#max mayfield analysis

and the colors being vibrant in the only season they're together...

and then in s4, they're back to wearing long sleeves, jackets, and multiple layers. they're even back to wearing dark neutral colors like before.

el wearing a majority of blue but not wearing it when she reunites with max, when she finds the bottle her and max played the spying game with, during mike's monologue, and at the end (signifying she's not tied to mike anymore).

it's interesting how there's only small bits of color in el's outfits and max's only colorful outfit is the 'dear billy' one (and that was obviously intentional as it's the episode where she finds she's not alone and realizes her friends are there for her) which is a reference to s3 max, max finding herself again.

(elmax scenes in s4. notice how el isn't wearing any blue. she's wearing her white pants and white shirt with pink flowers on it, her new look. the all white with specks of pink, showing she's already becoming el who is independent, not el who is mike's girlfriend. and it's almost like the pink represents max, signifying that she's going to be el's main focus next season and el is going to be all about max instead of mike.)

…

Hey El,

Gosh, it’s been so long since I’ve written those two words. Too long, really.

How are you? Are you.. are you doing okay? I know that’s a silly question considering the shitty circumstances of this letter but I hope you are, you deserve every good thing that happens to you. Even if that was me… leaving. Or, pulling away, I guess.

This vecna asshole better leave you alone. Tell him he better not mess with you. It doesn’t matter that I probably won’t be here soon, he better leave you alone. I’ll make sure he does. Somehow.

Shit, I’m so fucking sorry for not writing to you. I miss you so much, you have no idea. And now you’re not even going to see this until after… well. I’m not stupid, I know you miss me too, or… at least that you care, even though I tried to convince myself you didn’t. I got your letters, I read all of them. You’re too good for me El, way more than you even know. I know we technically haven’t known each other for that long but, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. I really wish I did, honestly. My life is better with you in it… it still is.

Lucas and Dustin and Steve, they’re all set on saving me, but this vecna guy… he’s really strong. He’s like you, with powers, but like, way less awesome of a person. I don’t think I’m going to make it. Is it selfish of me to wish you weren’t in California? Just so I could see you before I.. go? I’m glad you’re safe though. I just miss you, is all.

I have a bit of a confession. Multiple confessions, technically. And since this is like… my dramatic last words or whatever I should probably tell you. You’re my best friend, so if anyone should know, it’s you.

So, yknow how “every breath you take,” in S2 at the snow ball seemed to also apply to Henry and Will and Henry stalking Will from the UD? I think “Object of My Desire,” playing in S4 EP1 over the scenes of Max was the same thing. Sure, there’s meaning tied to Lucas too, but it’s a double meaning that also ties to Henry. 

Let’s take a look at some of the lyrics:

If there’s one thing about Stranger Things, it’s hair. From El’s shaved head to her bangs, or Steve “The Hair” Harrington, hair plays a significant role in character’s self acceptance and identity.

But I noticed that Max doesn’t really let her hair down this season. It’s almost always in a ponytail or braids, apart from that one scene in episode three where we get a flashback to her first nosebleed. 

I think that I’ve come up with a possible reasoning to why the hair department/writers/directors have gone that way this season, and what each type of hairstyle means for her.

I’ve compiled a list of (mostly) every appearance her hair has been in.

- hair down

- high ponytail

- low ponytail

-braids

Now... I’ve noticed that a lot of the episodes she wears these different types of hairstyles share similar themes. Let me explain.

When Max has her hair down, she’s basically unchanged. It’s like her default, living life as she should be. She’s sassy, a bit skeptical, and I’ve noticed that nothing really bad every happens to her. Apart from that one scene in 403 where she has her first nosebleed, but even then it’s brushed off as an inconvenience. And her hair down also represents her openness with people. She doesn’t hide anything. She’s ready to talk to people.

So, hair down: default/normal, nothing bad happens

We only ever see her with her hair in a high ponytail once, but I’ve got to say the Sauna Test was one of the only scenes where we saw a vulnerable Max, literally her only crying scene before season 4. I think the high ponytail represents her in a state of vulnerability, where she lets her emotions fill her body and she opens up a more. She’s comfortable. This is one of the first times in which she acts like everything isn’t normal, and when she doesn’t put up a glass wall and shows her, the real her. 

High ponytail: vulnerable, is more real and emotional

I think that her low ponytails are the most obvious... it symbolizes her literally locking up her life and shutting everyone out of it (like a ponytail, cutting off the rest of your hair in a tight elastic or scrunchie). In these episodes, Max is quite closed off. From the beginning of this season to episode five, she’s quite locked up and is distant from her friends. Her relationship with Lucas in falling apart because of miscommunication... changes, she doesn’t really have a relationship with her other friends anymore- Mike and Dustin. Not to mention her home life completely destroyed. 

I think this hairstyle is what got me started on this analysis, because although I am probably analyzing too much into this, you can’t exactly think I’m wrong for questioning Max’s hair in ponytails when she almost always wears it down. 

Low ponytail: closed off/shutting people out of her life

And now the braids... oh boy.

Braids in my opinion represent when something most terrible happens to her. Like... when she wears them at Starcourt and she watches her brother Billy die in front of her. And when she wears them when Vecna literally kills her. Even though it might be more subtle, she also wears them when the Byers move, which is quite a sad moment for her when she navigates through her grief and her best friend, who is the only one that she was probably able to open up to, is leaving after Max needs her most. 

Braids also share similar symbolism to ropes. They represent strengthening your bonds with people which is what I think she does whenever she wears them. Your bonds can be twisted and turned in many ways, discovering true friends and maybe those who aren’t friendly at all, much like a braid. In these episodes, Max is slowly easing into the normality of being apart of something so complex like the Upside Down through slow and painful processes, like talking more often to her friends about her feelings. She’s still quite hesitant to open up, and tell people what she’s really feeling, but she’s got the spirit. She doesn’t open up until something bad happens to her. This is most prominent in season four, when Max starts opening up to Lucas and her experiences with Vecna, but she’s still hesitant like he won’t accept her. She (sort of) tells him what she really feels when she’s on the verge of death (ex. “I pray at night that something bad will happen to me”)  

Braids: something bad happens, Max tightens her bonds with other people

In canon Billy has his car and Max has her skateboard, however an interesting thing is that we're introduced to these different types of mobility for them right away. When Lucas and Dustin are watching, Max gets out of Billy's car with her skateboard. However, it's interesting because why would Max need her skateboard when she has Billy's car? Well it's probably because she knows that Billy is not going to pick her up from the arcade thus she has her skateboard with her. And the line of "You're skating home," from Billy later on when Max is a few minutes late out of school comes to mind meaning that Billy has done this often of driving Max somewhere and then not picking her up.

Now let's take a look at what this does to Max: it deprives her of mobility. While she has her skateboard, Billy is taking away her ride to and from school. Max is on her own and Billy leaves her with a skateboard that is tiny. Billy is getting rid of one of Max's moods of mobility. He is depriving her of being in a car and knowing that Max will not get this mobility.

This also adds to how big these mobilities are. Billy had a car that is huge meanwhile Max has a skateboard that is able to fit inside a car. The size difference also plays a big part in showing the dynamic: Billy's mobility is bigger while Max's mobility is smaller.

He also takes away more of her mobility: it is heavily implied that Billy had broken Max's skateboard. Which is very important because it shows/screams “I can have my mobility but you cannot have your mobility!” And after this we see Max try to repair her skateboard: she isn't just trying to repair her skateboard, she's trying to fix what Billy has done to her. It's interesting how the next scene we see after this is: Max getting on the back of Lucas' bicycle and trusting him with the mobility that is being used. Max is trying to fix everything that Billy has done to her by fixing her relationship with the types of mobility that she is being able to use and who she trusts with this mobility. With Billy she is being forced to use this type of mobility meanwhile with Lucas she is actively choosing to get on the bicycle.

ohhh such a beautiful scene :')

something i love in ep 5 specifically is how they show how subdued max is after her near-death situation. like, can you think of a single retort she made after the vecna situation?

ok this one's kinda hard since she's very :) in this scene but i'll do my best

so, this is the first time we see her softly honest since st2, with heavy empasis on 'softly' bc the "people have been telling me that my entire life and it's never true" dialogue doesn't count bc she said it angrily/annoyedly. this is a BIG point in her character, bc she knows how close death is, knows that now, she has to be true to him and with him, and so she reveals a newly developed fear of hers

lucas reassures her, and puts his arm on hers may i note how touchstarved she likely is and you can tell she's just. not used to this. getting cared for. getting genuinely reassures with no empty promises, with no strings attached, and you can tell she's surprised by it. also her eyes flicker to his lips twice mhm hmm max queen of subtlety

the piano scene is actually where you can actually see a semblance of their old selves coming into play - st2 was about how they met, st3 was about how acted around each other when relaxed, and st4 is how they reconnect, slowly building up the pieces of trust. for max, obviously that trust is harder to extend as everyone she trusts has lied to her so far, but here we can see them finally relaxing into themselves. max's remarks, for once, aren't mean or faux uncaring, but instead genuine and lighthearted. this is such a cute moment where we see max, for the first time this season, let her guard down, and it's just such a sweet moment.

the "i've missed your laugh" moment is SO important. because max hasn't had enough people in her life care about her to that extent - or rather, should i say, has had people SHOW her they care about her to that extent. saying 'i've missed your laugh' means 'i've missed making you happy. i've missed seeing you happy.' and you can see she doesn't know how to take it, taken aback by how much he cares about her, how much he - to quote lucas himself - sees her. notices the little things even her own mum can't.