Sunday, July 7, 2019

So We're Midway Through ST-3 (Stranger Things, Season Three)...

(Updated) Still AWEsommme! How to explain the mass appeal of Netflix's Stranger Things to people who haven't seen it?  OK, imagine if The X-Files, Alien(s), ET, Goonies, Stand By Me, It, The Wonder Years, Freaks and Geeks, and any Coen Brothers' movie you've ever seen, all had a group baby, to an 80s soundtrack (that's also a hint to the plot this season) - tack on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, especially this season ;)  Part horror sci-fi, part soap opera, part comedy.

Except my husband, Mark, just said, "Exactly - except how is it like ET? The interdimensional beings (Demodogs) are monsters?"

Me: "Well, if you think of "Eleven" as ET, even though she's not an interdimensional being or extraterrestrial herself - that we know yet - but what explains her superpowers? The way the kids find her and hide her, at first, even dress her in a wig to disguise her - it's exactly like ET. I suspect she's sort of an interdimensional/extraterrestrial (lineaged) anti-demodog, she just doesn't know it yet. But they may never say."

"Because remember, just like Eight, the government didn't give her those powers, they discovered and used them, trying to train her from childhood to be a weapon and killer. Eight was older when they discovered her ability, then stole her from her parents. However, with Eleven, her mother showed signs of psychokinetic ability already on testing, but was too old to train, so they stole her daughter, Eleven, at birth, told her mother she died, lobotomized/electroshocked her mom to discredit her as crazy to shut her up, and hoped to raise Eleven, using her gifts to train her into a weapon/killer, too, but failed - because not only does Eleven has more power than they bargained for, but more empathy and conscience."

"Eight, though older when discovered, trained better, and went 'fallen angel.' She escaped, but is full of hate for what they did to her and is obsessed with revenge and can kill without conscience or remorse. However, Eleven refuses to hate, she's too sensitive, empathetic, and incorruptible - which is a good thing, because she was also the most powerful lol."

"She's capable of snapping necks like twigs, with a simple toss of her head, or psychically spy on anyone to answer normal teenage-angst dilemmas, but she won't - she doesn't want to spy on or hurt anyone, she just wants to forget, be a normal teenager, learn to fully speak and communicate, love and be loved, enjoy the world she was never allowed to experience. But she will, if anything tries to hurt her or others, and only if an immediate threat. Even then, if you notice, she won't kill unless absolutely necessary, she'll at first find ways to just physically deter them, unless they try to take her back or whatever it is just keeps coming at her/them."

"So, IMO, the "gifted ones" are essentially like angels to combat the demons, except they have free will - they can turn fallen angel anytime, like Eight did - it's a free-will choice. The demodog-infected or killed don't have a choice, but the uninfected and anti-demodogs, do."

"Like the Aliens movies, it's the intersection of science and spiritual - science and spiritual don't have to be mutually exclusive, one explains the other and is dependent on the other, they're interdependent. But the Duffer brothers may never say, leave you to draw your own conclusions."


Mark: "Oh, yeeaaahh - it IS like ET!?! Like Stephen-Spielberg's-childhood-imagination movies in general - Super 8, too. Also Stephen-King's-Childhood-Imagination books and movies, too." 

Me:  "Yes! It's a 'Best of the 80s' tribute with a new spin."

Clever dialogue, superbly acted, wicked special effects, characters you care about, no loopholes in the plot, appropriate jumps and scares - so suspenseful you can never watch just one - as we all know, I'm a tough critic, previously wanting to be a screenwriter.  

Bravo x3, Duffer Brothers, still rocking it for Netflix for Season 3!




PS - Hahaha!  We just watched the episode where Mike asks El(even):  "Does your species like M&Ms?"

That's a direct reference to ET (and the fact that she's a girl because they had a prior argument, he got caught lying to her), except it was Reese's Pieces debut, which sent sales skyrocketing.  Movie branding works (as long as it's not overdone, which Stranger Things is pushing it ;)

God, I wish I could make money at being a library for movie metaphors , but alas, no lol


PPS - Episode 7, one more to go - Oooh, but El can be infected, like everyone else (but can remove it herself?  Or can she?  Completely?  What will happen to her superpowers?

Loving the shift from our government being responsible for opening the portal in season 1, to some members of our government doing the right thing in season 2, to Russians re-opening it in season 3 (with politicians being paid off to let them in) - perfect for the Red Dawn 80s, and perfect for today - brilliant!

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