Supernatural Music - Issue #1: "The Road So Far" Playlist

THEN

A television series about two ghost-hunting brothers looking for their father (who "went hunting" and "hasn't been home in a few days") airs on the CW to little fanfare or acclaim. While it carries similarities to other CW shows, it sets itself apart by placing its two *ahem* very good-looking leads in "monster-of-the-week" episodes that feel like horror mini-movies. These two "hunters" travel around the back roads of America, listening to classic rock in the most gorgeous black '67 Chevy Impala you've ever seen. The scenes of small towns and small roads work because it is reminiscent of every road trip I - and everyone like me - ever took with my family as a child.

The requisite CW angst works really well between the brothers, perhaps moreso than it does on any other show on the CW lineup. Also, these guys hunt monsters. It's fun, grittier, and less polished than most CW shows. Despite the inherently formulaic nature of the show, it soon reveals a larger plan, and the season finale cliffhanger leaves people itching for more.

NOW

Thirteen seasons later, this plucky little show has a cult following (seriously). Sitting at a 2-3 million viewership, Supernatural has respectable enough ratings to keep itself on air, but only just. Yet this show has turned into a phenomenon that shows no signs of stopping...and this has everything to do with its rabid fan base.

As a fandom, Supernatural can only be described as...scary. We besiege pollings for awards, influence plots of episodes, are one of top two fandoms on fan fiction sites, have successfully lobbied for the return of beloved characters, and have even successfully campaigned for a spin-off that caters to our preferences. We appear to be everywhere, taking over Tumblr memes and Reddit threads with a speed that terrifies other fandoms.

Let that sink in for a moment. Other fandoms are scared of us.

What inspires such devotion in a television series...or anything, for that matter?

Well, for one...music. ...and lots of it.

Groundhog Day: A Movie About Second Chances...and Third...and 432nd...

In older times, tribes, villages, and towns, followed the seasons using nature's cues as to when to perform certain duties. Observing when certain plants appeared, or herds of animals migrated into or out of the area were a clock different than the hands that meter out every second of our modern day. It worked rather well; those kinds of deadlines actually meant something - because knowing when to plant crops meant the difference between eating and dying - whereas today...well, a lot of times we're just counting down the seconds until...what, exactly? Until the next presentation? Or sale? Or disturbingly short vacation time? Do you ever wonder if we're doing it wrong? If we lost something in our fervor to move on from the past? After all, the rest of nature had been getting by with those same clocks for millennia.

Now, sure, these observations get a little bit iffy, and at some point in the past, perfectly logical reasoning can often become insane ritual. Through the co-opting of tradition by conquering religions and cultures (not to mention the times when the past simply got it wrong), time can whittle away any sense of the past's logic and beauty till it appears ridiculous and comical, a grotesquerie of what it once was.

...And that's how you get to the point where you use rodents to tell you when winter will end. That's right. It's Groundhog Day. But Groundhog day may be more magical than we think.

Thanksgiving: The Perfect Time ....to Sit on Your Ass [EDIT]

Ah, Thanksgiving. It's a time for feasting. Family. Parades...at least in every Thanksgiving movie you've ever seen.

...wait. What Thanksgiving movies? Are there any?

It is my not so humble opinion that there is, in fact, a dearth of Thanksgiving-themed movies. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It does make the concept of a Thanksgiving movie playlist, however, a little bit harder to pull off. I shall endeavor to achieve this goal.

Now, if you have been reading this blog since its inception at the beginning of October, then you probably read my post on October/Halloween movie-viewing. It was there that I actually began the "November" movie playlist with a number of ideas for the Day of the Dead, as well as a perfect Guy Fawkes Day suggestion of  V for Vendetta (again, humble). As such, I won't be reiterating those. The beginning of November, after all, doesn't really feel like the end of November, does it? Somewhere between Jack o'Lanterns and Turkeys, we shift inexorably into the "Holiday" season. Whatever stores had held out until the ghosts and goblins vacated are now in full swing with their rabid displays and "last-minute" sales pitches. Any semblance of normalcy will simply have to wait for another couple of months. So, it's sometimes hard to feel as though Thanksgiving even has its own identity as a holiday. It's almost more of an extension of the upcoming festivities, as the end of November railroads straight through the end of the year. And with the Ghost of Christmas Everything looming over our shoulder (even if one doesn't celebrate it), a bird with a death sentence can hardly be expected to pull focus, can it?

Another possible reason for the dearth of movies centered around this holiday is a decided lack of stakes. It's not a present-oriented holiday, like birthdays, or a candy-oriented holiday, like Easter; nor is it a particularly spiritual holiday (grace not withstanding). It is, in this day and age, a holiday centered around FOOD. There are several TV shows that have capitalized on this over the years, focusing on the homeless' lack thereof. Many times, it's an obvious bid on the part of the characters to look like good persons; most times, it almost always comes off a bit treacly. [How I Met Your Mother does a particularly obnoxious take on this, and I'm pretty sure that Growing Pains did about twelve episodes like this in the '80s.] In the end it doesn't feel like anything has changed, either in the characters, or in the viewer. The real issue of people struggling in life gets shunted aside in favor of momentary character development that doesn't stick. Christmas does this, too, though spiritual overtones are often shoehorned in to add some weight. So that might be part of the reason.

Oh, and let's not forget that whole indigenous culture appropriation and genocide. That could be part of it. Yeah.

Still, Thanksgiving is mostly a jump off holiday to get consumers going. The first round of holiday movies that will be in theaters through the end of the year are released. And let us not forget Black Friday, otherwise known as Satan's Asshole (no, wait, that's the DMV). So it's no wonder that Thanksgiving as a font of inspiration doesn't hit home for many. After all, by the time all is said and done, it's mostly just about the food and parades, isn't it? So bring on the food coma and hand me the remote. It's binge time....

Posts coming soon!