As we've already chronicled the journey of John Winchester's stoicism, it seems only necessary to chronicle how his boys turned out as a consequence. Dean's childhood was unconventional, to say the least: raised as a hunter's kid, his father drilled into his head that it was his responsibility to keep Sammy safe (John was far from Father of the Year). Dean (Jensen Ackles, left in the above picture) grew up without a childhood. Combine his lack of childhood with his idolization of John his entire life, and you paint a picture of a man with a) a father-complex, b) a borderline obsession with keeping Sam (Jared Padalecki, right in the above picture), and c) stoicism forced upon him.
Dean is just like his father: he knows that his own actions are within his control, and he uses that control to hunt the supernatural to aid the greater good. He is stoic in that he understands that death will come to all; although he cannot control when his time comes, as it is in man's nature to die, he can choose how he spends the time he has left. Furthermore, he uses the stoic things within his control (opinion, pursuit, desire, and his own actions) to protect Sam with everything he has. For although he knows he cannot control what happens to Sam, he can control how he responds to those threats. Dean recognizes when things are out of his hands, as exemplified during the oncoming Apocalypse of Season 5, where he has an outburst to Castiel: "Listen, chuckles, even if there is a God, he is either dead, and that's a generous theory... or, he's up and kicking, and doesn't give a rat's a** about any of us" (Season 5, episode 2). Dean recognized that sitting around and waiting for God to appear and fix the Apocalypse was out of his control; instead of waiting around for something that may not happen, Dean implemented his stoic philosophy, choosing to do what he could with his own mind, thoughts and actions to ameliorate the situation. He didn't get caught up in what he couldn't change. Instead, Dean Winchester (and Sam, as well) became a true stoic, not by following whatever his dad did, but by forming the line between his control and things outside of it on his own.
Supernatural is one of the most popular things running on television today (and I'm not bias although this is my favorite show, and Jared Padalecki is one of my favorite humans), and completes the arc I've formed about how stoicism has survived through TV and film to the twenty-first century. Although many aspects of Ancient Greece's culture has been lost over the years, stoicism is a human characteristic accessible to all those who have the guts to apply themselves.
Dean is just like his father: he knows that his own actions are within his control, and he uses that control to hunt the supernatural to aid the greater good. He is stoic in that he understands that death will come to all; although he cannot control when his time comes, as it is in man's nature to die, he can choose how he spends the time he has left. Furthermore, he uses the stoic things within his control (opinion, pursuit, desire, and his own actions) to protect Sam with everything he has. For although he knows he cannot control what happens to Sam, he can control how he responds to those threats. Dean recognizes when things are out of his hands, as exemplified during the oncoming Apocalypse of Season 5, where he has an outburst to Castiel: "Listen, chuckles, even if there is a God, he is either dead, and that's a generous theory... or, he's up and kicking, and doesn't give a rat's a** about any of us" (Season 5, episode 2). Dean recognized that sitting around and waiting for God to appear and fix the Apocalypse was out of his control; instead of waiting around for something that may not happen, Dean implemented his stoic philosophy, choosing to do what he could with his own mind, thoughts and actions to ameliorate the situation. He didn't get caught up in what he couldn't change. Instead, Dean Winchester (and Sam, as well) became a true stoic, not by following whatever his dad did, but by forming the line between his control and things outside of it on his own.
Supernatural is one of the most popular things running on television today (and I'm not bias although this is my favorite show, and Jared Padalecki is one of my favorite humans), and completes the arc I've formed about how stoicism has survived through TV and film to the twenty-first century. Although many aspects of Ancient Greece's culture has been lost over the years, stoicism is a human characteristic accessible to all those who have the guts to apply themselves.