The first time we see Nancy and Steve kiss in season 1, we see their reflection in the mirror. Do you think it's related to the mirror imagery throughout the series?
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Hey anon!
I totally think it's connected to the mirror imagery in the show. The mirror imagery is really interesting because the mirrors in the show don't have the exact same purpose for every single usage. But each use of the mirror has specific purpose, it's just not the same purpose for every single shot, so there isn't a clear theme with the mirrors.
Some of the mirror imagery is of people looking at themselves in the mirrors, some is to show reflections, and sometimes mirrors are used as dividers.
Nancy and Steve kissing:
This is the only time in the show we get almost a side by side split between characters and the mirror, which sets these shots apart from the other shots with a mirror. We see Nancy and Steve, and their reflections in the mirror right next to each other. Almost as if there are "2 versions" of the couple, which is never good. And it may actually hint to their eventual breakup.
A Will and Eleven Parallel, to hint to their connection:
Nancy in the bathroom at Barb's parents house, grieving Barb's death and feeling responsible:
The mirror usage here is soft and reflective, similar to the Will & El parallel. Each of the characters is going through/dealing with something (Will's dealing with his upside down trauma and just coughed up a slug, Eleven failed to find Will and feels like she let everyone down, and Nancy is devastated over Barb's death), and the mirror reflects to us their pain, their emotions.
Eleven and Mike:
Eleven has never seen herself look like this before When she looks at herself in the mirror she says "pretty". It's definitely a big moment for her, getting to see herself dressed like a human being rather than an experiment. The mirror definitely has positive connotations here.
Billy getting ready for his date before his dad gets aggressive with him:
Billy is very full of himself in this scene, and we get this very macho man portrayal of him when he's getting ready in the mirror acting all tough, but then what follows totally strips him of that, as the fight with his dad leaves him crying. Here the mirror use is almost sinister, because of how Billy is using the mirror. Here the mirror is used very differently compared to how it's used for Eleven's "pretty" moment and the Will & El parallels, where it's gentler and more profound.
The carnival funhouse mirror room:
Like the scene of Billy in the mirror, the mirrors in this scene have negative connotations. It's a creepy scene, Grigori is not a good guy, and a gun is fired through the mirror, shattering it.
Sometimes it's used to compare things & point out differences:
Mike's dad helping Mike tie his tie, Nancy's mom helping her get dressed, and Jonathan all alone, struggling to tie his tie because he never had a parent teach him, very different to the previous shots of Mike & Nancy, which is a purposeful contrast.
Eleven and Max separated by the mirror in El's room:
They're on two different pages here, although Max is trying to get Eleven on the same page as her. Max is trying to help Eleven become her true self, and Eleven is still working her way there at this point.
So overall the mirror are used to show a lot of different things in the show, they don't all have the same running motif like other pieces of subtext in the show do, such as the word "crazy" or the baseball bat, etc.
thanks for the ask! this is super interesting, I hope you're doing good! x <3