#friday thoughts

Did the choices Joe made as an actor create Eddie? Yes. But I would argue the words the Duffers wrote, the costumes and wigs the hair and makeup teams labored over, the family atmosphere of ST and the trust and bonding that others like Gaten and Keery brought to the table also contributed to Eddie. Joe created Eddie in what sounded almost like an actor utopia, with tons of money to support amazing narratives, a tight-knit but apparently not cliquish family of actors, showrunners who let him make playful and improvisational choices, and a global pandemic that froze everything in amber. All of these connected pieces conjured Eddie, like Frankenstein's monster except it was perfect.

And then, when ST aired, we created Eddie. We imagined, we remembered, the Eddies we had known or thought we knew. We wrote about Eddie and his desires, we made our edits and GIFs, we shipped him with everyone and anyone. We crushed hard, and we looked for clues in the character because he reminded us of who we are. Eddie stood for the outcasts. The freaks. He was our dorky hero. He took care of the sheep. He sacrificed himself for us.

It's clear three years later that Joe is no longer interested in Eddie. He did the work, he moved on, and he's firmly shut the door. But that's okay. Because the magic of Eddie is ours now and always will be. We can hold Eddie close in our hearts, and we can let Joe walk away. I think he will be relieved when we do.