Stranger Things: A Story about Fear, Love, Biases, Misconceptions and Us
We are well aware of the plot The First Shadow. A story in which two people fall in love, but fear wins over love.
We are all well aware of the ending of Stranger Things. A story where two people fall in love, but fear wins over.
First, I will preface this meta by saying a few things: I will not accept anyone rebloging this with points about a divorce, or about these people's personal lives, and if anyone tries I will block without discussion because I am not here to serve as jury, judge and executioner.
Secondly, this meta will touch on implicit bias, PR manipulation and what I think the meta of Stranger Things might be trying to do.
In a previous post I went into detail about the Conformity Test and as how we, as human beings, operate.
Now, I want to start at the beginning for a bit.
A story he can never tell
As much as I don't want to use the words "cautionary tale" I feel I will have to for the sake of the point I am trying to get across.
Before that, at the risk of sounding slightly aggressive, the foundation of Byler exists thanks to the Duffer brothers.
I know, I probably just said something that will offend pissed off bylers but it is the objective truth.
The very first scene that lies at the core of Will and Mike's relationship was written and directed by them. The scene where Mike strips himself bare, lays his armour down, and crying tells Will that asking him to be his friend was "the best thing I ever did".
Every gentle frame, every softly lit face, every contrast between shadow and light, every part of how intimate that scene comes across is thanks to them. The sheer devotion you felt when you watched it is thanks to them.
The scene that got many to ship them wss written and directed by them. If you watch that scene with no resentment, I can promise you, you'll find every ounce of care that was put into every single frame, every single shot.
And it wouldn't be the first time, nor would be the last.
The most important moments in the history of Will and Mike were either written by them, directed by them, or influenced by them.
Ok with that hot take out of the way, I want to talk about Mike for a little bit, and how he tells Will there is a story he'll never be able to tell.
That story is the story of how much he loves Will. Is their love story.
Another hit take while I am at it: Their love story remains. It was never finished, and to quote Cloud Atlas: "A half finished book is afterall a half finished love affair".
I understand the Duffers are trying to say Byler was never in the cards, that it was never part of the plan. Guys, meet a lie and a meta. (I'll go into more detail about this).
Mike is still a queercoded boy, remained so to the bitter end. He remained a queer boy too scared to face his feelings.
This is a story about fear that won.
But it is also a story about fear that doesn't look like it, but rather looks like safety. There is a reason so many people of the GA accepted as fact - is comfortable, familiar, predictable.
They are showing, via message, that most won't question what is safe, even when they should. That you might build your own entire life on a lie, only because is comfortable.
We often picture fear associated with something dangerous, but this ending establishes that fear can create the most normal of the worlds, one you wouldn't question because is safe.
Who would question a show that ends the exact same way most shows did?
The story Mike can never tell? Is the one where he loves his best friend so deeply but falters. Is the one where he conforms because the alternative is too scary.
Is the one where Vecna wins, rewrites reality as we know it and the world we live in, they live in - is a consequence of that.
So then you might ask? Why didn't they give us the good ending? Why make avid fans go through that?
If I would hazard a guess, I would say part of it is ego. They want to go down as massive storytellers with a huge plot twist and a publicity stunt of massive scales. They want to redefine how people interact with stories and they want to be the reason they do that.
I would be a hypocrite if I said I don't get it. I said it before and I will say it again, this isn't about shipping or any individual or even all fans. They do not expect anything from us and it would be a mistake and too self important of us to think they do.
They are clearly mocking the current disinterest of story tellers, the blase attitude of most, the betrayal of themes, the betrayal of characters, they are betraying themselves so they can make a point.
The story they need to tell
As someone has pointed out, we are all under Vecna's curse.
From a meta standpoint, it is interesting they would choose to do that as commentary. They pair us with children, make am offhand commentary about how we tend to perceive everything that is different as monstrous and how we often perceive our side as "the right" side while having Henry calling his side as the side of the light.
The USA is under Trump's administration, rights are being stripped away, ICE is raiding homes, innocent people are being ripped away from their families and a woman died trying to do the right thing. And millions of people are still trying to find a way of justifying that. There are people still trying to argue that Rennee Good was some type of terrorist and that she was threatening Jonathan Ross.
And the irony is? People believe that.
People no longer believe their own common sense, their lack of empathy and critical thinking runs so deep they no longer believe their eyes, or their ears. And they will still say they are in the right side.
And in one of the biggest shows in the world, we have a villain calling his side as "the side of the light", indoctrinating children via fear and misinformation and somehow we are debating whether or not the Duffers use AI.
The realization of what they were doing with that choice hit me deeply within me and it should hit you just as hard. It wouls have if you weren't too busy spreading false narratives online.
We are a part of the meta because we are a part of the problem.
And I don't mean just those who reviewed bombed an episode of a queer person coming out because it didn't happen how they thought it should (regardless of how well intentioned you were), or those who reviewed bomb due to homophobia.
I mean:
Those who consume things mindlessly, who accept any given ending because it is comfortable, those who ignore themes and message for the sake of nostalgia and don't question it.
I mean those who work under preconceived notions on the writers and believe everything that is spread online blindly. Those who pin it on a divorce, supposed stupidity and a skewed moral compass. Those who drag a woman who has her own accolades and her own voice into her ex husbands world for no reason other than being petty.
Those who are so desperate for someone to blame, who are rightfully so tired of queerbaiting that they send death threats and make dangerous, mob like mentality allegations against people they don't know because they think they are doing the right thing.
Those who watched in silence while Noah Schnapp was harassed for years and now want to pretend they ever gave a damn about him.
Those who would rather believe writers that took strikes seriously in a show were a producer said they wouldn't use AI deaging would leave a tab open where they use ChatGPT because that was what you already believed about them.
We are all guilty of having preconceived notions of others. They might not be about their race, or gender, or sexual orientation or their identity. They might be about something as "innocent" as them being too stupid to pull something off. About them being "slow", about their wife doing all work for them, about their personal lives.
They used every single one of those notions against us and many fell for it, and are still falling for it.
We are all under Vecna's course because we are all guided by fear, misguided views on humanity and the actors and directors are putting themselves in the line of fire to make a point.
We all believe what is comfortable for us, even without proof, even when it makes no sense, because is human nature. And the interesting part is that, if I am right, they are saying the same is true for them right now.
They are also under Vecna's curse because he managed to make them not write the story the way they wanted to. They let fear win and now we are all plagued with this eery sense that something is wrong, we just can't prove it.
Vecna not only erased everything else. They erased the heart and soul (Will and Mike) and the love between them so he could win. He erased a love that even at is infancy had the power to destroy him and the world he built.
Is interesting to note that the world Henry aka Vecna created was one that during his whole spiel to El he seemed to hate but one even he conformed to, in the end.
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