So, I mentioned Hook (1991) in a recent reblog (the one about Orion's belt), but I've been working on a big theory post, and I think I'll want to reference (but not go into such detail) this post. What I want to remind folks of is:
#1 - Forgetting happens when one enters (and stays) in Neverland.
&
#2 - Forgetting also happens (at least for some) when one leaves Neverland and lives in the ordinary world.
And that's the biggest factor for the plot of Hook (which is a Steven Spielberg movie, btw).
Disclaimer: I haven't read J.M. Barrie's original works that include Peter Pan (there's a lot, and some are available here) so I only know a little bit about how forgetting/remembering is portrayed in those works. So, I can really only speak to forgetting/remembering in the film Hook ((and my vague memories of the 1953 Disney adaptation of Peter Pan and the 1960 televised stage performance (which I guess would be considered a "pro shot" in today's lingo?)).
Long story short: I think what's going on with memory in Hook will be relevant to Stranger Things, regardless of what reveal is made about our character's experiences (e.g., if it's more-or-less like Inception, The Matrix, Palm Springs, etc.).
Even skipping all the S4 NINA-scenes, there's a lot of lines that kind of hint to the forgetting/remembering, like:
"What's on the other side of this"
"I think you know what I'm talking about..."
Characters needing to "find their own way" (Will kind of describes to Mike that he had to do this, when they're chatting on the WSQK tower climb)
Those scenes were Hopper and Joyce are getting interrogated in S1, almost as if they might remember things they *shouldn't.*
When in the ST VR game, Max says to El: "it's my turn now, just...promise you'll remember me, ok?"
There's a ton. I digress...
What I really wanted to do here is share som screenshots and main points (and possible parallels/connections) from Hook:
((Sorry for the low quality pics. Also, I'll try to color the ST related text in purple, or something, from here on.))
1. Peter Pan (Robin Williams) has grown up and forgotten all about Neverland. He's going by the name "Peter Banning." He doesn't show any signs of memory even when watching his daughter star in a school play of Peter Pan.
Peter Banning ~ Peter Ballard, anyone?
2. Peter brings his family to visit "Grandma Wendy" (Moira's grandmother) in the UK, who apparently helped a lot of "lost boys" find adoptive homes (including Peter). But still, Peter doesn't remember their long-ass history.
3. Captain Hook (or his crew?) kidnap Peter's kids. The way the latch unlocks is kind of familiar to ST.
3. This is when it starts to get weird with the whole aging/not aging + forgetting dynamic:
There's also a lot of characters that tell Peter he has to "fly" (which reminds me of things Brenner & Mike both say to El in S4).
Actually, the phrase in Hook is usually that he needs to fly, fight, and crow, which reminds me of a lot of rooster imagery in some of the ST families' houses (Creel, Ives, & Byers'). And also a fair amount of "new day" / sunrise imagery. Also, whatever the hell all this merch and ST pop up promo posters are talking about:
4. Tinkerbell (who's also in love with Peter, apparently) shows up. Peter still doesn't remember or believe her. So, she literally pulls the rug out from under him, and while he's in a daze, she bundles him up and flies him to Neverland (which is an island, btw).
5. Okay, so, I need you to know that Captain Hook and Smee are very queercoded.
They spend a lot of time in Hook's living quarters, which are lavish, and Hook's queen-side really comes out during their shared scenes.
Check out these shoes! And the miniature-Neverland-tub-thing that Smee tries to cheer him up by playing with ((which also, is located right under where his bed is suspended and lowers down, next to the fireplace!))!
There's a scene where Hook kind of threatens to kill himself which is darkly hilarious as an adult (but was super-confusing/weird to watch as a kid).
I think Hook SHOULD actually be dead (if they were sticking to the original story), which kind of reminds me of Vecna's lich-ness.
Also, Hook (like any good professional wrestler) does a great job of hyping up Peter ("Is it you? My great and worthy opponent? But it can't be. Not this pitiful, spineless, pasty, bloated......codfish I see before me. You're not even a shadow of Peter Pan.")
Hook is also weirdly invested in having Peter regain his memories & abilities, and gives him some time to learn how to fly, etc. It's almost as if it isn't a fun game for him anymore.
But also, Hook cares a lot about "good form" (in battles / conflicts).
Hook takes credit for an idea Smee had (or maybe Smee incepted it to him): "Tomorrow, I’ll make Pan's brats love me. Oh, Peter Pan will fly again. He'll remember how. And if he doesn't, those dirty Lost Boys will jog his memory. Oh, yes, you'll see. He'll crow, he'll fight, he'll fly...and then, he'll die."
I know...the queercoding villains-thing. It's pretty fun, though, actually.
I just really hope the source material didn't imply there was kind of attraction to boys.
Either way, there's not in the film that I can tell, so please just let's enjoy this diva!
6. Peter's daughter, Maggie, doesn't fall for Hook's trick. She's trying to keep her brother from losing grip of his memories. She calls out Hook for being a "liar" and a "bad man."
Notice how Hook denies lying? Kind of sounds like Vecna...
Maggie also sings a song ("When You're Alone") at some point in the movie, which seems to help her grasp onto her memories of home.
Kind of reminds me of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" & "Running Up That Hill" in ST.
6. Peter's son, Jack, on the other hand (whose been especially hurt growing up with his overbooked, overly serious Dad), seems to be more vulnerable to forgetting home (and Hook's lies).
Hook even has the pirates play a baseball game for Jack.
And you've GOT to see a couple screenshot from when Jack (still wearing his baseball uniform) is prompted to smash clocks by Hook. Hook hates clocks (due to crocodile PTSD).
Jack does end up like a Hook-mini-me (have no fear, he'll see the light)!
It's familiar imagery, at least. This is from the ST VR game:
6. Speaking of clocks - Tinker Bell lives in a broken grandfather clock.
This is in an elaborate treehouse/complex that homes all the lost boys, way up high on a rocky cliff-thing (above the mermaid lagoon), btw.
Maybe a Creel Clock or "Pain Tree" connection?
Maybe the yet-to-be-explained importance of mirrors in ST could also be involved in those connections, somehow?
7. Peter goes through a gauntlet of training with the Lost Boys and does regain his old memories & abilities.
It's a great bunch of scenes I loved as a kid.
The scenes with Rufio (the Lost Boys' de facto leader, since Peter left Neverland) kind of remind be of El "training" in NINA.
Peter struggles at first.
As he starts remembering his past (and his old personality shines through), he also forgets about his life in the ordinary world. (**kind of reminds me of how Owens told Joyce to expect Will to have "personality changes" in S2).
Ultimately, it's remembering about his kids (Jack & Maggie), and becoming a father actually serves as his new "happy thoughts."
Hook did kind of predict this, didn't he?
So, I guess, you can say that he really "self actualizes" as he's able to integrate the different lives/identities/memories he's lived.
The therapist in me wants to say something about holding multiple truths at the same time, but I'm tired.
Okay, I'm gonna get a little lazy with the rest here.
8. Here's a cute moment where Peter sneaks into a pirate baseball game with a bunch of lost boys stacked together, like 3 raccoons in a trenchcoat.
Could there be some inspiration for characters in ST combining, going undercover, weird age-stuff? Who knows! But I dig it.
9. Jack hits an out-of-this-world-like home run during the pirate baseball game and Peter's suddenly has inspiration to try to fly again. Peter gets hit in the head by that very baseball, and in that altered state, discovers his (younger) reflection, which helps get the ball rolling for his ultimate remembering / identity-integration moment.
This scene has a totally different tone, but reminds me of this S1 scene of Eleven. I wonder if somehow she knows more here than we realize...
10. Peter's shadow also shows up now and leads him to an area where (gasp!) there's a secret door covered by overgrowth, which leads to a secret "home" (maybe near the tree roots?) the lost boys had made for Wendy.
Reminds me of the secret door (or doors) at WSQK, and Lucas' quip about hitting the suckers [piano keys] in the right order to open the door to Vecna's secret lair.
Also -doesn't that tree trunk entreance kind of remind you of Skull Rock or some of the ST x DND collab materials where there are landmarks with full on faces (with entrances at the mouth)?
It also kind of reminds me of the Tiger's-mouth-entrance that Hopper goes through at the Fun Fair, before having the gunfight in the hall of mirrors. ("Do you dare enter, the cave of horrors?")
11. Inside, Peter finds Tinkerbell, who helps him recall details of a long-forgotten hideout.. This is where Peter finally remembers/integrates enough of his life that he can fly and succeed.
Tinkerbell explains to him that the pirates burned the house after Peter left Neverland (...okay, weird).
Going through the ruins, Peter finds the thimble, other artifacts, and his own "teddy" from infancy/childhood, which kicks off some really kind of bizarre flashback scenes of him "running away" as an infant.
Kind of looks like Baby-Peter has fallen into the center of a mandala here (maybe an influence for the mandala Ms. Harris' class makes every year?).
Peter repeats "Teddy" over and over until it turns into "Daddy," and then dude remembers becoming a parent and suddenly he can fly.
Okay, so I'm tired and want to skip over the Lost Boys' celebration & embrace of Peter, Tinkerbell's love confession for him, & the Lost Boy/Pirate war ((where a damn child dies...wtf (and also thank you?) 90s kids movies?!)!)
12. So, besides the child-death, I just need you to know that for the most part, things work out.
Jack remembers his dad, mid-battle.
Peter ends up fighting Hook 1:1 (in a position that's reminiscent of Hopper vs. Grigori in near the end of S3).
Hook has an interesting line about this being all a dream (but I really don't think it is).
Peter seemingly wins a couple of times, but each time Hook breaks the "good form" he claims to care about all movie. And then what happens at the end is something you've just gotta see...
It's a little hard to hear during the scene, but the script specifies that Peter: "Tick-tock, tick-tock! Hook's afraid of an old dead croc! I think not! I think James Hook's afraid of time, ticking away!"
And, well, Hook doesn't confirm/deny it, but it's an interesting concept when you think about all the things in ST with Vecna's Clock, Dustin's Forever Clock, and the preview's badass, new version of Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever" (that never fucking made it into the show, or made sense with the events S5 we saw).
Hope this was fun! More to come soon (I hope) about a bigger theory that will probably reference some of this.
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