Campaign '08: Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles for America's libraries
Back in the day, I used to watch CSI religiously because I sort of have a thing for crime shows. I still like Grissom and Co. as much as I ever did but they are no longer my top priority on Thursday nights at 9. The show that is now number one in my Thursday television heart is Supernatural.
Supernatural, abbreviated SPN by fans, follows brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they travel the long unmarked roads of the United States in a black 1967 Chevy Impala. They tell strangers they're on a road trip, but the truth is that they're saving humanity from demons, malevolent spirits, and whatever else Hell can cough up. Sam and Dean were trained by their father to be demon hunters after a demon killed their mother and nearly killed Sam in a fire when Sam was six months old. Growing up, their relationship was strained. Dean never questioned his role as a needed hunter, but Sam wanted to go to college and live a more or less normal life. When the show opens, viewers learn that Sam and Dean haven't spoken in over a year. Dean tells Sam (after breaking into his apartment at Stanford, of course) that their father is missing and Sam, being an honorable sort, joins Dean to find their father.
Four episodes into Season 3, we've seen Sam and Dean travel cross-country listening to what Sam refers to as "the greatest hits of mullet rock," bickering in ways that will be painfully familiar to anyone with siblings. More importantly, we've seen two smart brothers who are fiercely loyal to each other and their cause, and who are fully cognizant of the power of libraries.
Yes, I said libraries.
When traveling the country, Sam and Dean often need to know the history and legends of the towns they visit. By studying the past, they can often fix problems in the present. In many episodes, their primary source for background on the spirits they pursue is the town library. It seems only logical, then, that Jared and Jensen would be perfect candidates to appear on an ALA Celebrity READ poster.
If you agree with me (and Liz!), you can email Rachel Johnson at rjohnson @ ala.org (without the spaces) and suggest that Jared and Jensen would make great READ spokesmen. Because if Orlando Bloom on a bookmark can inspire my reluctant-reader sister to say, "I have to read more!" think of what TWO celebrities on a bookmark can do.
(Personally, I'd like to see them holding The Exorcist and Grimm's Fairy Tales, but as long as they're on a poster they can hold Pat the Bunny and The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo for all I care.)
Labels: READ posters, TV
