Stranger Things, Belligerent Romance, and the Danger of Nostalgia

by Panzer
The hit Netflix series Stranger Things is a love letter to iconic pop culture media of decades past.
The duffer brothers create this spectacle of nostalgia by borrowing liberally from movies and TV shows from the
1970s and 80s.
They appropriate and masterfully remix everything, from overarching themes to specific plot points
From lighting techniques to snippets of dialogue
"You won't hurt me"
"Oh, yeah.. Why not"
"Because you're a policeman, there are rules for policemen"
"Because you're a policeman
Policemen have rules"
But there are dangers to leaning too heavily on nostalgia,
because media makers can end up reproducing harmful patterns along with their retro aesthetics.
This is especially true when it comes to masculinity and romance conventions in popular entertainment.
Some of the unintended consequences of
uncritical homage coming to sharp focus with the character of Jim Hopper in season 3 of Stranger Things
In addition to his new look inspired by Tom Selleck's Hawaiian shirts from the TV show Magnum P.I.,
Hopper undergoes a sudden and dramatic personality shift.
He moves from a deeply flawed but introspective character in the first and second seasons
to an entitled aggressive verbally abusive one for much of the third
"HEY...
HEYY!
WHEN I SAY THREE INCHES! THREE..."
"Do you knock?...Jeez"
Hopper's increasingly belligerent interactions with Joyce are particularly troubling.
"He's not eccentric, he's certiable"
"Glass Houses stress"
"What?"
"You know, pot calling the kettle black."
"Oh come on"
"Excuse me."
"What?"
"Do me a favor and move your lover's quarrel elsewhere"
"This: not a lover's quarrel pal"
"SPARE ME!"
They're dynamic is borrowed from well-known bickering couples of the 1980s, notably Sam and Diane's love hate
relationship on the sitcom Cheers
"Rember the day I said this:
you are the nuttiest, the stupidest,
the phoniest fruitcake i have ever met"