean.
The control issues thing has always been one of my favourite things about Sam's character, he is always fighting for control of his own life whereas I feel Dean is always fighting to control other people's lives. It makes for an interesting contrast/conflict.
"...whereas I feel Dean is always fighting to control other people's lives"
ReplyDeleteI think you confuse Dean's abandonment issues with Sam's control issues. Sam & Dean aren't two sides of the same coin, but more complex tham that. Dean wants Sam to want to hunt with him, and Sam wants to be free of the hunting life, but they can't have it both ways, and hence the conflict. But to characterize Dean as trying to control everyone is totally mischaracterizing Dean. The goal is to "be with" Sam, not to control.
I couldn't agree with you more. I fall into the later camp too.
ReplyDeleteAlso Sam is in no way sweet and innocent not with everything he's been through. I hate how this season has reverted Sam back to those little brother season 1 character traits. Sam is Dean's equal not his bitch. I find it interesting that they're made him the reluctant hero again this season when I thought he's made good headway in accepting who he is as a hunter and his role in saving lives and the world.
I'm sorry but Dean has never been the 'bad boy' of the story. If anything Sam more fits that role having a rebellious streak, fighting against orders, going dark side. But even then I wouldn't call him a bad boy either.
I may be a Dean girl but I'm more Bi-Winchester. So many of these cover Sam, but he is rebellious, he does have control, issues, and he is highly smart/intelligent. I went with those because I figure all the smarmy stuff we be covered by most of us. lol
ReplyDeleteintelligent, sympathetic, and independent
ReplyDeletetvmonkey didn't say everyone... but, I agree that Dean does try to control Sam and anybody else that he is trying to save/protect.
ReplyDeleteDean was the peace maker before Dad died, but after that he tried to take over Dad's position. In my opinion there is plenty of evidence that Dean tries to control things. I believe that is the main reason that he feels guilty about things whether he is responsible or not. It seems the more he loses (mom, dad, etc) the more he holds on. Besides all of the scenes we have seen when Dean takes point and sets the rules, we also have Sam's speech in When the Levee Breaks... "My whole life, you call the shots... you take the wheel"..
This is further evidenced by things like Dean deciding that Lenore and her group need to die because they weren't human. Sam tried to talk Dean out of it, but Dean wouldn't listen right up to the point that Lenore pulled back from biting Sam and let's not even go into the whole Amy thing.
That is Sam's view of Dean's behavior, and your view as a San fan, that he is right. It is not Dean's intended behavior. To say that Dean is about controlling Sam, is like saying Sam leaves to be away from Dean. That subtle shift in the way you look at it, changes everything. Dean doesn't want to be alone [it's not about control] and Sam wants to be free [it's not about getting away from Dean.]
ReplyDeleteDean operates from a desire not to be alone, not from a position to control everyone. When it is made clear to him that Sam feels controlled, Dean retreats. It's a subtle difference but important to understand Dean.
How many times has Sam made his view clear to Dean, and Dean will back off and follow Sam's lead? Except for Scarecrow the first confrontation, and Levee where Dean and Sam attacked each other, the vast majority of times, Dean will accept Sam's conditions, even to the point of accepting Sam's POV & desire for separation, as in "Bloodlust", "Fresh Blood", "Free to be You and Me", "Fallen Idols", "Point of No Reurn", "Swan Song", "Slash Fiction" and recently "Southern Comfort."
The writers keep writing the same confrontation ad nauseum, but as a rule, Dean does step back when Sam makes his point.
I didn't say Dean was "about" controlling Sam. I don't think that is his intended goal in life. However, that is what he does. I feel that he controls the people that he cares about because he is afraid of losing them. However, even with potential victims he is like a drill sergeant. He does this to protect people because he is the ranking hunter in most situations. However, even when not (like with Samuel), he seldom releases the reins to anyone else for any reason. Bobby and John are probably the sole exceptions to that rule.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that he doesn't want to be alone more than he wants to control and that is why he backs off when push comes to shove. However, Dean does have to back off.... which means he is acting more like a father or sergeant than a brother or partner.
What's the meaning of control issue?
ReplyDeleteha, I got two quickly, control issues and questioning, but had a harder time with the 3rd. Picked rebellious, but when I think about it all those are basically the same thing. I love the tornado, that does fit for Sam.
ReplyDeleteA better term might be "control freak." My interpretation (and I was one of the people who nominated this) is a borderline OCD (obsessive-control disorder). Examples are the strict discipline he exerts over a lot of things in his life (getting straight A's in school, the healthy diet, the running in season 7). When he met up with Dean in 8.1, if you look at the weapons in the trunk, instead of being thrown into a heap as they were with Dean, they are neatly organized. I think he never felt in control of his life growing up, and it resulted in his having a need for more control and power as an adult. We saw this manifest itself in the demon blood addiction in season 4.
ReplyDeleteI think of if as being tired of someone else ALWAYS telling you what to do, first John and when John was away hunting, Dean would be the one. That is why Sam and John were at odds most of the time and why Sam always wanted to know why are we doing this. I put control issues and questioning together. The questioning was a push back to the control.
ReplyDeleteI think Sam was initially written as the character most people would relate to, which made it really twisted that the traits people related to, and which are valued in the individualistic US society - independent thinking, rebellion, achievement - are the same traits that tied him to Lucifer. Evil Kripke.
ReplyDeleteI think everything on this list fits Sam, so you really can't go wrong. Dean girls are welcome to comment here too. We all watch all of these characters, so we all have opinions on them all.
ReplyDeleteI think he hasn't been written very consistently since season 6, but prior to that there were some core, recognizable characteristics that stayed with his evolution over the years. There are some areas, like the anger, that I think were inconsistent in the early seasons, but the compassion, control issues, intelligence, questioning have been there from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteSam always has an opinion and a plan, and seeing him all wish-washy or opinionless around the Bobby issue, the Cas issue, and the Leviathans was out of character and was driving me nuts last season.
I think Dean modeled a lot of his behavior after John, and John was very controlling. To your point, Sam learned early on that if he wants to have a voice in the family, he's going to have to make Dean and John listen to him and respect his opinions. Whether Dean is still controlling with Sam, I think that depends on where they are in their relationship at the moment - sometimes he is and sometimes he isn't. But I think the fact that Dean has so many guilt issues about situations that were never within his control (Jo's decision to start hunting, Lisa and Ben's painful memories, Sam dying in season 2) speaks to an assumption he has deep down that all of these things should be within his control. Again, I'm not blaming him. I think it can be attributed to John's parenting style and his insistence that Dean was responsible for Sam while they were growing up. It's part of Dean's psychological makeup now.
ReplyDelete