STRANGER THINGS - LESSON 4: REPRESENTATION

 

REPRESENTATION OF PLACE:

//The question is, are small towns like Hawkins really safe? It's an argument of relativism, a place is 'safe' only when compared to another that is 'unsafe'. The perceivement of small town America to be quaint and unassuming stems from the assumption that Americans from one place are inherently kinder and better people than those who live elsewhere.

//We are tempted by the simple-minded notion of small town goodness, them pull back the curtains on it's cruel practices and our naiveite in being surprised by them. 

//The Duffer brothers are very self-aware about making a show in the present about a time in the past that many people still remember.

//Racial and sexual stereotyping is avoided and Eleven is a present-day creation constructed by a present-day understanding of what young women are capable of.

//Stranger Things unintentionally works off of the fear of what may be amassing just outside of the town limits of what we consider 'real honest America'.

//The show contains many of the same dark tendancies as complicated, fractured America today.

BARTHES SEMIOLOGY:
Consider the signs used in the sequence that introduces Hopper. Signifiers such as his badge, gun, uniform, and empty beer cans all communicate meanings in relation to the character but they also suggest values and ideological messages around power and masculinity. This demonstrates the way objects develop a social meaning which reflects dominant ideologies.
The establishing shot of the Wheeler house in the opening sequence is another example of the ways signs work as myths. Whilst the house is just a physical object, the meanings it suggests about family and home, and the way in which thos ideas are viewed as the expected social norm show how signs accrue social meanings which can communicate ideological messages. 
Semiology is useful for identifying some of the ways in which meaning is conveyed in LFTVD, and for considering how those meanings might relate to social values and ideology. A limitation in it's application to LFTVD is that it doesn't account for the importance of other media language elements such as genre conventions or narrative structures in creating meaning. It may result in meanings which don't reflect the potentially diverse meanings and values the audience members may construct. 

TODOROV NARRATOLOGY:
The equilibrium introduces the four boys playing inside a suburban family home - identifying the social norms suggested by the narrative. This sequence focuses on the idea of the nuclear family living in a suburban home as a norm, with responsible parents caring for their children.
The disequilibrium is Will's disappearance - this suggests WIll is more vulnerable as a latchkey kid, reinforcing social norms around a nuclear family.
There is no resolution of the main narrative arc in the first episode. Will's disappearance isn't resolved until the first episode of season one.
Applying narratology to only the first episode suggests a different set of values and ideologies than applying it across the whole of the first season. The first episode suggests a socially conservative set of values which presents the working class single-parent Byers family less positively than the two-parent middle class Wheeler family. However, the resolution of the first season sees Joyce go into the Upside Down to save Will, whereas the Wheelers are oblivious to what is happening with Nancy and Mike, subverting the ideology established in episode one. Similarly in the first episode the recognition of the disequilibrium and the attempt to repair it is focused around the masculine authority of Hopper and the police. This patriarchal ideology is challenged over the course of the first season by the agency shown by female character; Nancy, Eleven and Joyce.
Todorov's theory is useful in identifying values and ideologies suggested by a narrative, but is less applicable to the multi-stranded narrative arch of LFTVD.

NEALE GENRE THEORY:
Stranger Things demonstrates generic hybridity, blending a range of elements from genres such as horror and sci-fi. Arguably this blending of genres helps to appeal to a broad audience. A range of generic conventions are used such as Character types, setting, lighting and sound codes. 
Neale's theory is helpful in identifying how genre influences narrative, characters, representations, and the use of technical codes in Stranger Things. It also draws attention to the importance of genre to audience appeal.
Genre codes in Stranger Things are potentially less important than it's use of intertextuality  and narrative to address it's audience. 
It could be argued that the distribution of Stranger Things limits the importance of intertextual relay in constructing genre expectations. As Netflix released all episodes of season one simultaneously, reviews and marketing may have had less influence on shaping audience expectations in relation to genre.

STRAUSS BINARY OPPOSITION:
A range of binary oppositions can be identified in Stranger Things including:
adult/child - safety/vulnerability - male/female - masculine/feminine - power/weakness - authority/powerlessness - bully/nerd - popular/outsider - known/unknown - science/paranormal - MC/WC - nuclear family/single parent 
Generally within the episode the first half of each pair above is seen as dominant, however the narrative is arguably more sympathetic to the weaker second half of the pairing. This suggests more of a liberal ideological position which is sympathetic to those without social power. Whilst Stranger Things represents a patriarchal society, analysis of the use of binary oppositions suggests a degree of critique at work. Similarly the sympathetic depiction of Will (and to an extent the other 3 boys) suggests a critique of hegemonic masculinity. The character of Eleven arguably disrupts severa of these binary opposites in relation to both power and gender. Applying Strauss' theory can be a good way of identifying key conflicts and vales withing LFTVD as well as suggesting an intended audience response. This can help to identify ideological messages communicated. Application of Strauss' ideas may lead to assumptions about audience response, and doesn't consider the other elements such as technical or genre codes on audience response.

BAUDRILLARD POSTMODERNISM:
Stranger Things can be described as Hyperreal. It is a representation that is based on other media representations. The destiny of the intertextuality that underpins Stranger Things results in a representation of small town America in the 1980s that is based on media texts of that era. 
The representation of the 80s in Stranger Things depends on signs - costumes, hairstyles, props, set design, music, pop culture references - creating a hyperreal version of the 1980s. There is no attempt to represent the lived reality of 1980s America.
Baudrillard's ideas are a very useful way to analyse how representations are constructed and the way meaning is made in a media text such as Stranger Things due to it's extensive use of intertextuality and the predominance of signifiers to represent a historical time period. It doesn't help to consider LFTVD specifically as a media form, and it doesn't consider the pleasures of hyperreal media texts for audiences.