More Stranger Things babble here because the fans on tumblr and reddit are scary

[olivermoss]

Eh, they aren't that bad I'd just rather.... not



NetflixGeeked confirmed that Eddie Munson is based on Damien Echols who was sentence to death row based on community hysteria and only released nearly two decades later. Amy J Berg (who is not the Leverage write I follow on twitter but a *different* Amy Berg) did a film based on the incident called West of Memphis.

I think that's a film I've wanted to watch, but just am bad at keeping track of what I want to watch in the modern streaming age. It's like, if available on my current services I watch... if not I lose track.

I am actually beginning to be happy I got a Letterboxd account and can now keep track.

For the record, my prediction remains that he lives but there is some heavy price. Also, I don't think they'll end the season with him in jail because I think that would be a crappy set up for S5.

There is possibly something to be said about a value in being reminded of the Satanic Panic and previous mass hysterias, but I am not going to get into that. From a purely pop culture stand point, so many current creators came of out of a 'grew up with the Satanic Panic' context that I think it's useful for understanding modern pop culture. Even in the 90s, D&D was completely underground in the midwest. If people were known to play the game, it could cost their jobs.

Also, hot take: I think part of why people are so batshit over Stranger Things is that almost no other genre show or movie has the realistic emotional reactions or just makes the medium fit the story instead of the other way around. best pacing would make the episode run 2x as long. They are just like 'okay, 2x long episode'. In certain ways SThings really just is a masterpiece (which makes the ways the story is weak way more frustrating that it would be in a show like SPN.)

I mean, you've got Max mourning the loss of a possible relationship with her brother. Not the one she had, but the one she could have had. That is a think people do. It's something I've dealt with in terms of losing family members. Losing someone shitty in your family hits in a surprising way. It's a very human response and it makes sense that the show isn't pausing to explain grief to the kidlets who don't get what's going on.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

I do think there's some value in the reminder of the Satanic Panic, particularly with the new purity movements that seem to be surging in popularity these days. (Though the people who could best learn from the example... probably won't.)

Stranger Things really is surprisingly good at finding genuine emotional resonances and reactions from characters. The arcs also for the most part feel very consistent to me, which is a nice change. Way too many series refuse to let characters change in any appreciable ways, because they have the character type they want, and letting the character grow would mess with the format.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, a lot of shows refuse growth or reset characters. They just don't know what to do with characters changing or evolving. Or they reply on tropes and don't really deeply think through what is going on with characters. But it helps that they have a lot of time to write and can basically structure things how they like. S1 is more like a really long movie rather than episodes with the internal episode-structure.

The Satanic Panic shows how far things can go, but for a long time it was considered a joke. Like it was impossible to happen again. A lot of people thought it didn't even happen. These things do end, but it's good to keep touch with the knowledge that it did and can happen.

[mistressofmuses]

That is very true - at least some shows (particularly ones on regular network schedules) don't have as much luxury to write and structure things the way they like. (And a lot of regular network shows, at least in some genres, are kind of required to have a "start anywhere" structure, which hampers ongoing character arcs.)

Stranger Things definitely benefits from being able to structure, like you said, kind of more like a movie. One major plot through-line, no concern that people are tuning in without having seen the rest of the season, and a decent amount of time spent writing.

You're right - I have encountered people who thought the whole "Satanic Panic" thing was some overblown urban legend. It's absolutely worth remembering that those types of things can and have happened, especially when a LOT of people have resorted to appeals to negative emotion and panic as their go-to when confronted with things or people they don't like.

[olivermoss]

I think the format of a serialized show can be good for some shows, but also if they don't master the form it's not good. Having something that can break break of both show and movie formats and just be what suits it best is incredible.

The dumb panics have faded before. It is possible. ... oh hey The Dark Dungeon Chick tract was 1984, might be a fun fic detail

[mistressofmuses]

For sure. I mean, episodic stuff works great for shows that utilize it - for anything with case-based stories (whether that's a police or legal or medical procedural or a monster-of-the-week like X-Files/Supernatural/Buffy), the serialized format is the best thing for it! But those are some of the types of shows that frequently suffer the drawbacks of being unable/unwilling to let characters have lasting arcs or meaningful changes (or flounder when they try), in part because it throws off the formula they're relying on.

It really is very cool to get to see what CAN be done when a show has the ability to switch between different formats. Need a longer episode? Okay! Want to have the episodes be more like chapter breaks in a longer movie? Do it! It's actually very interesting to watch what kinds of storytelling become possible when the format CAN be subservient to the story, instead of the reverse.

Of course. Dumb panics ultimately do peter out when it becomes obvious how foolish they are. But it doesn't mean they don't do real, genuine damage.

I wondered when that Chick tract had been published! I thought it was later 80s, so that could be a fun detail to throw in!

[olivermoss]

Yeah, the serialized format can be great. It works good for Leverage, but some of the producers are also nerds about the format, which helps. Also, there are nice ways you can build themes and relationships with that sort of cadence.

I am trying to track down what movies and things would be good references. A lot of things are just outside the time frame, and the Dead Alewives sketch was much later. But Buckaroo Banzai was.... nope, nope, not going to reference that even if I knows a lot about the release.

[mistressofmuses]

Leverage is a show that DOES do a very good job with character development that allows for arcs and changes that aren't just... weirdly reset at the next season break or whatever. It's certainly not impossible to do well, or to turn some of those limitations of format into positives.

Hahaha, you could throw in SO MANY details, though! SO MANY.

[olivermoss]

And there are so many details I could throw in! There is a lot around the release, etc I could reference. The reason why I have a rental copy of the film is that there was no retail release until 1999, so the rental copies were the source of the piracy. It could tie in with them working at a video store! No, no, I am not going to do it unless it really fits somehow.

[mistressofmuses]

You really could throw in SO much perfect detail! It would tempt me, haha.