Get your metaphors straight, dude
With their recent commencement speech, the Duffers confirmed what we already knew: That the monsters are metaphors, i.e. Stranger Things is about more than just the supernatural; it carries subtext about society. This is a detail of the speech that was, in my opinion, overlooked too quickly.
While this is (from what I can tell) the first time that they confirmed it outside of the show, they very explicitly told us to look out for metaphors in this scene between Dustin and Steve in season 5.
I want to use this scene as a jumping off point to illuminate how to read the subtext of their show — which they now confirmed does exist — since with that scene they basically handed us a manual for how to do just that.
First of all, why is the distinction between a metaphor and an analogy (as pointed out by Dustin) an important one? What does it tell us about the metaphors/analogies discussed in this scene?
A metaphor is a figure of speech which equates two seemingly unrelated objects or ideas. For example, one might say “She was a night owl” or “He had a heart of stone.” In both cases, the phrases aren’t intended to be taken literally; instead, they use creative imagery to communicate something about the subject.
An analogy is a figure of speech which makes a direct comparison between two ideas in order to explain something in a creative way. Analogies often contain similes or metaphors, but go a step further by explaining the similarity or the parallels between the two contrasted things.
Why it’s an analogy in universe
“A magic shield generator”
Dustin explains to the party (and to us) why whatever they’re looking for is similar to a shield generator: They found the wall surrounding the Upside Down and his math shows that a) it’s a circle and b) at the center of that circle lies Hawkin’s lab. So he hypothesizes that something at Hawkin’s lab is responsible for creating/maintaining the wall (i.e. generating the shield). This isn’t far-fetched given the relevance of Hawkin’s lab throughout she show, e.g. the mothergate being there. So Dustin uses the shield generator analogy to argue for why they should go to Hawkin’s lab to take down the wall, the way you need to get to the shield generator to deactivate a shield.
“A treasure at the deepest depths of the dungeon”
Though this analogy is bickering rather than a well thought-out plan like the shield generator one, Dustin uses it to once again argue for why they should search the basement; he’s not saying that whatever they find is a treasure in itself. Rather, it’s the key they need to carry on with their plan of saving the kids and killing Vecna (which they believe to be hidden behind the wall).
So, Dustin is right, he is not using the treasure and magic shield generator as metaphors; they’re analogies explaining where they should search for the solution, i.e. Hawkin’s lab and the basement. Both analogies are fulfilled (so to speak): The exotic matter is at the lab, and the explanation for it is in Brenner’s notes in the basement. It does give them the key to knowing how to implode the wall, except now that they know it’s a wormhole they don’t want to go through with that part of the plan anymore.
Why it’s a metaphor from a meta perspective
There is absolutely no reason for this specific dialogue to exist in universe; it’s not relevant except for the vague theme of Steve and Dustin fighting and Dustin being the ‘smarter’ one. Or at least, that’s what’s suggested to us in these moments when Steve can’t tell apart a metaphor from an analogy and can’t solve a Rubik’s cube. But in episode 7 when they reconcile, Dustin says that a Rubik’s cube isn’t a good measure of intelligence, and that Steve’s beanstalk plan is ‘genius’ — i.e., Steve isn’t actually an idiot. This is just the cherry on top as to why we shouldn’t dismiss Steve calling it a metaphor.
Because on the meta level, the language of both a shield and a treasure (hunt) relate to other themes and concepts presented to us in Stranger Things. And so here, the show is explicitly telling us that those are in fact relevant metaphors.
The metaphor of the shield
The shield makes its appearance during Will’s veiled love confession in the van scene, when he explicitly points out the heart on the shield of Mike the Brave, saying that it’s a bit on the nose but Mike is the heart, he’s what holds them together. So the shield isn’t just some random part of the painting, it’s the emotional centerpiece. And it makes its comeback in the season 4 finale when Will reminds him of his role as Mike the Brave while El is struggling to fight Vecna.
There are two important takeaways from this:
Firstly, Mike admits that he is scared but wants to be brave. This idea is introduced to us when Mike talks to Holly in episode 1 and gives her Holly the Heroic, saying that when he’s scared, he imagines his D&D character Mike the Brave who never gets scared. So the shield is a metaphor for who Mike wants to be.
Secondly, Will uses the shield to communicate his own feelings; Mike isn’t just the heart of the party, he’s Will’s heart. So the shield, too, is a metaphor for his feelings for Mike.
The metaphor of the treasure
The theme of a treasure hunt appears in the cave plot, when Max and Holly are trying to escape Camazotz. The map Max initially leaves for Holly is very much in the style of a treasure map where ‘X marks the spot’, and that spot (the treasure) is located at the cave.
Later, Holly figures out how to escape by reading a second, more covert treasure map; the cap on the spyglass that has a cut-out in the shape of the cave. Importantly, Holly points out to us as the viewer that this shape resembles the letter M, and that ‘M marks the spot’. So once again, the metaphor of a treasure hunt leads us to Mike. I talk about how Holly is a foil for Mike and what the cave plot tells us about Mike's emotional journey in my post 'The Chekhov's gun placed in Mike's hands'.
And, once more, it also leads us to Will’s feelings for Mike: Will is framed twice in Dustin’s sketch of the wormhole. His head is framed where the exotic matter is. Right below, there’s an X over his chest. X marks the spot — Mike is Will’s heart.
I'll keep it at that for now — I'm working on a part 2 for this post where I dive more into how these metaphors are interconnected and what they tell us about the bigger picture. But hopefully you can see that this seemingly random conversation between Dustin and Steve actually points us to multiple key storylines of seasons 4 and 5.
Let's move on now to what this conversation is actually setting up:
The analogy of the rainbow room
This whole conversation about metaphors and analogies — that, once again, has zero in-universe plot relevance — is followed by them discovering the rainbow room. More specifically, it’s Dustin’s “Analogy.” that’s followed by opening the door to the rainbow room.
So aside from pointing out specific metaphors used in the show, they are using this conversation to tell us about the central analogy of their show: The lab that locked up children to experiment on them. Children that are different. In a rainbow room. Does this, perhaps, ring a bell?
The Duffers are confirming what fans had already figured out before season 5; that Stranger Things and all its supernatural plot is an allegory for the queer experience (not just the rainbow room/lab, but also the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer, Henry/One/Vecna, El, demogorgons, etc.).
Not only did they speak through the screen to us using Dustin and Steve, no, with their commencement speech they outright said that the monsters represent real fears and challenges we have to overcome growing up. They didn't even try to frame ST as a horror or sci-fi show (which it appears to be at first glance), but rather a coming of age story.
I encourage you to look into the subtext of Stranger Things because it's what gives meaning to the show, and Byler is basically hard-coded into it, yet so many Bylers aren't even aware of one of our key pieces of evidence. One of the ancient texts (I believe) is this blogpost by TVmicroscope 'Stranger than you think' that was written before the release of season 5 and holds up pretty well to the events of this final season.
And, if you do look into the subtext, then you will see that Steve was right; the Duffers don't keep their metaphors straight, and the subtext can be convoluted and multi-layered at times. So that scene really does feel like a conversation between the Duffers (Dustin) and us as the audience (Steve) after all.
Lastly, I want to emphasize that I don't want to glaze the Duffers with this post — not actualizing the subtext of your show that clearly set up Mike as queer and in love with Will is cowardice. I think CG/LWG can be true without new content by looking at the explanations that the subtext has to offer, but I'm not saying that the ambiguous/open end they were going for in that case was well done.
♫
Make believe I'm everywhere
I'm hidden in the lines
Written on the pages
Is the answer to a never-ending story
♫
