A brief(ish) introduction to conformitygate!
I have been on a roll with making fancy styled essay PDFs and so I've decided to make one that introduces the reader to conformitygate. If you've seen the theory but aren't that sure what it's about or maybe think it's interesting but pretty obscure or delusional, have a read!
This is split into a few pngs because I couldn't resist making it really really pretty, but there is a text version below the cut!
The links to the entries of the doc's bibliography have been left out. I'll include the bibliography at the bottom, though. Some footnotes have been shortened to not disturb the flow of reading.
Conformitygate: An Introduction
by Luminescentlama on Tumblr
Maybe you've seen a lot of posts about conformitygate (negative or positive), maybe you haven't. Maybe you think all the people who believe in it are just a little off the rails. \ But this post serves as an introduction to get you started in case you want to look into this whole thing more. Please keep an open mind and, who knows, maybe this will make sense to you as well.\ You can share this, just credit my tumblr!
[The table of contents from the PDF has been left out here to not make the post longer than it already is]
A quick preamble
I'm trying to not make this longer than it has to be, trust me, but I want to mention some things first.
Firstly, please go into this with an open mind. If you're convinced I'm talking shit, I won't convince you of the opposite. And be respectful. If you disagree, that's fine, but shouting at each other how stupid we are gets us nowhere.
And also: if you don't feel like getting that involved in a theory of a TV show, that's okay! Not everyone can or wants to dedicate this much time or energy to something. You can read this, think "ah neat" and then go back to other stuff if you want, or engage in more theories.
It's the same, basically
ST fans have always theorized and a few have taken a liking to reading the subtext, analyzing the sets and finding out everything the first look doesn't tell you. This isn't new.
So, what's changed?
Well, I think the striking difference is that this is the final season of ST. Usually, as far as I know, all of the evidence that was found for byler or for other theories like Will creating the upside down was seen as foreshadowing for a final resolution.
And now, well, this is supposed to be it. There can't be a future resolution because it seems as though this is all we got. But the clues are still there. The pages of byler proof from previous seasons still make sense given the source material, the unresolved threads still aren't tied up like how the Duffers said they would in the documentary. Stuff like Will's disappearance or why El recognized him in season one is still unresolved.
And that's where conformitygate comes in. Everything below the text points to new content and a different ending, even in season five, so this theory states there is more content (meaning a proper resolution, not some cheap rip off like Tales from '85), even if it doesn't seem like it.
What even is conformitygate?
Well, it builds on the idea that this ending is Mike (and the others) conforming to society's standards instead of following their true wishes.
'It's forced conformity, that's what's killing the kids.' as Eddie puts it. This is mostly about Mike not confessing his love for Will and staying in his closet for (presumably) his entire life, so it should be noted this theory heavily builds on byler.
But how is this not the true ending? Well, one consensus of conformitygate theories is that Mike or even everyone is trapped in a trance or dream by Vecna in which they conform. Them conforming is what keeps them trapped there, unable to realize the truth.
Of course, there are many different theories for how exactly this looks and what exactly happened (or will happen), but in general, it can be narrowed down to:
What was presented on screen is not what actually happened
The characters' -- Mike's -- conformity is what is keeping them from finding out the truth
There will be more content to unravel this (This point can, of course, be debated (especially since it has been a while), but I would say it doesn't make sense to prepare this intricate illusion and tension between what's shown and what's real and then not resolve it.)
Seriously??
And this theory, at first, sounds… outlandish, really. But please consider it with an open mind as I present one piece of 'evidence' to pique your curiosity. This is not everything (far from it) and I will link more posts if you're interested, but just to give you an example:
Milkshakegate
In Will's coming out, he mentions 'biking to Melvald's to get milkshakes.' This is odd, firstly because we don't ever see that happening but especially since Melvald's is a general store, not a place to get milkshakes. This is highlighted over and over through different shots in season 5 which linger on the 'Melvald's General Store' sign.
Explanation 1: The Duffers messed up and no one pointed it out. Possible, but if you read more and more of these theories it gets more and more improbable.
Explanation 2: In the play 'The First Shadow' detailing Henry's aka Vecna's backstory, a diner is shown which just so happens to be Melvald's, but in the 50s. A diner is a place you could get milkshakes at.
This could be a coincidence, but it could also mean that Vecna is influencing what the characters are saying.
This is just one of those hints, buried barely beneath the surface text waiting to be uncovered. Or it could be a coincidence. The reason I think that's improbable is because this is far from the only thing. There's the Vallaki line in the finale, there's the milkshakes line and a lot of other stuff that you can't pinpoint that exactly but it just feels… off. Eerie, in a way.
Now what?
You know the gist of conformitygate, maybe even think the points I've brought up are plausible-ish. Or maybe not.
It's up to you whether you want to believe or not, but I still want to point out a few things. Firstly, it's quite impossible to grasp the scale of this in one PDF (especially since I do NOT wanna compile every theory out there into this) so the easiest way to find more (besides reading my further reading section right here) is to go on Tumblr or Twitter, but be careful, there are a lot of people spreading hate there as well!
One more thing I want to address: the biggest counterargument against this is not based on the individual pieces of evidence in the show, but instead it's the absurdity of it all. A big, popular show which apparently hides clues about its fake finale in set design and weird one-liners?
But… well, yeah, that's the idea. I know it's difficult to believe that, especially with our current film industry, but then again, isn't the other option just as absurd?
The Duffers suddenly not caring about their characters or story or bringing an awesome finale to their series when they've executed it all (mostly) brilliantly in the previous seasons? Them using CGI for the final, most important fight while having a whole set built for a seemingly less important one (the MAC-Z fight)? The fact that all these little pieces scattered throughout just should be ignored now when they've had such cool secret meanings in previous seasons? And the fact that all of them line up to form one coherent-ish theory which is supposed to mean absolutely nothing.
That doesn't make sense to me. And paired with all the stuff hidden in the season… it makes me believe that there's a logical explanation for all this. (Please don't mention divorcegate as a logical explanation. It's quite parasocial and also assumes Leigh Janiak would let other people copy her work without crediting her.)
And if you think that could be something too, you might enjoy reading more posts or watching videos about it. If you're half-convinced, but one piece of evidence isn't enough (of course), you might too and see if it resonates with you. If you don't, you can write a nice, respectful and objective comment on why you don't believe in conformitygate (or you can write comments if you do, of course!)
One important thing is, though, that conformitygate takes being critical and taking a step back, analyzing and judging the quality of things. Especially if you get into what the ST channels are posting now, after the finale, there's a lot of ragebait and half-truths around. This includes being critical of the production team and the Duffers as well. Just because they haven't fucked up doesn't mean this social experiment is okay or something good. I myself believe in conformitygate but I think the structure of it and the choices made are bad and twisted.
And a lot of rumours have spread, too. The Duffers' 'noise' comment was taken out of context, for example, so it's important to always check sources especially with such a heated topic of debate like conformitygate.
But also… just as important: have fun with it! Come up with theories, share and enjoy yourself and check out the section below!
Further reading
I've linked a few of my favorite theories with summaries here! These are meant as a sort of 'read these if you don't know where to start' ideas for engaging with the fandom!
Dicegate, a short, old post showing that in one of the promos, Mike is shown rolling a 20 when he rolled a 1.
byler: movie is real, Byler's outfits being paralelled to those of couples who forgot each other (multiple times).
My top 10 bits of conformitygate evidence, A really long list of proofs by Atsadi (definitely worth the read!)
What is WSQK sync?, An explanation of WSQK sync (their whole channel is about WSQKsync and has a bunch more posts on it)
wsqk sync is starting to get scary, a summary of many cool wsqk sync finds.
Why MWTFDYDgate = conformitygate, One part of a genius series by upsidedownlurker explaining Vecna's illusion and the regressing character arcs (byler especially). A long read, but SO worth it!
conformitygate an ARG on steroids, a theory stating that the upcoming content will be interactive.
El and Will are made to resemble each other, them looking alike is intentional.
The epilogue sunglasses, The meaning of glasses and sunglasses in the finale (connection to Matrix and They Live)
Will is being forgotten, a post showing how birthdaygate continues in season 5.
Footnotes / Bibliography
"byler is endgame", a youtube essay on byler.
"the queercoding and internalized homophobia of Mike Wheeler", another youtube essay.
Eddie's "conformity, that's what's killing the kids" quote on IMDb.
A tumblr post explaining the mention of Vallaki in the final D&D game and its meaning.
