Contemplating a Leather Jacket

[feliciakw]

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.

Comments

[leelust.livejournal.com]

I can sign this. And if only Dean could do the same with Sam. With something symbolizing Sam and move on on his own because he so needs it right now.

Now, that said, it would be great if Dean somehow acquired his own leather jacket.
This!

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Hm. Yes. *makes it so*

[gatorpez.livejournal.com]

Jensen needs to help pick it out too (or maybe Danneel?) because Jensen looks amazing in the leather jackets he wears!

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Aw, someone stole the jacket? Lamesauce. I hope they get bitten by dogs with big teeth.

And yeah, Jensen needs another jacket. Dean just isn't Dean without the popped collar.

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

I was glad to read that Jensen is now on board the "get over it - the amulet is gone!" train. At first, of course, I assumed Sam picked it up from the trash and the writers would try and have some kind of decent brother moment between them - but it never happened, they're not really those guys anymore; and now I'm glad the thing is gone, if for no other reason than for those you mentioned WRT jacket. It indicates a time and a relationship that has moved beyond those symbols (for better or worse is dependent upon each fan's opinion, and probably story line).

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*