#el hopper analysis

[moonfruito]

put aside the shipping discourse for a moment and lets talk about how the duffers portray the abused female body as spectacle in this show. that scene where kali was running through rooms and rooms of dying pregnant women? karen fighting through her grievous, near life-threatening injuries to be a mother? the treatment of el/jane's character? over and over this show makes victims of its female characters and makes it 'ok' by having them be strong and fight back. the constant dehumanisation of jane throughout the show and the denial of her autonomy by entrapping her in a relationship the moment that she escaped her prison and gained a scrap of freedom is not by chance. it is a consistent and concentrated effort to keep her in constant pain and clip her wings so that she can never heal and her wounds stay open, just so that we can sit back and entertain ourselves watching her try to fight for her freedom with her supernatural powers without ever giving her real narrative power. the whole operation of el's creation was built off of the exploitation and torture of vulnerable pregnant women by a power-hungry man, but the show never reckons with that legacy. the suffering and abuse of female bodies becomes backdrop, a prop aiding the dark tone and aesthetic of the show rather than a serious narrative theme that jane should be grappling with as a descendant of that legacy. instead, she becomes an continuation of it. her suffering is an extension of her mother's: a tortured woman being controlled and used by men around her in a bid for power, ultimately reduced to a plot device as the narrative succeeds over her.

[gayofthefae]

Nobody talks about this but El's arc is about post-trauma and Will's is about trauma and that's why they're so similar yet different.

Once saw GA say they could have done more with her arc (because they care about spectacle and not emotion and love her the way Brenner does) but that's because they want her arc to be about trauma the way "superheroes'" arcs are. But it's not. It's about the recovery from dependence on men, the slow development of self love and trusting yourself after years of gaslighting and abuse you were taught to believe you deserved, and the realistic acknowledgement that those things take years and you are not simply "done", as she was not, when you "escape the lab" or whatever that is to you.

Her arc is about recovery.

Will's is about abuse. Though he also has history with it, we also see the shame it produces worsen from the continuation of it in real time. The spiraling and self hatred, as he makes himself smaller and smaller than we once knew him. It's why El is so important for him too. She is on a later point in his same path, they're able to support each other. He knows where she's been and she can show him where he's going.

This is why he is primary target of this abuse while even in season 3, she is not until the last two episodes. She is a demonstration of the healing that comes after abuse, Will's plot shows the real time development of those same symptoms and the attempts victims make to heal them as they're still happening.

The reason El's arc is not of a traditional "superhero" is first of all, she rejects the notion of being one, and secondly, part of being a superhero is typically continued trauma, though we acknowledge it like that. And it is important in order to depict recovery after abuse that the abuse is actually over.

That when she hits Angela, it isn't really 002. That when Hopper keeps her inside, it actually isn't Brenner anymore. That she is reacting to things that aren't there, as someone whose body continues to anticipate danger does.

Maybe it would be more "interesting" to those for whom this story is a detached fiction if she continued to be abused, but those are not the demographic.

The demographic are those for whom this is not fiction. Those who have someone to project onto the monsters.

More importantly, those who need to see what recovery looks like and that it is possible.

[itswhatyougive]

Always remember Elmax is the relationship that EL sought out 💫 the one that wasn't pushed on her by someone else

[superbylerfanfanfan]

El is Moving On From Waffles in Season 5

There's a theory I've read on here about how El's relationship to Eggos is really similar to (and can even symbolize) her relationship to Mike in the sense of, does she like them for real, or were they just one of the first things to bring her comfort in a new, scary world?

(I can't remember who wrote this, but if someone knows, please tell me so I can tag the post and them, thanks!)

Anyway, to add to that symbolism in season 5, Millie mentions in this interview that El has found a new food. Maybe something she has found she likes through trying multiple options rather than just sticking with the first food (or person) she experienced.

Listen to like 10 seconds to hear Noah ask her a question about it, and she says, "No, I have a new thing this season."

Sounds like El is learning how to distinguish what she likes. Not Hopper, not Mike, her.

[housewilson]

i love this scene because it captures el's first truly voluntary, self-motivated use of her powers... and what does she do with it? defend someone else.

up until now, she'd mostly been using her abilities for self-preservation or under duress.

here, there's no threat on her own life, nor orders she's been told to follow.

she's simply watching an injustice take place and deciding, on her own terms, that something must be done.

in part, because it's targeting mike – a kid who has shown her nothing but kindness and blind loyalty.

in part, because it's targeting will – a kid she may not know, but who she's just heard mocked and cast out for being different.

and if there's one thing el understands well, it's what it feels like to be punished for being different.

i also love the symmetry of her counterattack. she could've resorted to physical violence, but instead aims for something more fitting: social humiliation. she's taking the weapon troy just used against will, and is turning it right back on him. a clean "you reap what you sow".

it reveals something crucial about el: that her moral instinct gravitates toward justice, not cruelty. she's acting more so out of protective solidarity than out of sheer vindictiveness.

and it also perfectly embodies an idea i've expressed on a past analysis: "despite having spent her entire life being consistently dehumanized and abused, el's a deeply principled and naturally empathetic person. she's fiercely loyal to her friends from the get-go, and very protective of the weak and disempowered."

with all that being said:

i love you, el hopper, you'll forever be THAT girl 💕

[thy-lovelylionheart]

El Hopper + flowers (and the negative emotions surrounding them)

[sir--crow]

"Will likes Mike so much that he became El!"

no.

I cannot begin to express just how much I dislike this new trendy joke, like did u all not watch the last 15 minutes of episode 4?

Will is becoming his own person, and learning to love himself

why would he become a different person?

this statement is disrespecting the character arcs of all three

it disrespects El, making her into that "superhero" image and only as Mike's girlfriend when she's so much more

it disrespects Mike as someone who is figuring out himself and who he is, what he wants

and once again it disrespects Will's arc of self love and exploration. he is not just a superhero, he's trying to save everyone's lives. his own included!

finally. let me preface this by saying I love El, she's one of my favorite characters

but this moment was not about El

Will's character arc is about himself, finding a confidence he's lacked, finding joy and support, and letting himself be who he is as a gay man in the 80s

same thing applies to Mike!! people are saying his character is now going to like Will because he has powers

but don't u all realize?

it's always been Will for Mike!

Will was in Mike's life first. they were best friends first.

El is very important to Mike too, but it's not always about her. and I think she knows this, and is supporting/or will support Mike in a moment of self realization

so let's not diminish the characters when these moments are all really important for them individually.

Will is accepting his love for himself despite a lifetime of self hatred and bullying

Mike is trying to be brave even though he's terrified of the world and of himself, and what it means to let go of that shield (El)

El is trying to fight for a world beyond this chaos/trauma and she's found the first person who encouraged her to fight for herself, Kali.

I think sometimes people try to put a focus on Els character to the point where it takes away from her instead of supporting her, because her plotline isn't always engrained in the others. she's on her own path, just like the other characters

let's appreciate and love them all without taking away the others' importance.

Will isn't becoming El- he's becoming himself!

[vampirementality]

one of my favourite things about the flashbacks in s4 to El and the other kids in the lab is that it completely dispels the main argument people use when i say that El is autistic.

whenever i would bring up all her autistic traits as evidence people would always say "well that's because of the trauma. it's because of how she was raised in the lab and didn't have any normal human connections/interactions, that's why she's like that"

BUT NOW WE KNOW THAT ITS NOT JUST THAT. the other kids in the lab didn't have any speech delays- they weren't nonverbal/semi-verbal at all! they understood social structure in ways that El did not! they were faster learners than El! She was different from them! She was ostracized by them for being different! it wasn't just the circumstances she was raised in! HELLO CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!!!