#st critical

[dukeofdelirium]

“I asked ChatGPT” well I asked the Duffer Brothers and they uh- they also asked ChatGPT…

[redshoes-blues]

Am I the only one who found it weird, off-putting, and unnecessary when Hopper was talking El down from suicide (self-sacrifice, same thing) and used the fact that she might have a kid of her own one day as a reason for her to stay alive? El is a teenage girl who has not once expressed any desire to become a mother in the future. She is traumatized and has never had any agency in her life. She is also, I must repeat, a teenage girl. Why are we using becoming a mother as motivation to talk down a teenager from suicide? Why are we acting like this is something El wants and has always wanted? Why do male writers always reduce female characters’ bodies to their ability to make babies? Women and girls’ lives are not valuable because of their ability to have children—we are inherently valuable no matter what our bodies may or may not be capable of, whether or not we want kids at all. Our lives have worth because they are ours.

[magentamee]

"can love conquer fear?" "all you need is love"

WERE WAS THE LOVE? WHERE WAS THE LOVE SO UNIQUELY SIGNIFICANT IN DEFEATING THE UPSIDE DOWN.

what defeated the upside down: physical combat, fire, a bomb.

[auracobaltblue]

Missing this vibe rn

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

It would’ve cost them zero dollars to have El and Kali realize they don’t have to k!ll themselves to end the cycle of abuse and have them go off and explore the world together, while Mike realized that El wasn’t good for him and decided to stay get together with Will. Btw. The perfect ending was right in their grasp and yet.

[velvet4510]

Stranger Things failed literally all of its women. Apparently El isn’t a person with her own life to live or even her own name; she’s just a magical metaphor who needs to die for the boys’ pain. Apparently Max is just Lucas’ girlfriend and none of her interests, life goals or platonic relationships matter. Apparently Nancy is just The Career Woman who must give up on romance because she can never have it all. Apparently Robin has finally learned to dress in a conventionally feminine way and can’t end up with a love interest either because she’s queer. Apparently Joyce is just a mother and a cop’s wife and nothing more. Apparently Karen is back in the same miserable marriage she started in and not even a near-death experience has changed her status quo. Apparently Kali was good for nothing but death after a lifetime of trauma. Apparently Holly was just a plot device to steal the main characters’ screentime and isn’t actually affected long-term by her traumatic experiences at all. Apparently Erica will be just fine but nobody cares about her. Apparently Vickie is just no longer relevant now that she’s finished propelling a man’s “arc.” Apparently Suzie and Terry Ives are entirely forgotten by the narrative itself.

[sugarcubetikki]

I am still confused on how we went from queerness being linked to the freedom of childhood and how embracing that lead to the main character tapping into their powers and that being depicted as the iconic midpoint twist of your season to a finale that sidelines/erases queer characters, adds in jokes against queer shippers, features abuse/trauma victims killing themselves, etc.

What happened? How did they go from centring queerness to erasing it in four episodes?

[ohfallingdisco]

jancy or no, jonathan should have talked to nancy about holly going missing. of EVERYONE in the show, he got it. if anyone in the writer’s room still cared, he would have gotten it.