A thread for Stranger Things, the "Goonies meets X-Files" new Netflix series (with SPOILERS!)

haha yeah i was thinking about that lift scene too aldo!

There are some very obvious, very big references to certain films all through this show. It has me wondering if it's a pastiche, a period drama or something else.

This sort of thing happens a lot more in music than on the screen - taking a confluence of ideas and tropes, mashing them together and updating them/putting a new spin on them, like say Haim or whoever you wish to pick. Stranger Things is like a DJ set of remixes of all your favourite teen horror films. I spend a lot of the time thinking 'that's ripped from Donnie Darko' or just wanting to shout 'GO INTO THE LIGHT CAROL-ANNE!'.
As such, you can't expect credibility to get in the way of a good storyline in Stranger Things. Would a smalltown cop really be able to bash his way into a high-security FBI unit like he did?
What I do like is how we get to see the development ofWinona's mum character. Source-material characters are ephemeral to plotlines. They're either overbearing sceptics or simply not there at all - 'Honey, I'm going out, don't eat anything!'

*source material parental characters is what I meant there.

My personal theory is that 11 somehow manifested the monster/s herself through her sheer terror of the sens-dep experiment.

Or maybe it was just that the monsters were always there but she softened the wall between the worlds <- obv more likely but i like my theory better :)

I think she was so afraid of what she had done that she didnt want to face them down & accept that she could control or stop them.

I really loved that moment with 11 & Winona when 11's in the sens-dep & she's rigid with terror & winona's telling her "don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here" it was v powerful

Stranger Things is like a DJ set of remixes of all your favourite teen horror films. I spend a lot of the time thinking 'that's ripped from Donnie Darko' or just wanting to shout 'GO INTO THE LIGHT CAROL-ANNE!'.

this seems about right - even there though it's a pretty narrow subset of (mostly) 80s films. All of the direct rips/refs do take me out of a bit, I find myself thinking more about the construction of the show overall rather than getting drawn into the story.

Yeah, I know what you mean. When they first showed the foresty underworld and the dead deer, I just knew they'd show the monster feeding off it just like a specific scene in Harry Potter. At the same time, there's enough source material to be referenced (and it's not just 80s horror - there are lots of kids films and sci-fis and stuff in there, and as I say, Harry Potter and Donnie Darko aren't 80s films).

Donnie Darko is a pastiche of 80s films

^^^

honestly the only non-80s stuff I've really noticed has seem to come from that Voice of the Beehive remake I forget the name of

(altho fair pt about the deer-feeding, I hadn't caught that)

All of the direct rips/refs do take me out of a bit, I find myself thinking more about the construction of the show overall rather than getting drawn into the story.

― Οὖτις, Monday, August 8, 2016 12:22 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Remember when directors would reference like Truffaut or Kurasowa or whatever and Stranger Things is all like the Alien scene that was parodied in The Critic and the Commando scene that was parodied in UHF, and critics are falling all over themselves to praise what is, in a lot of ways, a stylized Family Guy episode

My new show JURASSIC GUMP is gonna clean up once I finish my Netflix pilot

I never identify with "takes me out of it" criticisms tho, doesn't really resonate with how I experience things xps

ok lol @ JURASSIC GUMP

you know what else keeps popping into my head while watching this is Beyond the Black Rainbow. Which was much more specific and abstract and strange than this (also had a really stupid ending) but did kind of a similar v specific late 70s/early-80s sf horror pastiche. Better soundtrack too.

oh man JURASSIC GUMP. the nineties revival is in full swing elsewhere so that's only a matter of time really.

and agreed with Veg about that Winona scene - - - a moment of comparative subtlety for the show, too, like it lets you think about the upbringing El's had to this point, and the power of a parental figure that actually is concerned for her well-being, and the comfort Winona has been dying to give to Will, and so on.

Looks like somebody itt doesn't understand the difference between parody and pastiche.

critics are falling all over themselves to praise what is, in a lot of ways, a stylized Family Guy episode

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 8, 2016 11:41 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah

i watched this with pals who are not really wide cultural consumers (or at least not in the way so many ilxors are) and when i made the now standard, boring, observation that it looked like 80s movies, they were all 'ohhhhhhhhh yeah i see that.' all the specific call-outs seem like easter eggs for media nerds like those itt, who spend all day thinking about movies and music etc. i think most ppl can grok that it's a pastiche, but i don't think they're having the jarring experience you're having, whiney -- it just scans as narrative, not as a series of references or gestures to other, specific movies

Yeah, I know what you mean. When they first showed the foresty underworld and the dead deer, I just knew they'd show the monster feeding off it just like a specific scene in Harry Potter. At the same time, there's enough source material to be referenced (and it's not just 80s horror - there are lots of kids films and sci-fis and stuff in there, and as I say, Harry Potter and Donnie Darko aren't 80s films).

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Monday, August 8, 2016 12:32 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What in particular did they use from Donnie Darko? It's been years since I've seen that film.

Commando scene that was parodied in UHF

But surely that was Rambo: First Blood part II?

https://media3.giphy.com/media/LnftOVI9nd2zm/giphy.gif

It's what's being "referenced" that seems to be the sticking point xxp

Isn't the commando ref the "getting tooled up" scene? That was parodied in loaded weapon 1, idk about uhf as I haven't seen it

hahaha thanks wins

has anyone mentioned the blatant pilfering of Under the Skin in the psychic spying scenes yet

critics are falling all over themselves to praise what is, in a lot of ways, a stylized Family Guy episode

lol that is a low-ass blow, dude

for the most part I thought it was entertaining and engaging and rose above the pastiche elements, which were all pretty obvious

very good kid actors

I'm just trying to say these "easter eggs" like the thing dripping goo on Hopp's face or the Commando scene or whatever are like actually huge, iconic cultural signposts to the point where they've been parodied to death.

hahaha thanks wins

listen if there's one thing I know

xxp I mean, look, I like the show a lot too! but we really have to own up to the fact that there is some CORNY, LAZY shit in there

Under the Skin in the psychic spying scenes

this was the first thing I thought of tbh altho it just made me wonder if there was some 80s ur-text I was forgetting

xp

uh breakin out the CORNY isn't that deej's thing

uh oh

I meant to say

I'm just trying to say these "easter eggs" like the thing dripping goo on Hopp's face or the Commando scene or whatever are like actually huge, iconic cultural signposts to the point where they've been parodied to death.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, August 8, 2016 12:04 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

only to a relatively small-ish cohort of viewers, though! i really dont think most viewers are catching these in any sort of conscious way.

I really enjoyed Beyond the Black Rainbow but I feel like it was more of a stylistic exercise where Stranger Things is a thematic one.

A filmmaker on twitter was mentioning how BTBR didn't have very wide interest, but from a shot composition/directorial standpoint he's seen its influence

i guess i can get with 'lazy' and 'corny' in that the dramatic beats/tropes are familiar, and encouraged some ppl i was watching with to, like, yell at the screen because they knew what was coming --- but to me that just highlights how effectively they pulled it off. someone getting drawn in to it despite the familiarity is a success. only the nerds/movie heads are like "omg this is JUST LIKE that part in..."

How low have we seriously lowered the fucking bar if "People who have seen E.T. and Aliens" count as "movieheads." This is like calling Kanye super clever for putting the "trope" of Michael Jackson samples in "Good Life"

Fan service has completely cannibalized everyone's ability to think rationally about film.

There's like huge chunks of this that are just biting E.T., which is one thing if it's like Spielberg or Leone biting from Japanese movies a tiny cross-section of Film Forum mouthbreathers have seen vs. wholesale jacking from a move that made $750 million in 1982 dollars

^^^

i mean i think a lot of ppl over a certain age would see the similarities if ~pointed out~, but, for real, loads of otherwise very observant people just don't have huge parts of their brain/awareness given over to noticing what might seem to you or anyone else itt a really obvious ref (kids on bikes, eg). these ppl, btw, are the ppl that are impressed by and are, ostensibly, the target audience of all those "do you see??" articles that point out all the influences on something like ST. they've seen ET and Alien, they're just not consuming media the same way as 'movie heads' do.

also lots of ppl under 30 haven't seen any movies from the 80s!

directly referencing some of the biggest blockbuster films of all time is not some movie nerd shit

xp

Like the side-by-side comparison video that's been floating around is not some sweet Sploid #feels moment for me, it's an assassination of the directors

References aren't good is how I break it down, anyone can put a thing from another thing in a thing, hardly matters how obscure or otherwise it is

directly referencing some of the biggest blockbuster films of all time is not some movie nerd shit

xp

― Οὖτις, Monday, August 8, 2016 12:24 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

are you guys missing my point on purpose or something

the referencing all the biggest films isn't movie nerd shit, sitting there and cataloging all the references while you watch it is movie nerd shit. even the big and obvious references! that just isn't how everyone watches or thinks about movies (or listens to music or whatever).

i think sometimes ilx forgets that it is populated by ppl who think about and criticize media, often professionally

avg schmo watching stranger things and not noticing the specific references, even to major films that he has himself seen and enjoyed, is more than likely the norm.

Not sure why we need to walk a mile in the shoes of your Johnny average rube friends tbh, when most of the critical praise (which is what whiney's talking about) is about the tapestry of references it's a bit having your cake & eating it

To put a finer point on it: I think emulating the cinematography and "kids in peril" tension and moonlit flashlights of E.T. is a brilliant way to approach a TV show. Using a very familiar and nostalgic vintage "feel" to launch your original ideas is great

However, I think that poaching entire scenes and plot points is weak as fuck and people have given these guys a pass

I thought this show was pretty cool and some things definitely felt like references but not in a way that broke the narrative flow.

A few moments played with those expectations (although, yeah, in an admittedly basic way before Whiney jumps in saying I'm pleased by the most pandering bullshit), like the moment where the kids are all on bikes and, were it ET, it'd be the moment where ET makes them take flight... but Eleven flips the van

imo any wholesale "poaching" was limited to things that exist in a half dozen films, not "scene recreated exactly from ET"

haha I did groan in advance of the flying bike moment and was a little surprised by the truck flip, dunno whose point that proves

well, his initial point was that it was like a stylized family guy ep, with one jarring call-out after another, loudly announcing themselves as call outs. which is not accurate at all, imo, and why the viewing experience of my average rube friends seems germane --- most ppl aren't noticing all the references/swipes, and the show gets away with it as a result

xp

i think it's totally fair for critics to jump on the wholesale poaching, esp since it has gone almost completely unnoticed by the viewing audience.

i thought all the references -- are they really references when nothing in the whole show is outside the referent? -- felt really lived in and not jokey quotes. not like a "family guy" bit at all! it's a period piece. "period" known v much through movies. something like a cover version.

look i hate all that imgur culture sploid jerkoff nerd shit too but i think something of the warmth of this show missed you completely. does daptones stuff make you mad too?

"I think emulating the cinematography and "kids in peril" tension and moonlit flashlights of E.T. is a brilliant way to approach a TV show. Using a very familiar and nostalgic vintage "feel" to launch your original ideas is great"

^^ I love this element of it!

i could probably overlook my irritation with how cheaply this show lifts from 80s touchstones if the story and characters were compelling, but it failed on that level for me too. rote by its nature, even w/ its few knowing curveballs. couldn't overcome the gross fanservice-y feeling that this is no more than a plastic conglomerate of All Those Things You Like.

kids were good actors though. not their fault.