Growing Up With Stranger Things

August 8, 2019

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or took a hiatus from the internet and people this past month, you know the third season of Stranger Things came out on the Fourth of July. According to Netflix, I, along with almost 41 million other accounts watched at least some of show in the first four days it was released (there were 824,000 accounts that binged the entire season opening day).

Since July of 2016, Stranger Things has left a Mind Flayer sized dent in pop-culture immediately after the release of each season. This lasts for maybe a month before it’s in the rearview mirror, but that speaks more to our hyper speed consumer culture than it does to the success of the series. It’s tough to get people’s attention for five seconds these days, let alone a couple weeks, so why are people giving their attention to Stranger Things 3?

There are plenty of reasons why people watch Stranger Things, though the biggest reason is probably being able to understand memes on Twitter or follow a conversation with a group of friends – everyone else is watching it. I admit, I felt the need to watch it quickly as soon as I started seeing spoiler-level tweets. This might be a good time to let you know that this post contains spoilers for Stranger Things 3!

I believe, along with my fellow colleagues at Student Activities, that we should actively engage with the cultural products we consume through thinking, writing and conversation. Over the past couple weeks I have thought about which parts of season three of Stranger Things connected with me the most, and drew me in beyond just the cultural hype of the show itself.

Despite the show being set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, during the 1980s, it was easy for me to connect with the characters because they were facing the same reality we all eventually have to – growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching the rat/human flesh monster (excuse me while I throw up again) in battle with our favorite heroes of Hawkins as much as the next person, it was just easier for me to connect to the realistic parts of the story.

It is sad to watch Mike and Lucas fight with Will about whether they should be talking about love interests or playing Dungeons and Dragons, because I know how real and scary it can feel to grow apart from your childhood best friends due to conflicting interests. I can feel Steve’s anxiety about not knowing what to do with his life after high school, because it’s something I had to deal with in mine. I know what it’s like to lose somebody you love without ever really showing it until it’s too late, like with Max losing Billy.

Stranger Things 3 has so many subtle moments throughout the season that bring up memories in my life when I felt joy, heartbreak, loved or afraid. I feel connected to the show because I see it mirroring my own childhood/young adult life in so many different ways.

It’s important to remember how far we have come and how much we have grown to give us the perseverance needed for continual growth and development into the best possible versions of ourselves we can be. Hop says it best in his tear-filled letter to El,

“So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don’t let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from ’em, and when life hurts you – because it will – remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you’re out of that cave.”

Pieces of culture like Stranger Things 3 hold so much truth you can find and connect to if they are not passively consumed. Think about it, talk about it, write about it, just please do something with the culture you’re absorbing. Trust me, it will help you grow.

Sources

https://www.vulture.com/2019/07/netflix-claims-record-viewership-for-stranger-things-3.html

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