Today's topic of random frivolity

[feliciakw]

Today's topic of random frivolity is . . .

(drumroll)



Jensen's hair color!

When I first watched the show, then started reading fic or checking out fan art, it drove me nuts because the trend seemed to call/make Dean blond, and I just wasn't seein' it. I see medium brown with blond highlights if the light is right (i.e., when his halo or his aura is showing ;-) ). Pictures of when he was young (DoOL, for example), yes, he was blond. But lots of people's hair darkens as they age.

Then I saw the argument that he is "dark blonde" which can include light brown. Okay, that was a little closer, but still . . . eh.

Truth is, I don't know what I'd call him. I wouldn't be inclined to call him blond. But I hesitate to call him brunet, because his hair does have a lot of light color underneath, if that makes sense. If there's dark blond, is there such a thing as light brunet?

Basically, his hair changes color like his eyes do. He's magic!

Anyway, all that to say that while this is an open post because some of my semi-regular readers might be interested, I'ma not have the OMGHE'SBLONDCAN'TYOUSEETHAT???? debate.

Because he's not blond.

Or brunet.

He's ginger.

:-)



Okay, maybe not quite.

I don't know exactly how red is traditionally considered "ginger," though I have heard fans refer to his beard as ginger, and just_ruth was correct in her observation that his beard, when he grows it in fully, is mahogany. A red-brown.

Then I saw a picspam recently of his days as Jason Teague. Now, I've seen those eps of SV, and I know his hair is lighter in that show than in SPN. But this spam struck me as his having reddish blond (almost a strawberry blond, with a distinct red to it) hair.

Now this picture. I thought, wow. They've lightened his hair. (Or let it go light.) But that ain't blond. It's in the brown range, but there's definitely a red in that lightened shade. Chestnut, maybe? Depending how it reads on the show, it might take some getting used to.

But I think I like it.

Now to wait for fan art to start depicting a chestnut/ginger Dean.

Hee.

Comments

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Nah, for me he's blond because *i* like blond and i am blond also (see the connection? ;) ). Dark blond works for me.
I wouldn't call him red (or ginger) only because of the colour of his beard because blond people tend to have red beard (at least here).
And he's def isn't brown in amy means, imo. (chestnut considers as brown here).

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Heh! It's not a matter of liking or disliking blond for me. I just don't see blond in him now. I don't see any blond at all in this picture. Chestnut brown (here) is a brown with a red cast to it. (And there can be a wide range of intensities within that description.)

Sometimes I could see him as dark blond (in the light/medium brown range--not any sort of golden or yellow range). But straight-up blond? I've never seen it in SPN. (DoOL, yes. SV, maybe. But SPN? No. Blond highlights, definitely. But not straight-up blond.)

I wouldn't seriously call him a redhead (I was kidding when I said that), but I definitely see a red cast to his brown (not dark brown, like I am, but brown more than golden) here. In fact, that was part of what I noticed about this picture. I was just getting used to some people considering him dark blond. Then I saw this pic, and I thought, "Oh, no way is that blond. That's red-brown.")

If dark blond can be light brown (which is what the dark blond proponents seem to say), I don't get how some people don't see the brown in his hair. (Well, maybe I do get it. I think of colors differently than some people do.)

I'd be really interested what he considers himself. (I have a theory, but I won't go into it, since I don't know the guy.)

Basically, I think what it comes down to is that he's indescribable. ;-)

And yeah, I've expended way too much thought on this. *nods*

[leelust.livejournal.com]

I just don't see blond in him now
The main word is *now* I for one (and i know it maybe not right attitude) see people as they were born. I mean if a person was born as blond i see him/her as blond for his/her whole life. So for me knowing that Jensen was born blond (as we could szee from his childhood pics) says it all, for me he'll be blond forever. Even Pristley in TIH is blond for me :)

And now i want to hear your theory. I'm intrigued.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

if a person was born as blond i see him/her as blond for his/her whole life.

Interesting. I mean, I can understand that, but that's not the case for me, especially if I don't know someone their whole life, or I notice a distinct change. A lot of babies are born blond, and a lot of them turn into brunets or redheads later. My bro, for example. I suppose he would be considered "dark blond" when he was a child, but his hair definitely grew darker as he got older. I've never thought of him as a blond. A lot of babies are born with light eyes that darken in the following months. (To take the analogy to the extreme, a lot of babies are born bald and grow hair later. I'm being silly. ;-) )

I don't really have a problem changing my perception of someone once I notice the change. This first occurred to me in high school, when I realized that one of my lifelong classmates, who had always been short--and shorter than me--had actually grown taller than me. I had to stop thinking of him as short. I was one of the tallest students in my class--until we reached high school, when I became "average" and reluctantly stopped thinking of myself as tall.

It's just a difference in our perceptions, I guess.

ETA: Oh, my theory. Well, I was going to say that I wouldn't be surprised if he considered himself dark blond, because he probably grew up thinking of himself as blond. But then I thought about my own changes in self-perception, and I'm not so confident in my theory. Maybe he does; maybe he doesn't. *shrug*

[strgazr04.livejournal.com]

Just found these and thought I'd tack 'em on to the discussion. Unfortunately I think it just makes this debate more confusing LOL