I agree that people did Sam really dirty. I know the Sam hate has always existed but I feel like it’s really gotten worse lately (maybe with the shift in what terrain the fans are coming from? Like Millennials to Gen Z?). This is why I avoid anything DP related except on here and FF.net. I’ve been recommended the DP page on Reddit a few times but Im worried its full of Sam hate and I’d want to see DxS stuff but I feel like I’d just see hate for that as well and there wouldn’t be much if at all.
I was a teenager when the show came out, and the fanfics and fanart back then for DxS, up until a few years ago I feel like, were plentiful
Heyo! Yeah I think the hate and discourse around Sam is really interesting. Sam’s character is definitely a product of its time, and it’s really difficult to explain to someone that hasn’t lived through that era.
Unfortunately Sam’s “not like other girls” archetype was the thing that was seen as the cool and desirable trait just amongst everyone in the mid 2000s and early 2010s. It was just a popular cultural shift at the time (though it has some obvious flaws now).
But Sam has so many lovely traits as well, and in the same way there’s some cultural parts of DP that hasn’t aged as well, the audience today can overlook them. Sam to me, is part of the complicated aspect of DP that I can accept and continue to love despite its deep flaws.
So many girls went through and I’m pretty sure still are going through the “not like other girls!” Phase and that’s just what it is. A phase. She’s 14/15 on the show.
For all we know, she could become the girliest girl when she’s older. I personally prefer Sam to stay alt but just embrace more colors like reds, greens, blues but also be open to white. She won’t wear pink but she isn’t like when she was a teen. Anyway. Given how many girls go through an alt phase but then become more “conventional” in their style, it is possible.
But yeah I went through that phase and now I look back at it with embarrassment but hey it was part of growing up.
And all teens exhibit not great or even problematic behavior at times. Teens can be selfish and self absorbed and not be able to see the bigger picture. It’s part of maturing that we come out of it.
Sam is also just a product of poor male writing, tbh. She should and could have been more fleshed out.
