Ah Stranger Things; with your retro stylings, throbbing synth and coming-of-age antics. You promised us Stand By Me but delivered Punky Brewster instead. I guess the first issue comes from the rose-coloured antics of simply bombarding a bunch of 80's schtick at the viewer. Yes, the 80's had a distinct style and everyone looks back at that time with a fondness - but I lived it. In reality the 80's wasn't actually that cool, but is used as a short-hand means of transporting you back to your youth.
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| Ah the memories ... |
Now, having said that, the first series had a pretty solid build-up and a relatively compelling 'money shot' ending and I would have been happy with it finishing right there. Unfortunately, due to popular demand, there had to be a second season - but I'll hold off on reviewing that one before I list the pro's and con's of the first:
Pro's:
Solid 80's presentation is solid - I can't deny they hit all the tropes which make 80's movies interesting - they even threw in a little X-files which isn't exactly 80's but still fits in well with this Graveyard Smash (see what I did there?). Just because it directly references classic films and musical themes does not a solid film (or series) make.
Solid 80's music is solid - everyone loves throbbing rhythmic 80's synth and thankfully the drum synths were notably absent in this facsimile, and so, the 80's nostalgia veil remains intact. Because everyone knows those hard 80's drum loops are jarring.
Solid 80's media references are solid - I can see the trappings of ET, Stand By Me, IT, Close Encounters of the Third Kind but to name a few. They even stole direct shots from a lot of Spielberg's classic shots to bolster their lack of imagination (more to come on that).
Con's:
Dude, where's my brain? Just because you can reference great films doesn't mean you are great by proxy. You basically monster-mashed your way to something which on paper looks okay but fails to separate itself from anything but a trip down nostalgia lane. You will probably note that every review of this series begins with 'If you loved this <80's reference> and this <80's reference> then you will love watching this <poor facsimile>.'
Dude, where's my heroine? It's nice that old Winona still gets work, what with her kleptomania and generally hopped-up nature but I'm not sure it was actually acting. Basically she plays a washed-up crazy woman who acts impulsively and trashes her house for reasons. So, really, not too far-removed from reality.
Dude, where's the rohypnol? Maybe it's just me but the whole romance angle between chicky and lead actor seems kind of one-sided. Basically dudey takes advantage of a drugged-out girl and force-kisses her. It comes across all parts rapey - and I'm pretty sure even chicky realised she could do a whole lot better than him. And she can, oh yes.
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| I'm sure your personality is just great ... |
All in all, despite pandering to nostalgia, the show ends admirably and the mysteries are tied up satisfactorily.
BUT THEN COMES SEASON 2
About 80% of this season is filler and begins to feel like something JJ Abrams would have created - except even he would have reined it in. It feels like one giant What do we do now? To further bolster this lack of direction, we are introduced to a ginger ass-kicking chick who don't need no boys and an icky Billy Ray with a penchant for bad taste in mullets and receding hairlines. This meandering show just paces out a page-worth of progress over the series and ends with the moral that men are useless and that the only way to do anything is if you're a goth girl ... or a ginger girl ... or a deranged drug-addled klepto who decides to deface her home again. Yes, the guys do things but it's only through the direction of a strong woman's guidance that anything is actually accomplished ... because reasons.
I get tired of the male bashing agenda of Hollywood (or ruling bodies) but who am I to deny our ongoing movement toward a world that decides to oppress all those who happen to be stupid, white or male. You will note that almost every franchise is realigning with women - either to be trendy or because they were told. Terminator, Ghost Busters, Ocean's are now all woman-only affairs. And you will also note that if you happen to be female and dark-skinned and (hopefully) ginger then you have hit the jackpot, since the trend is to have ginger/African-origined strong female leads to show men how to truly be heroic. I cannot help feeling like it's pandering rather than justified but, having said that, that doesn't mean I do not condone strong female leads - just that it comes across a little disingenuous if every show is following this trend. I think the only reason that Marvel movies don't have more female leads is because the stories were created back when Stan Lee was allowed to be chauvinistic and sexist. But, hey, at least they have Domino*** - and she was definitely the best part about Deadpool 2.
Now, where was I? And so, to conclude, Season 2 was a waste of time for everyone involved (including me) and that girrllll powerrr remains ever-so trendy but smacks of condescension and pandering.
***It recently came to my attention that Domino was originally a white girl. So, score one for Disney/Marvel for being able to warp reality and revise post-humously the ethnicity of the character. I should also mention that Fan-four-stick also revised Johnny Storm to be African-American for reasons (and there is a franchised out African-latino rendition of Spider-man as well - but at least that is alternate-reality canon). So I guess history is in the eye of those who are presently rewriting it.
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