Notesale: Turn your study into money

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STRANGER THINGS
ERA:
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Set in the 1980’s
Makes intertextual references to a range of 80s texts e
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Enjoyed both by young audiences and old audiences

Theories to apply: (Narrative theorists)
Todorov:
- Todorov's​ theory states that all narratives follow a three-part structure where they begin with
equilibrium, where everything is balanced and happy
...
Stranger
Things conforms to his theory as it does begin with equilibrium as the town of Hawkins, where
Stranger Things is set, seems like a peaceful town where nothing ever goes wrong and the
only crime that happened was a girl got attacked by a bird
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In Stranger Things, the
disruption is when Will goes missing one night after a game of Dungeons and Dragons and
possibly when the group of three boys meets a telekinetic girl who appeared to have escaped
from Hawkins lab
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Eventually everything is restored when Will is actually rescued from the upside down
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However to counterpoint, with Stranger Things being a TV show they can leave things
unresolved as they will be resolved in the next series
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For instance, the equilibrium in the
story is Martin working for the East, which is seen as being normal and his way of life
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The resolution in episode 1 is that he completes his task in having to take
pictures of confidential, private documents
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The Berlin Wall ends in 1990 so the audience watching
this may already expect the show to demonstrate this and other events that they already know
happened in the Cold War
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He argues that there are several main archetypes in a narrative or story, which are as
follows; The Hero, villain, the helpers, a princess, the Donor, dispatcher and a false hero
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In stranger things, the Hero would be Hopper, the towns sheriff
but could also arguably be Will and his friends who pursue multiple attempts to find/save Will
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Wills friends also meet Eleven
while searching for Will, who becomes one of the Catalysts for the town finally recovering Will Byers
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This is
because the Narrative contains two Villains instead of the classic “Single villain with his group of
minions or henchmen” clique
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Brenner
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Brenner essentially created the portal which brought the Demogorgon
into their world and the Demogorgon did choose to take Will to “The upside-down”
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This is usually expressed in
the form of binary oppositions
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As in the show, to president Ronald Reagan he calls
East Germany an “evil empire” but to the audience there is not a complex representation
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Especially, because the east are seen as an oppressive, communist
state
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There are also
different representations of patriarchal ideologies in D83
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On
the other hand, the East presents women having the same power equal to men, though the
character, Lenora
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Therefore, Strauss
theory of binary oppositions can be applicable to D83
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The binary oppositions are very obvious because it is a sci-fi
genre whereas in Deutschland 83 it is based on real, historical events
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Whereas, in D83, there are things that
drive Martin ideologically, like commitment to his country and his preservation of communism
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he binary oppositions in Stranger Things are quite
clear to understand
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It is obvious that the audience are sided with the kids
and the small town, in wanting to defeat the ‘upside down’ along with them
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Although in some ways Strauss theory subverts and goes against the conventions and codes of
D83
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There are more cultural similarities than differences
and oppositions between East and West Germany that Strauss claims
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Lenora
providing coffee to Martin’s mother in episode 1 depicts a blur between wealth and difference
highlighting the east as not being overly impoverished
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:) ​Can be applied to any cultural product, including LFTVDs
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Can be used to analyse representations and their
ideological effect, by seeing which side of an opposition is valued by the narrative
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Does not tell us anything about the ownership and control of television and the process of mediation
that leads to the messages in newspapers
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Barthes

Meaning is communicated through signs which are made up
of the signifier (the thing itself) and the signified (the
meaning)
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Barthes uses the word myths to
describe the way the connotations suggested by a sign have come to be seen as normal and natural
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Signifiers are explicit,
such as his badge, gun, uniform, and the empty beer cans all communicate meanings in relation to
the character but they also suggest values and ideological messages around power and masculinity
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The
establishing shot
Steve Neale’s theory which declares that​ ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’​
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​ Stranger Things reflects his theory because of the way it
subverts and changes the characters seen within a traditional horror or sci-fi movie
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However it also states that something must be
changed within the genre to make the show new and exciting for audiences to watch
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c For
instance, Steve Harrington has a retro alignment that most teenagers watching this can align
with his character
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The romance is a not only apart
of a multi-strand narrative but also paves a way for a distraction in the fantasies which are
going to be revealed later on
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The fact that Martin is vulnerable and emotionally
attached is not typical for a characters performance in spy thriller
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For instance, the show is based on the cold war and
therefore the audience may need to know about it to fully understand the narrative
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However, as a counterpoint, it can be argued that there is
no need to know about the cold war to watch it, as you can still enjoy it
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Also, the fact that the main character is a male and has a lot of pressures to
complete tasks suggesting that women don't hold much power
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Therefore, women are represented as being equal to en in D83, which subverts against his theory
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This is because the intertextual
references in ST are more important to understand than the genre conventions
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Therefore, audiences will have to
understand the intertextual references more than the genre codes in order to accurately interpret and
watch the show
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For instance,
there are sequences of Martin’s training with narrative over the top, reflecting the conventions of a spy
thriller espionage
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Characters
in spy thrillers also normally adopt a new identity and are working undercover for the other side, in this
case Martin working for East Germany to be a spy in the West
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Additionally, D83 has moral dilemmas which are all explored
through Martins perspective, another way which conforms to Neale’s theory
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This is reflected in the show in the hybridity
of themes and genres, such as comedy being demonstrated with romance and action
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This is because baudrillard states that in
postmodern cultures, representations are more powerful than reality
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We vividly see the theme of ‘hyperreality’ as Baudrillard suggests, where the
representation of the 1980s in Stranger Things depends on signs
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The theme of high-School is evident as we see the division between the ‘popular jocks’ like
Steve Harrington and the ‘nerds’ like Mike, his friends and Barbara
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Reality is also reinforced by intertextual references
to 80’s culture; alien sightings, Carrie and E
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These films have a similar genre and representations
to Stranger Things like E
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The Duffer brothers may also be trying
to represent the demogorgon as an alien, as in the 1980’s, 80% of americans believed the
government was hiding alien sightings from them
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Therefore hyperreality is argued to not be achieved because everything is a fantasy in Stranger
Things and not based on real events like Deutschland 83
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Baudrillard's theory conforms to D83
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This adds more authenticity to show
the real anxieties that were faced in reallife during the Cold War
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Real life ideologies of Capitalism
and Communism is expressed in the sho w which makes D83 seem hyperreal as we see differences
in wealth mostly
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However, the theory can be limited as It does not help to consider LFTV drama
specifically as a media form, and it does not consider the pleasures of hyperreal media texts for
audiences
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Does not explain anything specific to
LFTVD’s and is only a general theory of representation that broadly applies to all media
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For instance, Martin’s relationship with
his girlfriend that twists into her being disloyal in going behind his back with another man
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The meaning is
not fixed by the sender as it is interpreted differently by the decoder/audience
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‘Negotiated reading’ is when the audience do not directly relate
to the media text and the ideology but integrate themselves to gain some sort of enjoyment
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The theory can be applied to Deutschland 83
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Decoders/consumers interpret information differently based on
their own knowledge, i
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if they do not know about the cold war versus if they do then it will have
different meanings to the audience
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g
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Elderly find them as a nuisance, more likely to be patriotic
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For instance, Will is
vulnerable and quiet out of his friends and we see Dustin getting bullied for his appearance
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These are alienated teenagers in society which the audience can relate to
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On the other hand, the theory can be limited as it argues that representation is the process of creating
meaning whilst producers may try to fix meanings
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g
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Gauntlett:
Gauntlett’s theory means that audiences get a sense of their own identity from the media products
they consume
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​Whilst, now in new media products, there are more
diverse/complex representations - no longer binary opposite representations​
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Online Stranger Things fan culture has allowed self-expression
and identification with characters (itself a way of expressing identity)
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Nancy and Hopper
both submit to typical gender stereotypes
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Hopper is also a typical cop who drinks coffee in
the mornings, often relaxed and laid back
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However the theory can be limited as
not everyone sees their identity through the media - cannot be generalised to wider population
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It emphasises the
power of the audience and so does not take into account the importance of media producers, or
existing genres and narratives, in constructing representations of identity
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For instance, Martin is seen as the honourable and
brave soldier, helping East Germany and his family
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Hence there is an attempt to reach and engage an
international audience by offering a local representation with international resonance, thus increasing
the diversity of representations of place and cultures
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It
also ignores real material and cultural constraints such as gender inequality and poverty
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As a result
gender can vary depending on cultural and historical contexts
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For
example, in Stranger Things, the government is mostly men
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We see this in episode 1, when Elevens father marches with men behind him who finds
Eleven in the small restaurant eating ice-cream and wants to bring her back to the lab-place
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We also see the form of
patriarchy through Hopper, who is the Sheriff of Hawkins indicating that he is in charge of the whole
town and when something goes wrong he comes to the rescue
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This shows that during this decade, women did not have many
opportunities in America
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For example, Eleven is seen as being a very powerful protagonist with the use of her
telekinesis powers
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Jonathan also subverts against normal
character types and isn’t seen as being patriarchal at all
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The theory can also be applied to Deutschland 83
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Martin serving for the East Germany,
shows that he was in charge of the men
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The camera is at a low-angle,
highlighting Martin’s authority and high status
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We see this through the character of a lady related to
Yvonne’s aunty who catches Martin making a phone call to his mother
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The
fact that they made her drunk and tipsy demonstrated that men have women under their control and
can get what they want
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This is because in prioritising
gender inequalities, the theory may not aid analysis of other forms of inequality in representation
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General
Jackson is part of the government however he still has a low-status because his representation is
minimal as he is not shown throughout the episode or the season
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Therefore, the theory
is too simplistic and general
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We see this
intertextuality evident in Stranger Things
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In one of the episodes, we see Joyce unable to afford buying equipment in the one of the
stores she previously worked at, begging the co-worker she knew to let her off so she can pay it later,
along with the other things she purchased
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Hooks theory may
also draw attention to the focus of representations on white woman and the absence of any female

characters from other ethnicities
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Therefore, whilst Stranger Things develop a
narrative of female empowerment, it is solely focus on the empowerment of white-females
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She doesn’t give any examples as to how character types are
represented and why they are represented in that way
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The theory can also be applied to D83
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Martin serving for the East Germany, shows that he was in charge of the men
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The camera is at a low-angle, highlighting Martin’s authority and high status
...
We see this
through the character of Yvonne’s aunty who caughts Martin mid-way making a phone call to his
mother
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The fact that they made her drunk and tipsy demonstrated that men
have women under their control and can get what they want
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Whether they agree with how the director, ​Joerg Winger’s represented Martin or Lenora and other
characters
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​They are therefore known more by the
context of lack than by a realised or complex identity and so audiences may dislike or feel neutral to
this but Hooks does not analyze audiences reactions and so the theory may not be useful
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So gender is constructed through the performance of
socially learned behaviours rather than expressed by them
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The character of Eleven does not conform to gender norms
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Because Eleven has been raised in isolation she has
not learned how to perform a normative gender role
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As Eleven becomes more socialised across the narrative of season one her
performance of gender norms increasingly conforms to social norms
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Will
is also represented as not conforming to masculine gender roles as he is described by Joyce as being
more sensitive and feminine
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The way other characters react to them shows how
gender norms are policed and reinforced, for example Will being bullied
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For example, Nancy conforms to a
typical teenage smart girl who is into her studies and goes out with the popular jock of the school, in
this case, Steve Harrington
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Also, the
show focuses on men’s natural stance of being dominating and powerful, which does portray gender
identities as being fixed
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The
governments/scientists are conspiring together, Eleven’s father as the leader to experiment with
Eleven’s powers using the Hawkin’s lab

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