Earlier this month I made a post stating that Billy Hargrove is an racist and abusive character and that many people choose to forget that fact.
Genuinely I want to know what other Stranger Things fans, especially Black Stranger Things fans think of this interaction and the group of people who do make explicit content about Billy from the show.
It's lengthy but I think some great conversations can come from it. (P.S. I do not condone any harassment or anything of the sort to the person who commented on my post)
Comment from another user about my post from above:
Hey girly! Not trying to be rude by saying this, but some people have had shitty home lives and this is the behavior thatâs been exhibited by every male they grew up around. Most of the time women grow up and are attracted to men who have the same tendencies as the men they grew up around. Doesnât necessarily mean they themselves think racism and abuse are good or okay but the human mind tends to gravitate toward what it knows rather than the unknown.
The saying âPeople choose familiar pain over unfamiliar peaceâ would absolutely apply here. A lot of women are truly unhappy with their taste in men but canât break themselves from it because it is all they know. Just maybe think about these kinds of things before you post being judgmental and hateful towards others. Not everyoneâs choices are always because they are a bad person, sometimes they are just trying to heal and itâs difficult to do.
Okay while that is an explanation of why people engage in this behavior it does not justify it, especially when they are condoning the racist aspects of the character. While the abuse does directly impact them the racism does not (unless they are black of course and most of them are not.) When you boil down, what you are stating is that "These women grew up around racist men, and they are attracted to racist behaviors. It upsets them (which I have only ever seen people justify without expressing guilt), but they can't overcome it." Which isn't something that should be accepted or encouraged. Who you surround yourself with makes you who you are.
If you are around racist people, which is Billy in this scenario,(even if you don't directly participate it it yourself) you are exhibiting racist behaviors. This however, does not mean I believe these people are the scum of the earth, because you can always improve, but they don't (from what I have seen, and even in the comment I replied too that was later deleted) and continue supporting that said character.
Also from what I have seen many writers even continue to write Billy the way he was depicted in season 3 including how he treated Lucas with little character development that works toward him viewing black people as 'equal' or accepting Lucas in any way. At the end of the day it is mostly white women finding so Billy attractive that they don't care how bad of a person he is.
If it was just the abuse aspect I can be more understanding, because it is something that has directly impacted the victim/consumer of this content and are working through in their own way, unlike the racism aspect that doesn't negatively effect them (again unless you are black.) Despite this a main aspect of Billy's character is the fact that he is racist even going to the point to verbally and physically asult one of the few black kids in Hawkins because of his race and his connection to his stepsister.
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