Just Shut Up and Blame the Internet

I'm back, did you miss me?

I'm in the mood for a bit of a rant this time around, so bear with me, indulge me, or stop reading right now, take your pick.

I'm that guy; one of many who stayed up until 3am New Year's Day to watch the finale of Stranger Things. Half asleep by the final scene, I watched it with my eager daughter, only for her to proclaim at the climax that she hated it. In my own opinion, the grand finale wasn't perfect, true, but it did what it said on the tin. It wrapped things up with its usual blend of nostalgia, combined with a bittersweet notion of torch-passing. In previous interviews, writer-creators The Duffer Brothers had stated that the recurring theme of the final season was that of an end to childhood, of moving on, closing the door - quite literally in the final scene (spoiler!). Although the epilogue was a little too long for my liking, and strayed almost dangerously close to schmaltz, it achieved that pretty damn well. Even my daughter's stance softened after a few days, after she'd had time to digest what she'd seen, to state that it wasn't as bad as she initially thought. It was late, I was tired and grumpy was her reasoning. Effectively, her initial impression was based upon a knee-jerk reaction, once she'd thought about what she had watched then she re-evaluated her opinion, which is fair enough. Sometimes, any form of art needs time to settle into the consciousness of the observer. It's a grower, not a shower and all that.

All of which brings me to something that is beginning to irritate me more and more.

In the days following the premiere of the season/series close, it's fair to say that opinions over the denouement were divided. Again, this is fair enough; there's no enshrined law that says that everyone has to love something. But were those naysayers content with not liking it? Awww, hell no! Instead, The Duffer Brothers have been lambasted on social media by a section of the fandom (fandom, a word I'm growing increasingly convinced is itself a descriptor for something toxic). Those more irate members of the Little Fans Club - probably those same ones who like to make up ship names (you know what I'm talking about, Jopper!) and drool over semi-pornographic fan-fic pieces on Wattpad, they stepped away from their curated TikTok videos and Kate Bush remixes for just long enough to spew bile like a horde of pissed-off Demogorgons. Not fair! they cried. We deserve better! When the creators offered their explanation of the climax - itself a gracious thing to do - they were met only with further disdain. You don't deserve a break! We paid to watch this! Fuck it, you OWE us!!!

Then came the real doozy: There MUST BE CUT SCENES! RESTORE THE MISSING STORY! WE, THE FANS, DEMAND IT!!!

Let's be clear here kids; we're talking about The Duffer Brothers, not Zack fucking Snyder, okay?

I blame the Internet. In a world where a myriad of possibilities are available, a subsection of consumers of art have turned into spoilt, entitled babies who think that artists owe them something. It happened with Game of Thrones, and now it's happening with Stranger Things. And Jesus H Christ on a bike, it sucks harder than a Demobat.

Here's my point:

The Duffer Brothers are writers. They're creators, making art. That's their job. It isn't their job to provide fan service, they aren't short order cooks, catering for McDonald's customers. You don't get to determine their vision, for better or worse. If you enjoyed Stranger Things that's fair enough, happy days. If you didn't, or if you think that they should rewrite their own work to suit your expectations, then maybe you ought to consider ditching television altogether and sticking to Choose Your Own Adventure books (remember them?), instead of acting like some entitled child demanding the release of non-existent extra footage. When did entitlement become a prerequisite for watching a TV show or reading a book? Reality check; things don't always play out the way you want them to. You either enjoy something or you don't, but you sure as hell don't get to demand that the creator of something go back to the drawing board and change it when it's the latter.

​If you don't like anything that I've just written, go ahead and cry to me about it. I won't change it, but...

Till next time, see ya!

- L