the subtext in Stranger Things 5
I’m expanding on this brilliant analysis by tvmicroscope on the subtext in Stranger Things. Some things I wrote here may not make sense if you haven’t read it. It’s super long, here are excerpts to get the gist of it. Read the full analysis if you can, it restored my belief that Mike and Will love for each others is the heart of the story.
I’m not doing this because I believe there’s an hidden episode or something. I’ll write another post to explain why, but to sum it up, I believe stories sometimes knows better than their authors. Be warned this is a work in progress and i should rewatch season 5 first really, but I wanted to put my thoughts out... to free my poor brain and go for a walk really 😂 Feel free to expand on it :)
English is not my first language and I am NOT an movie analyst. You are welcome to let me know of typos and wrong use of terms but please do it kindly.
On characters mirroring each others :
Holly/Mike in season 5 :
We’re told by Max they mirror each others. If you haven’t read the tvmicroscope's analysis, know this : the Upside Down is the closet (among others things).
Holly trying to escape the UD/closet is Mike trying to escape the UD/closet. They’re so brave, the Wheelers, they can almost make it on their own. Almost. But coming out of the closet, when you’re on your own, feels like freefalling through the sky from another dimension. It’s too much, they’re just kids. It’s impossible to come out of here on your own, you need a parent (Joyce in season 1) or a friend (Lucas for Max, Mike for Will in season 1) to escape. You need someone to notice you're there in the first place. Holly tries, she fails, worse she loose Holly the Heroics in the process. She loose what guided her, she looses hope, she gives up. She can't fight this on her own. Her own friends betray her by making her stay in Camazotz. By wanting her to be like them (to be normal). Her best friend since childhood betrays her. She doesn’t believe her when Holly tries to reach out to her, to tell them they’re in the UD/prison/closet.
I guess you can see what that means for Mike story ? He keeps trying to get out of the closet on his own, but as tvmicroscope explains, you need someone to notice you're there in the first place. Someone that love you enough to see the signs you’re sending them and to believe you. Mike’s mom tries to be there for her kids, but too late. She tells Holly it's just a dream. Mike’s friends tell him to be normal (Lucas in season 1, Will in season 4, when they push him toward El). His best friend since childhood, whom he loves, doesn’t see the signs. Will has given up on Mike, he believes Mike is not like him. He told him that. The person Mike loves doesn’t see Mike is like him, doesn’t see Mike loves him, tells him it was « just a crush ». No one knows Mike is in the UD/closet. He’s not even in the UD, he’s in the Abyss now (no idea yet what the Abyss represents but it’s harder to reach or to escape from than the UD. Internalized homophobia ?)
Thanks to Holly story, we may know some of what Mike needs to escape. I guess he needs everyone? (I need to rewatch to write more here, let me know your thoughts)
So the subtext tvmicroscope speaks of is still there in season 5. To me, it still works with byler in mind. Holly and Vicky mirrors Mike, we’re told that, directly for Holly, through the visuals for Vicky (both of them pacing). We’re told Mike is in the UD/Abyss/closet like Holly is, and Mike is probably gay or bi like Vicky is.
The love triangles in season 5 :
I thought the parallels between the love triangles, El-Mike-Will and Steve-Nancy-Jonathan weren’t working in S5 anymore but it does ! Noooo ! I’m sorry in advance 😭
I’m not repeating tvmicroscope’s analysis here, know that Nancy is Mike, Jonathan is Will. What do Jonathan and Nancy do ? They break up, they admit their love for each others but as friends, they choose to stay friends. If you think of Mike and Will: they can only admit their love for each others as friends. Best friends! 🫠
There’s one thing I noticed while watching that scene, one visual parallel. Jonathan and Nancy are threatened to be buried under the goo. Goo=water=feelings? The moment they’re honest to each others the goo stops. It hardens, they’re safe. The subtext is saying here : they needed to be honest with each others to be saved from drowning in the goo. And what do we see right next to that part ? El’s foot going in the water. It is shot from under the water. It’s jarring because we were afraid of our characters drowning. That shot jumpscared me. Those were my thoughts the moment I saw it : Jon and Nancy are safe but El isn’t. Tvmicroscope’s theory is that El is, on the subtext level, « a personification of the feelings that Mike Wheeler has for Will Byers ». So this shot doesn’t feel good for El as a character (well, we know how she ends…) but I think it doesn’t feel good for her other role, her as Mike’s feelings for Will.
My take on this : staying friends is a good things for Jon and Nancy, it helps them stay above the goo. Staying friends isn’t good for Mike and Will. El is still going underneath the water/UD. There’s too much feeling (=too much water). Mike might have to send his heart/El away to protect himself. < very much work in progress here, I’m still doing the thinking
What I should do now is rewatch El goodbye speech to Mike (but I don't want to!) I know my subtext alarm rang at some of her choice of words, something something you have to tell them, something something you have to tell them, Mike, tell them about you ! But I might have hallucinated that one, I tend to zone out on mileven scenes XD
I’m stopping here for now. Maybe I’ll write more when I rewatch. My poor heart is drowning in Mike’s gay gay feelings, I’m taking a break