Stranger Things In depth Study

 Stranger Things is an Si-Fi/Horror series which was released to Netflix in the summer of 2016. The show is set in the 1980s and has clear inspiration from the culture and common genres of the time. The show blends the styles, music, comedy, references, action, horror and typical lifestyle of 80s America. They also use typical conventions of the time, such as the 4 main protagonist friends being shown to be nerdy social outcasts with them playing the RPG (roleplaying game) Dungeons and Dragons and constantly referencing movies like star wars, Ghostbusters and more si-fi movies. The show also reflects several historical events and climates in the 80s, one of the more obvious ones being the 'Red Menace' of the cold war which had been going on for the past 30+ years and both peaked and declined during the 80s. However a more subtle reference to historical events is the view and treatment of minorities in the mid-west at the time. In the shows first season their is only one black child character, Lucas Sinclair, who is one of the main character and is also picked on and outcast by the other kids at school. This can represent the view on black people in the mid-west and rural towns in the 80s.

The two main Genres of the 80's were si-fi and horror, this is clearly evident in the astoundingly high profits from major movies like E.T which took $435 million, or the two star wars sequels The empire strikes back and Return of the Jedi which took in a total of $599 million overall. The development in technology at the time allowed movies like these to be brought to life and appear much more realist than previous si-fi works, This coupled with amazing directors Like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg lead to these movies inspiring a whole new age of cinema and pop-culture. The other main genre at the time, horror was not only bound to screens, but actually more captivating through books. Horror legend Stephen King was the most infamous writer of this time with horror classics like IT, Pet Cemetery, Salem Lot, Misery and much much more being released at this time. Many of his works were adapted during in the 80s into movies, such as the Shinning, Cujo and Christine.