#sam fraser

FEAR STREET: PART THREE - 1666 (2021)

episode 7 was clearly a disastrous way to try and tie up storylines in stranger things. out of all the stranger things episodes it ranks 2nd to last for lowest ratings on imdb, only being 0.5 stars above the lost sister episode. you could chalk the bad writing up to a fear of negative reception from the general audience or rejection from netflix execs, but the reasoning falls closer to one duffer badly handling his own rejection.

leigh janiak, filed for divorce from ross duffer in 2024, around the same time production for stranger things season 5 began. not much information about their divorce is publicized but the little that we know seems to point to it not being a happy separation. leigh cited "irreconcilable differences" and requested spousal support (monetary compensation) that ross denied. their marriage spanned 9 years and lasted nearly the entire time that the two of them worked on their most renowned works (stranger things and the fear street trilogy). when looking at both cinematic stories, it is clear they agreed on the deeper messages they were trying to share... until they split.

the fear street trilogy told a story about outsiders in a similar way to how stranger things started out. leigh paid homage to many popular horror and slasher films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, using a nostalgic setting to discuss systematic issues in our society. the films feature a lesbian couple and leigh has talked about how important it was for her to feature characters that have historically been killed off early in the genre. she looks at power abuse from police and opression by the powerful. she engrains a discussion of classism in the films with the town of shadyside being home to the lower-class and sunnyville holding the privleged upper-class. above all, her story ends with the unique characters overcoming the divisions and prevailing through the theme of love.

stranger things tries to tell a similar story, and in the beginning, it was successful. every character was ostracized by the societal norms of a 1980s indiana. it was through sticking together and loving each other that they were able to become strong and defeat fantastical monsters. love has always been at the core of stranger things' story. it was the love of will's family and friends that saved him, it was the love that eleven recieved that gave her strength, it was love that encouraged every character to be themselves, to be stronger, and bond with each other. lumax represented a couple that had to overcome the judgements of a racist society, jancy showed a class difference that broke the stereotypes of a nuclear family, byler had the opportunity to show queer people that love is something to hope and strive for.

instead, the duffer brothers went against everything their show used to stand for. showcasing a couple breaking up because their trauma was what drew them together (especially when that's what holds every single other couple in the show together) will never be as powerful as having jonathan and nancy work through a relationship and learn to communicate healthily despite their traumas. reducing the black characters to stereotypes, and lucas to only his relationship and sidelining the struggles he's faced is not strong representation (i have so much more to say on this, but i'll save it for a later post). demonstrating that queer people need to come out and beg straight people to accept them so they're not at risk of being outed and forcing them to accept that their love is not worth it, is not, and will never be, empowering.

ross duffer has said "to put out a message that’s 'it’ll all be right if this secret crush you have works out' versus 'you don’t need that.' even if it disappoints some people, it’s the more important message to put out into the world," when he was discussing will's coming out scene. here is were stranger things now differs from fear street thematically. the duffers are now telling a story where "you don't need" love and hiding it behind the idea of self acceptance. of course, self-acceptance is important, but humans strive for connection. something like coming out is not the end goal of our story, it's a step towards being able to connect and bond with others, to finding our people and loving them.

the duffer brothers took a powerful story about outcasts and love and threw it away to try and represent themselves because ross duffer lost his own connection to love and felt as though he could no longer share his ideals with leigh janiak.

all this to say, if you are a fan of stranger things and there is something that might make you an outcast, please, please do not listen to ross duffer's message. it is not giving up on love that makes you strong, but finding your people and choosing to love yourself and others above all, and i think that is the most important message we all need to hear in this day and age. i feel hurt and rejected by stranger things after seeing myself in the show and hoping for more, but i am grateful that i've found a community in it, that i've found all sorts of different people who choose to share their art and writing and come together despite the general audience shaming us. if we're being queerbaited, then we'll be queerbaited together, right? i am choosing to still love the characters and relationships that bring me joy in stranger things because i think everyone deserves to love and be loved, despite what the writers may be trying to tell me, and i think you should too.

tldr;