JUST TO BE FAIR, THROUGHOUT THE ARTICLE WE WILL BE JUMPING BACK AND FORTH THROUGH THE STRANGER THINGS SERIES, SPOILERS WILL ABOUND WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING, SAVE THIS ONE. BE AWARE.
In recent years, few series have been able to crank up the nostalgia and the suspense in the 18-54 market like stranger things has, From Eggo waffles to trips to the mall and leg-warmers, Stranger Things has presented the warm glow of the ’80s with the cold fear that maybe the United States may not have been as benevolent as we would like to see ourselves. The take on Russia is of course more brutal, but, America is definitely being looked at from a post-spy-fi lens.
From the ’60s until the ’90s, the spy-fi genre has usually shown that the government in some way, shape, or form is the answer to winning the Cold War and solving all of our problems. That, if we let super secret agents with super secret gadgets and the reach to reflect any inquiry into their activities, all will be well. Birds will sing, the neighbor will love the neighbor, and adults can trust our kids. With Stranger Things, that idea is turned on its head. From horrible government experiments to corruption on all levels to the erosion of the family and the community, Stranger Things dissects it all and makes it scary.
- The Government Is Here To Help-In previous variants of spy-fi, from UFO to Mission: Impossible, to I Spy, government agencies were shown as the protectors of mankind. Whether the threat was those stinking Reds, aliens, or even commie aliens, we were protected. Sure, we might see some red tape or budgetary infighting, but gosh darn it, they were here to help. Not so in Stranger Things canon. In the weird world of the Duffer Brothers, the government is in fact the problem. Government-funded research has created the dimensional rifts that have led to the monsters invading our world. It has used a small town as a staging area for its research and has used children, such as our super-powered lead character Eleven, as guinea pigs.
- Our Children Are Safe-Another promise made to the children of the Cold War era is that we would be safe from the auspices and doctrines of those psycho commies. However, documents have been found that show during the height of the Cold War and beyond, no one was really safe from experimentation. And Stranger Things takes that concept and cranks it to, well, Eleven. During the run of the series, children showing any level of ESP ability are “adopted” into a program to turn them into living weapons for the government. Focus on the main character, Eleven ( Millie Bobby Brown), shows the deep connection. During the backstory of Eleven, we find out thather mother was used in the MK-Ultra program and was made unable to parent by a government agency. The same agency that would later “adopt” Eleven, and raise her. It is hinted that other children were brought up in the same way. Good thing there are no government controversies and the care of children going on today.
- Our Stalwart Government Officials Would Never Help The Commies-Unfortunately, we see several times that this is not the case. Quite a few times whether due to greed, or self-preservation, several officials from the federal to local level are shown as corrupt self-serving slime who care only for themselves. The Most egregious example is when in Season Three, Mayor Larry Kline, (Cary Elwes), has set up a deal that allowed a Soviet dark science base to be built under StarCourt Mall. He also manipulated the building process and the town government to accelerate the building process. He even pushes for local law enforcement, led by Hopper (David Harbour), to roust citizens peacefully protesting the loss of jobs due to the mall. Kline has no actual party or affiliation, except to himself, is not a good person. Decent politician, though.
- In America Kids Have The Freedom To Express Themselves, Our Communities Are Strong-This was a common belief of the time, and like many things Cold War based on the eighties, Stranger Things burned it down and brought it out. In season four, Eddie Munson, (Joseph Quinn ) is the High School outsider and leader of the local Dungeons and Dragons hobby group. This group is made up of outsiders and nerd types like beloved characters Dustin(Gaten Matarazzo) and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard ). The group is called ironically, “The Hellfire Club”, although the members aren’t Devil worshippers. Playing up the fact that teenagers who weren’t all American athletes, and who listened to Metal or other types of non-mainstream music and played Dungeons and Dragons must be evil season four of Stranger Tings shines a big light on the hidden bigotry by supposedly loving inclusive communities and their prejudices which were revved up by the press a the time. The bias is so strong that when some of the clean-cut, upright athletes call for the hunt and lynching of club leader Eddie Munson, his teammates and several of the townsfolk go along with it. Glad American society is in a better place today.
- 5. We Fight The Commies Off, Our Families Are Safe- During the run of the current four seasons of Stanger Things, we see that even though the Russians are blamed for everything, even in the mid-America microcosm of Hawkins, Indiana, the family unit is nowhere near as sacred as we were led to believe. In the Wheeler family, the husband/father unit of the family believes that just the fact he works hard and comes home every night is enough. His family suffers from neglect and indifference from the man. This leads to Mrs. Wheeler seeking out the local bad boy/lifeguard/cougar bait, Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery). This starts a domino fall that brings a lot of harm to Hawkins. Drugged mothers, absent fathers, corrupt gather figures, and sibling dysfunction rears their ugly heads throughout the series run thus far. Surprisingly this was not a Commie invention, but gosh darn it, it should’ve been.
In conclusion, yes, I believe that indeed, Stranger Things is indeed the best flippant, sarcastic answer to did we win the Cold War, because even though the Berlin Wall came down, a bunch more popped up at home. And Eleven might not even be able to tear those down.
