Stranger Things is one of the hottest new series to hit the Netflix scene. Behind the scenes, several of the BNP staff members have been sharing their thoughts about the show and Lucas the GAWD! If you’re still on the fence, here is a list of reasons (spoilers included) why Stranger Things is the absolute greatest of all time!
This series is set in the most glorious wood paneled version of the 1980’s that I think of. Stranger Things is a mauve and tan technicolor masterpiece. It is street light-thirty curfews and I feel like the set smelled of Yoo-hoo. It is full of fog, wood paneling, corduroys and pop bottle glasses. You’ve got a crew on bikes with walkie talkies on the hip ’cause ain’t no Uber or iPhones. This is how it got handled in my day, son. The 80’s baby in me is like, “Yo! This is home.” Yes. Stranger Things felt like home. Stranger Things gave me the feels of the Goonies, E.T., Stand By Me and Steven King’s It. It is a hot, scary mess of a mashup gone perfect!
The goshdarn lights, man! Cue Kanye. Cue Sesame Street. The strung up big bulbed glass Christmas lights, the alphabet and the faith of a mother! Listen to me. You better know that love is greater than any fifth dimension and that a mother knows her son. Winona did this, do you hear me? My womb ached like nobody’s business when this woman started to string these Christmas lights knowing that there wasn’t a short in the electricity. No, honey. It was Will. Her baby calling on his mama.
Throughout the series, she held her own and never gave up on her baby. She publicly had what some would call a meltdown as she let her eldest son know that she gave not one single solitary eff about what anyone thought about her. Her baby boy was alive and she was going to find him. Now… tell me that ain’t what the greats are made of!
I tell you the truth. I wasn’t down for her at first, not even a little. She was whiney as hell and a pain in the ass big sister. I have six younger brothers, so I get it… but geesh. Give Mike a break, Nancy. The thing about it is, Nancy being the teenage jerk of a big sister falling in love with a jock is quintessential to movies from the 1980’s. She’s also the “girl-next-door” type kid who is there for the quirky kid when no one else is. Thank goodness for that! It sucks that her bestie got kicked to the curb for some action and ended up being taken in the same manner as Will but, she wasn’t the only kid on the outskirts of popularity that Nancy rocked with.
Jonathan, Will’s brother, did some creeping around (like, some shit that would creep most folks tf out) which lead he and Nancy to become the ultimate tag team for breaking that dimension and finding out how to rescue Will. Nancy leveled up and became badass with the quickness! Jonathan came around to what his momma was saying and it’s all forests, monsters and slime from there.
Some of us had one. Whether it was a popular clique or not, you may have been in one. Whether you called yourself a clique or not, you may have functioned that way. Will, Dustin, Lucas and Mike! These kids were thick as thieves and their nerd flags waved fervently at a time that would get you laid on your ass for it. They don’t care. These kids are playing Dungeons and Dragons in a basement paved with wood paneling like their lives depended on it (oooooooh, so meta).
Dustin doesn’t even have front teeth, his friends couldn’t care less and I love him for it! He’s the peacekeeper, the love bug, the sensitive homie. Lucas keeps everyone in check- ego check here, side-eyeing the homie for googly eyeing the new kid. He’s doing the most and the best all at the same time. Mike is the “leader,” rallying the homies and trying to get everyone on the same path. Will’s mom is gangsta and holding it down for the single mothers everywhere. Unfortunately, other than his favorite song, we don’t get to know too much about Will, because…. well, some “stranger things” happen. What is there not to love about this crew?
Then there’s the jaw dropper.
The new kid.
Yes, all caps to Elle. You heard me! Eleven is the truth and shall only be referred to as this and no less. This girl is the BADDEST little magical/morphan being in the world! She’s chalk full of super powers, hunger, and a bad ass hair cut. You know you’re the baddest when you can flip shit with your mind, go HAM for some frozen waffles and smile with a bloody nose. Elle is that frenemy turned bestie in middle school because you knew it was safer to have her on your side and then you fell in love with her anyway. She’s the home girl that didn’t know how to play Spades when ya’ll met, but became your life time cards partner cause ain’t nobody reniggin’ on her watch.
Eleven is the home girl that balled out on the court wearing a skirt and you just stood on the side lines like “I told you fools.” Elle is the quiet friend that when she finally speaks the whole room gets quiet. Eleven is that ride or die homegirl. She’s the one who won’t turn her back on you even when you’re on some petty level 5 type shit. I rocks with Eleven, all day everyday and twice on Sunday.
These are five, among many, reasons for you to start that binge and watch the entire season in a day like the rest of us. Go. Seriously. Watch it. Watch it again. Watch it with your mama. Pop some old school popcorn on top of the stove until you get that aluminum foil bubble, mix you up some Tang and take a seat. You won’t regret it.
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