For four seasons, fangirl Charlie Bradbury injected a needed dose of female and queer into the masculine, heteronormative world of the CW’s Supernatural, gaining unprecedented popularity among the show’s primarily female fanbase. As Busse argues, “female media representations [of fandom] remain few and far between”; Charlie was an important “exception.” It’s no surprise, then, that her violent death triggered ferocious grief and anger from fans—except, it seems, to the series’ male producers.
In this paper, we argue that Charlie’s death marks a significant tactical shift in Supernatural fans’ engagement with producers, signaling a return to what Stanfill calls the “terms of civil disobedience” in which “fandom has traditionally been framed.” While we’ve elsewhere asserted that Charlie’s role within the show was, despite her queerness, essentially normative, fan responses to her demise take the form of productive resistance. In a move paralleling the series’ penchant for foregrounding producers’ “fantagonism” within its own diegesis, Charlie’s death has inspired fans to stage their own fantagonism toward producers in public, at forums like Supernatural conventions and SDCC. Charlie’s death also fueled fans’ “Wayward Daughters” campaign, which encourages the CW to give Supernatural’s remaining female characters their own franchise.
Neither tactic is unique within fan/producer relations at large, but this public restaging of what had been intrafandom debates regarding the show’s “problem” with women—the offing of female characters for reasons unrelated to narrative advancement—marks a critical turn in the Supernatural realm. We further suggest that examining fans’ responses to Charlie’s death has particular value for feminist critics in the context of ongoing cultural conversations about how fannish women are portrayed in the media. Although Busse rightfully argues there is much in Charlie’s presence on network TV to be celebrated, it is perhaps the tactical shift inspired by her death that will prove most worthy of emulation.
About the presentersShannon Cole
Shannon Cole holds a BS in Media Studies and an MA in English from Northern Michigan University. Her work as an independent scholar is rooted in fan studies and she has previously presented on Wonder Woman, Supernatural, Star Trek (2009). She serves as VP of Exhibits & Advertising for MAPACA. Shannon is the executive director of the Vermillion Cultural Association, a nonprofit dedicated to the inclusion of arts in everyday life for a small town in South Dakota, which mostly means she helps operate a movie theater. She’s also freelance copy editor.
KT Torrey
KT Torrey is an independent scholar who wrestles with feminist theory, sophistic rhetoric, and porn studies. Her current research combines these approaches to explore evangelical rhetorics about female sexuality. She also write extensively (sometimes even academically) about metatextuality, fan fiction, and the American television show Supernatural.