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Contemplating a Leather Jacket
I don't know why, but this morning as I was getting ready for work, I was thinking about the significance of Dean's leather jacket, and what I'd like to say about it to Jensen if I ever got the opportunity. As I don't expect to ever be able to attend a convention, I don't expect I'll ever actually get the opportunity to say this. So I'm writing it out here. Behind the cut for those not interested in thoughts on leather.
Hi. Jensen? If you'll bear with me a moment, I'm going to ask you to do something. Don't freak out. It's nothing embarrassing. It's actually not anything you can do in front of us here. No, I promise it's not embarrassing or personal.
It's about The Jacket. I know the real life reason we haven't seen the leather jacket in a long time is because some selfish idiot stole it. I'm actually more angered on your behalf--because I figured you'd want to take it with you when the series wraps--than I am as a fan of the show or character. But from a storytelling standpoint, I think it works that we haven't seen the jacket in a long while, and here's why.
When the series started, and in the early days of the show, Dean was very much about the hero worship he had for John, and being his dad's "good son." But as the series progressed, and especially when we got into Season 3, Dean's resentment started to show, his resentment for being forced to grow up so fast, and for John always being gone. And we see that resentment carried through for a couple seasons. But this past season, Season 6, we see Dean reconciling those conflicting emotions and gaining a balance of perspective. Dean doesn't want to become the paranoid, obsessed hunter that his dad was, but he holds on to what John taught him about the importance of family, and how to do The Job.
So Dean's leaving the leather jacket behind in the crate in Lisa's garage is like a laying down of that old dependency as well as that resentment. Dean has come into his own where his father is concerned, and it seems fitting that he should take off and put aside the coat that once was his father's, that enveloped him for so many years while he grew into his own.
Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket. So here's what I'm asking you to do: Ask your costume and wardrobe ladies to get Dean his own leather jacket. One that is his, for the man he's become. Because quite frankly, dude, you look hot in leather. It just needs to happen.
Hi. Jensen? If you'll bear with me a moment, I'm going to ask you to do something. Don't freak out. It's nothing embarrassing. It's actually not anything you can do in front of us here. No, I promise it's not embarrassing or personal.
It's about The Jacket. I know the real life reason we haven't seen the leather jacket in a long time is because some selfish idiot stole it. I'm actually more angered on your behalf--because I figured you'd want to take it with you when the series wraps--than I am as a fan of the show or character. But from a storytelling standpoint, I think it works that we haven't seen the jacket in a long while, and here's why.
When the series started, and in the early days of the show, Dean was very much about the hero worship he had for John, and being his dad's "good son." But as the series progressed, and especially when we got into Season 3, Dean's resentment started to show, his resentment for being forced to grow up so fast, and for John always being gone. And we see that resentment carried through for a couple seasons. But this past season, Season 6, we see Dean reconciling those conflicting emotions and gaining a balance of perspective. Dean doesn't want to become the paranoid, obsessed hunter that his dad was, but he holds on to what John taught him about the importance of family, and how to do The Job.
So Dean's leaving the leather jacket behind in the crate in Lisa's garage is like a laying down of that old dependency as well as that resentment. Dean has come into his own where his father is concerned, and it seems fitting that he should take off and put aside the coat that once was his father's, that enveloped him for so many years while he grew into his own.
Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket. So here's what I'm asking you to do: Ask your costume and wardrobe ladies to get Dean his own leather jacket. One that is his, for the man he's become. Because quite frankly, dude, you look hot in leather. It just needs to happen.
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Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket.
This!
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As I see it, he worked through that and regained his faith in Sam as the season finished out. But I know you don't see it that way, so I'll just leave it there.
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And at one point, Jensen made the same comment, that we didn't see Sam leave the room, and Sam probably picked up the amulet on his way out.
Of course, at the most recent convention, when asked about the amulet, Jensen said, "It's gone. Let it go."
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Eeeeexxcccellent . . . *taps fingertips together*
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As we all know, Jensen isn't Dean, so I'm not sure Dean would wear Jensen's leather jackets. But Jensen does have a very keen sense of Dean, so it would make sense for him to have a say.
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And yeah, Jensen needs another jacket. Dean just isn't Dean without the popped collar.
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I don't actually "miss" the jacket, but I kinda really do.
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The only problem with leaving the jacket at Lisa's is the mind-wipe. What happens if and when Lisa finds it in the garage? Though, honestly, now that I said it I realize it's probably not a problem since I assume as hard and fast as Lisa moved on, even before the mind-wipe, she likely dumped everything Dean didn't take the first time anyway. I think the jacket probably went to Good Will a year ago - ironic as that's where it came from in the first place.
I thought I'd miss the jacket more than I do, but I don't, and that's probably good. Of course, Jensen looks delectable in leather - *swoon*! But Dean isn't Jensen, and I think it makes less sense for him to go looking for a leather jacket for himself, especially if mentally he's been moving away from what his dad's jacket meant to him at one time.
If it really was stolen, though, that still sucks. *grrrr*
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As far as Lisa finding Dean's jacket in the garage, I wrote about that shortly after the season ended. :-)
Just One Year (http://feliciakw.livejournal.com/365318.html)
If Dean were to acquire another leather jacket--because it's actually a pretty good idea in his line of work; durable, heavy, lots of room to hide things, good protection against the elements--it would have to be under character-appropriate circumstances. Not sure what those would be, but I can't see him "going shopping" for a new jacket.
I did read that Jensen helped design Dean's duster for "Frontierland."
I'm delighted that someone else sees where I'm coming from regarding the amulet. So many people want the amulet back. And I actually wouldn't mind its return to horribly much, if it were done under some really significant, "new chapter" circumstances. But I also think that their relationship has moved beyond tangible trinkets. Yes, I miss it for the bond it represented. But I'm not angsting over it the way so many others are. In fact, the writing for its return would have to be pretty phenomenal for it not to feel like a character regression.
"It's gone. Get over it" indeed.