Stranger Things: Review of a Review

A review of the review, so to speak.

I get so flustered when I read things that make no sense to me in the moment; so let's see if I can intellectually work through this review of the show Stranger Things.

Caveat: I'm not going to say that everyone should watch it; each family has to make their own choices for their own family. Based on accurate information.

I will add upfront, there is post at Patheos about the good things in the show: Stranger Things is the most Catholic Thing on TV

The following review is from Women of Grace. My responses are inserted between each paragraph.

MB writes: “I have not seen the massively popular Stranger Things but I’ve heard that it’s quite ‘creepy’. I also know that they’ve put out a Stranger Things ouija board which makes me wonder if there’s anything demonic or problematic with the show itself? Lots of friends have recommended it but they’ve also talked about Harry Potter before so I’m hoping to get a clearer answer on whether watching the show is problematic. Thank you in advance.”

The Stranger Things TV show is indeed problematic on a variety of levels.

For those who have never heard of it, Stranger Things is a recent Netflix sci-fi/horror hit starring Winona Ryder that is based in the fictional Indiana town of Hawkins in the early 1980’s. Hawkins is the home of the Hawkins National Laboratory which performs scientific research for the government. However, the disappearance of a young boy named Will leads the town to discover that the lab is also involved in paranormal and supernatural experiments. These activities lead to the creation of a portal to an alternate dimension called “the Upside Down” which is full of surreal monsters.

Meanwhile, a little girl arrives on the scene at the local diner, dressed in a hospital gown and with a shaved head. Her name is Eleven and she has all kinds of otherworldly powers such as clairvoyance and the ability to move objects with her mind. She was apparently used in experiments at the lab and managed to escape. Eleven, who claims to know where Will is, and is able to communicate with him, is then employed in the plot to find the boy.

There are a variety of disturbing themes running through the show, such as references to a “stronger power,” Eleven’s use of her powers to kill people, premarital sex between the characters, shoplifting, profaning the name of Jesus, and a variety of illicit escapades.

All evil or immoral things that happened in this show - had suitable consequences or the situation is one in which a conversation can be had about how some people are raised in certain ways and don't know the proper truth.

Focus on the Family’s Plugged In, says that although the series does give us a new set of heroic tweens and teens, these kids are also prone to “swear like testosterone-deficient sailors.” They also play Dungeons & Dragons which is sure to set off alarms with parents due to the game’s darker elements. And even though the children are against alcohol and tobacco, the adults in the move indulge with great abandonment.

Adults are allowed to drink and smoke. And it was the 80s - a different time, when more people did smoke as a normal thing. It's culturally and historically accurate. Cussing? Public school teens, some of whom don't have parents who are very involved. They are in need of the Truth and grace - not judgment. Their characters fit.

“When the scene shifts to the high-school set, sex (or the heady, fearful promise of it) never seems far away,” the review states.

The violence is also a factor. “Even though the violence hasn’t been particularly bloody, death is not uncommon. The monsters, and many of the men, are out for blood. And they’re not above spattering a bit of it across the screen.”

As for the games spawned by the show, they do have a new Stranger Things Ouija board which youth are gleefully using to ask the “spirits” to reveal the contents of upcoming shows.

I'm not judging a show by the products created from it, unless they were put out before or immediately at the start of the show.

You have to go looking for those. If you're a family that doesn't do commercials or themes, you probably won't know these exist. I didn't know they existed until I read this review.

We don't go for merchandise in our home anyway, so it's just the show for us, thanks.

In this article appearing on Buzzfeed (caution: obscene language) three teens – including one who says he never plays with the board because he’s Catholic – ask the board a series of questions about upcoming shows. The first question they asked was whether or not there was a spirit in the room, which received a “yes” answer. The three then ask it a series of questions about the upcoming shows, which characters are going to “hook up” and which are going to die.

So were the answers correct? ;)

I think this article was changed from its original - because at one point it mentioned the use of a ouija board within the show itself. Mom sets up strings of Christmas lights and paints letters on the wall under them for her LIVING son to communicate with her. I've had a child who couldn't talk or write with his hand and we used an alphabet chart on a placemat for him to speak to me; until we got a keyboard he could type on. Ouija boards are for connecting with demons though the users generally intend to speak to the dead. SPOILER ALERT: Will's not dead. Ouija boards aren't used to speak to living human beings. Computers, keyboards and pointing to an alphabet chart are.

The show also has it’s own themed Monopoly board game as well as an Eggo Card game.

All in all, Stranger Things is the typical non-family-friendly fare.

And we'll skip the various awesome family dynamics going on here - family that sticks together; family that was falling apart or was fully fractured that healed and came back together. Redemption for some; continued evil choices by others leading to consequences; self-sacrifice out of LOVE.

I would not categorize this show and its alarming by-products as healthy for anyone, regardless of age.

By-products? The only by-products in this household were some awesome conversations about the themes, the plot, what we would do different, what could be next, SAMWISE GAMGEE!, how to hold up under severe mental stress, trauma, separation from family ---- and lots more!



And let's take this back to sanity: Stranger Things is the most Catholic Thing on TV