Explaining the Supernatural in Supernatural: The Antithesis of the Gaze The horror genre is a type of movie that society just cannot seem to break free of. Whether the brutal slayings and explicit violence offer the viewer a reprieve from the monotony of reality, it becomes a mystery as to why, in a day and age when people can watch CNN and fill their monthly quota of violence, death and mayhem, one would spend ten dollars on a horror movie. Television though, had a brilliant idea: ditch the theater and bring the horror directly into living rooms across the world. Beginning in 1974 with Kolchak: the Night Stalker and made popular by American Gothic, Profiler and The X-Files, television began a foray into the paranormal, the unexplainable and the terrifying. Suddenly, impenetrable serial killers are beamed directly to viewers at the control of a remote. In 2005, Supernatural is the latest series to join the ranks of horror/thriller genre of program. Although in many regards, it adheres strictly to the formula that made The X-Files a cult phenomenon, it, unlike its predecessors, offers the viewer a completely new gaze. Where Mulvey argues that the male gaze is forced upon the female and Clover argues with abundant proof that the horror genre takes on the gaze of a masculinized female, Supernatural, presents the direct opposite: the feminized male. The dialogue, effeminized male characters and female killers all offer an explicit female spectatorial position. In a chapter entitled “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Laura Mulvey argues that, “the paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestations is that it depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world” (198). In brief, Mulvey emphasizes the male gaze as the dominant spectatorial position, thereby completely ignoring the feminine perspective (198). The women in movies, according to Mulvey, are there to be looked upon and sexualized; to be acted upon rather than act themselves (203). To nicely summarize, men make things happen and women have things happen to them (203). Carole Clover, on the other hand, argues that in the horror genre, the women are the characters that possess the power of the gaze. In her novel Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, she describes how the gaze is shifted from the male killer to the female protagonist, or the Final Girl (35). What Clover is essentially explaining, is that now, the viewer is given the opportunity to look through female eyes as she gazes the surrounding males (36). Yet, Clover still maintains that it is a male looking through female eyes and not a female looking through a female gaze (36). This, much like Mulvey’s point, assumes that a male is the one that is omnisciently viewing (36-38). This is where Supernatural slots in. At first glance, the program follows the horror code perfectly. Newborn Sam and four-year-old Dean Winchester witness their mother being burned alive, pinned to the ceiling by an invisible force, completely eviscerated.1 This begins a twenty-two year quest to discover the truth and rid the world of evil along the way.1 Seeing as how the beautiful, blonde and sexy mother is horribly murdered and put on such blatant display, Mulvey’s argument seems to walk hand-in-hand with the show (203). Yet, as soon as one scratches the surface of Supernatural, something rare occurs. Now, as adults, Sam and Dean have been raised without a mother. Sam, being a baby at the time of the murder, never knew his mother and halts his ghost-busting days to pursue a ‘normal’ life at college, yet for Dean, the desire to find his mother’s killer boarders on that of an Oedipal complex. Yet despite the traumatic childhood, Sam and Dean have matured into beautiful men, almost feminine in their characteristics. Instead of being the buff and macho warriors of good, Sam is tall and slender, possesses piercing green eyes and long, wavy brown hair. He is docile and passive, book smart yet naive. Dean, although having the more masculine body, has the staple feminine facial features. He is blonde with wide, dazzling blue eyes and long eyelashes, full, pouty lips and high cheekbones. He is seductive and cunning; street smart, impulsive and completely unpredictable yet demonstrates patience and compassion. In essence, they are the double-edged sword that is the female, encompassing the traits that signify the female gender. As Clover continues, the cross-gendered identification in horror movies is usually the asexual female with blatant masculine attributes (40/48). This is, as she dictates, due to the fact males cannot witness male characters being symbolically castrated in movies (Clover 48). For Supernatural, the audience is already presented with two males and it is now the female that is witnessing the voluntary castration. The off handed remarks and insults the brother engage in are quite catty and scathing, much like the arguments of two sisters taking jabs at each other. “I saw it on Oprah,” is met with the condescending yet shocked, “You watch Oprah?”4 or “Oh god, we’re not going to have to hug or anything, are we?” 1 Yet, the masculine is ever present, giving males the stability that is required for them to engage in the show, but all the same, it is infused with the feminine for the female viewers (Clover 35). Such an example is found in this exchange between the brothers: Sam: What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry. Dean: No chick flick moments. Sam: Huh. All right. Jerk. Dean: Bitch. 1 Followed a few episodes later with Dean telling Sam “Your half-caf double vanilla latte’s getting cold over here,” accompanied by Sam’s brilliant retort, “Bite me” 3. As witnessed above, every potential feminine remark is quickly stricken down with a sarcastic masculine reply, much like: Dean: I just don't want to leave this town until I know that the kid is okay. Sam: Who are you? And what have you done with my brother? 2 Emotions such as compassion and fear, although demonstrated multiple times in the show are met with shoulder punches; moments of overwhelming sadness occur in isolated areas where no one can see them cry. During one episode, Dean rather vulgarly proclaims he is going to the bathroom, yet once he rounds the corner, away from Sam’s hearing range, he choking back tears, calls his father and brokenly begs for help5. Furthermore, Supernatural has a startling lack of women characters. Granted, there is a feminine element to every episode, in which the female requires assistance and the Winchester brothers assist, but said girl is never the main focal point of the narrative. In fact, the female element can be removed completely and the story would still make perfect sense. Yet, what is interesting and done in so few horror movies, is the fact the killers in each episode are most often women. So far, scorned females who possess immeasurable power have committed the most horrific murders. It is the girl who controls the way the Winchesters operate and renders them powerless to her will. A female is the catalyst to the problems instead of being the solution. Now, female viewers have to journey along with two males as they piece together how they plan on defeating the paranormal killer. This is radically different from horror movies, seeing as how the audience is almost always associating with the woman gaze (Clover 35). Although Mulvey’s essay would normally trump Clover’s in the area, Supernatural disagrees. The manner in which the episodes unfolds is highly irregular, which in Supernatural’s case, is exceptionally regular. Each episode begins with the audience following the first victim to their ultimate death. Once the female killer is introduced, the narrative picks up with a female relative or friend that has taken up the mission to solve the bizarre occurrence. Sam and Dean show up immediately after and begin to assist the female on her crusade. One would naturally assume the focus would shift to the main character just as the killer’s gaze shifts to the Final Girl’s, yet it does not (Clover 35). The girl that is helping is permanently glued to their side, assisting in anyway she can, as the brothers bicker and squabble amongst themselves. Ultimately, the brothers will vanquish the killer and the chaos will once again turn to peace, yet not before the brothers engage in heavy discussion with emotionally jarring dialogue, only to have it interrupted with a male-friendly punch or cynical remark. Though, above all else, Supernatural offers the female viewer a chance to view the feminized world through a male gaze. The show specifically targets a female audience, as opposed to a male audience. Although the show is focused on horror, blood and gore, typically male oriented cinematic elements, Supernatural remains a show for girls. This quirk does more that present a new spin on an old concept; it interpellates the viewers to consider donning a new gaze, a new way of looking at the world. Finally, we have a girl, looking through a boy’s view of a feminized world. Even though the Winchester boys do all the grunt work, it truly is the females that possess the power that drives the show. Now, men enjoy the show for the action and the women enjoy the show for the empowerment. In conclusion, Supernatural challenges the default gaze that the standard horror genre offers. By feminizing the machismo, offering a duality in the dialogue and reversing the gender and power structure of the killer, Supernatural does manage to convey a new spectatorial position. But hey, what would I know? According to Mulvey, I’m just a girl. Quotes from Supernatural 1Pilot. Supernatural. Aired 11:00pm. Eric Kripke, David Nutter, Performers: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. The WB, September 9, 2005. 2Dead in the Water. Supernatural. Aired 11:00pm. Raelle Tucker, Sera Gamble, Kim Manners. Performers: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. The WB, September 27, 2005. 3Hook Man. Supernatural. Aired 11:00pm. John Shiban, David Jackson, Performers: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. The WB, October 25, 2005. 4Bugs. Supernatural. Aired 11:00pm. Rachel Nave, Bill Coakley, Kim Manners, Performers: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. The WB, November 8, 2005. 5The Journey Home. Supernatural. Aired 11:00pm. Eric Kripke, Ken Girotti, Performers: Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. The WB, November 15, 2005. Works Cited Clover, Carole. “Her Body, Himself,” Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992. Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology. ed. Philip Rosen, New York: Columbia University Press, 1986.