#this is definitly my most insane post im so sorry

[monstraduplicia]

supernatural 3.01, the magnificent seven / pin by andrew neiderman

[ssaseaprince]

ive seen alot of discourse around jacks character and i wanted to share my thoughts. this is just my pov and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if you have something to add to this or want to have a conversation im totally open to it! and i want to preface this by saying I dont hate jack, i just don't like him. I think he was a good person in alot of ways but there's alot of things that make me not like him that I want to explain. This is going to be a long post, sorry.

so one thing ive heard is things like "you cant like Hannibal and then not like Jack because you think he's bad, Hannibal is way worse." and i completely see where this thought process is coming from, and yes hannibal was a way worse person then jack, so im not disagreeing with that at all.

We know from the start of the show that Hannibal is bad, hes a serial killer, cannibal, he manipulates and hurts everyone around him, the show doesnt hide this. we go into watching it knowing who hannibal is and knowing hes bad. So when he does something bad, (most of the time) its not shocking in the sense that we expect it from him because its who he is and his characters role in the show.

Jack however, is supposed to be a upstanding person, hes wills boss and is in charge of "taking care of him" so to speak while hes working. Jack is never presented straightforwardly as a inherently bad person, so when he does bad things, its more shocking and hurtful in my opinion, because its not expected of him. He admits that he knows will is unstable, but it doesnt really matter to him as long as will is saving lives. Yes, Hannibal did write off will as good to be in the field, but it was very clear will was unstable, and Jack admits to knowing that. I dont remember what episode it was, but in one conversation with Hannibal he talks about how hes willing to let will go mad as long as he can help solve crimes. Jack is in a position of authority, and when it comes to doing field work for the fbi, willingly having someone obviously mentally unstable is extremely reckless, neglectful, and dangerous. When Will gets out of the hospital for the criminally insane, Jack takes him straight to a crime scene. And all throughout the show Jack shows time and time again that he is reckless and disregardes rules and safety precautions if he thinks it'll get him what he wants. This arguably leads to mariam lass being kidnapped and held hostage, the 2x13, and Hannibal escaping with Will. hes also very manipulative when it comes to will. Yes, Will is a grown man capable of making his own decisions, but Jack also knows how much will wanted to help, and exploited that through guilt tripping and manipulation, like in s3 when he goes behind will to get Molly to help guilt trip and convince will to help and talk to Hannibal again. Jack is in a position of power and authority, and he (imo) doesn't do well with it, again, disregarding rules and safety precautions, ignoring incredibly dangerous situations, etc.

When Hannibal, who is a serial killer, kills somebody, its not much of a shock. When he manipulates somebody, its not much of a shock because that is what is expected of him, we know his morals are completely different then everyone else's because thats who he's supposed to be. If he didn't do those things, there wouldn't be a show. We know he's bad, so when he does bad things, it doesn't change our (my) view of him much, because I expect it from him.

Whereas with jack, there is alot more expected of him, because he is not a cannibalistic serial killer, so when he manipulates and hurts people, its more hurtful because its not expected. Jack has good intentions, he wants to save lives, and he's obviously going through alot like with Bella, but the way he goes about it is so harmful and causes so many issues that it can make him seem very unlikable.

hannibal doesnt care about hurting people (mostly), i would venture to say he's not capable of caring about (most) people (not to say he doesn't know right from wrong, just that hes not capable of having adequate empathy), whereas jack is completely capable of empathy, and he does care about people hurting, but he chooses to continously hurt people anyway and cause problems anyway with the excuse "its to save lives". he puts up this idea that will is only worth who he can save, ergo, his life is not as important as others.

Arguably almost all the characters on hannibal are "grey" characters, not completely good or bad. But long story short, when a serial killer kills, its expected and acceptable in the sense that thats what their character was made to do and has to do for the storyline to further. But when a fbi agent, whos supposed to be helping and a good person, does bad things, its much more upsetting.

Something can be said about racism in the writing, and within the fandom, because I have definitly seen people who dislike Jack for obviously racist reasons. And that's definitely not okay, and it needs to be called out and not happening, and we as a fan base need to acknowledge the racism in the writing of the show (like killing off almost all of the few poc the show had to begin with). I would like to say in regards to this, that I am white, and I'm also still learning alot and still working on identifying racism in spaces that I didn't recognize before (due to being uneducated), so I don't think I'm the right person to be having a full discussion with about race in reference to the show, because I dont want to speak over poc voices and misinform anyone. But I will call out racism where I see it and continue to educate myself about it. Thats just to say that i can give the input I have on this, but I would recommend talking to a person of colour if youre looking to learn more about this.

Anyways thats just my take, sorry for the long post. This isnt meant to be controversial, but I see how it could be. Again, if anyone would like to discuss this im completely open to discourse and new ideas ❤