For Halloween this year I thought it would be fun to delve into a show with spooky and mysterious elements.
To the keen observer, the TV Show Stranger Things has a lot to offer any student seeking wisdom and laughs.
It works the imagination and ignites the thinking creative process to produce satire, fan theories and theological catechetical lessons one can apply to the Christian worldview.
Here are some Stranger Things I observed from watching the program along with some other unique takes on it. There is no particular order to these thoughts. As I found them or thought of them I jotted them down.
Just because a TV show is mega popular doesn’t mean it’s good. It’s good because it has good writing, great characters and a intriguing plot that keeps you wanting to know what happens next. That is why Stranger Things is a good show. It also happens to be mega popular as well.
There are Catholic Themes in Stranger Things.
While I am personally not a connoisseur of all pop culture phenomena, I have been a fan of Stranger Things from the beginning. It is a wildly entertaining franchise with excellent writing, top-notch special effects, and a brilliant mixture of nostalgia and sci-fi. However, invoking a sort of Augustinian-inspired reading of the series, one can find a few logoi spermatikoi lurking just beneath the surface.
While there is no reason to presume that the Duffer Brothers are inspired by Catholic themes, as a fan of the show with a deep interest in Catholic theology, I posit two major themes that, when mined from a Catholic perspective, can help to explain why this show appeals to more than just young people: its profound cosmology, and its view of sacrificial love.
Luke Arredondo Overlaps Between Stranger Things and the Catholic Thing | Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame
Friends Don’t Lie.
The show asks the question we should all ponder. Should I stay or should I go?
Stranger Things is ripe for parodies.
Don’t anger messed up children with psychic telepathic powers. Especially if your holding a gun.
It’s easy to cross air space from Alaska to Russia with no problems whatsoever.
A Stranger Things/Goldbergs crossover event was actually thought of.
I am 100% game for a cross-over between @TheGoldbergsABC and @Stranger_Things. Waiting by the phone, Duffer Brothers. Call me: 707-67NERD6— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) August 3, 2016 The Goldbergs Creator Wants a Stranger Things Crossover (screenrant.com)
If you have mind powers you must scrunt your face in an angry scowl and hold out your hands in order for it to work. You will also get nose bleeds.
Eleven would fit into Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
Stranger Things Characters Transformed Into X-Men | Bored Panda
Radio Shack used to be cool.
Engaging shows produce engaged fans with engaged imaginations and speculation.
Businesses at the mall have no upper management working at any time so if you want to crack secret Russian codes, you have plenty of time to do so without fear of getting reprimanded for it.
Five from the Hawkins Lab should be Five from The Umbrella Academy. He escaped the massacre by teleporting out of there.
If your dating someone who can project herself in your head without you knowing it, be careful what you say when you think she’s not around.
During the 1980’s in Indiana, you can purchase a gun at practically any age.
Don’t run from strange things but stay and face them.
If your in a room with someone of the opposite sex, keep the door open 3 inches.
80’s communist Russians make great villains.
Eggos help fuel superpowered youngsters.
What if… Dr. Sam Becket leaped into a character in Stranger Things? Who would it be? What would happen?
What if… Vecna becomes possessed by Will.
Jim Hooper is an immortal. He was originally thought dead by being killed by a Predator. But he survived and moved to the town of Hawkins to become sheriff.
Stranger Things would work as anime.
Even bad boys love Catholic imagery. Billy wears a Miraculous Medal.
If you can’t help someone physically you can always project your consciousness from thousands of miles away to help them. If you lack psychic powers you can just pray for them.
In the ST universe Jimmy Akin would most denintetly have done a episode on the going-ons in Hawkins.
Don’t hit someone with a roller skate in the head if your mad at them.
Russians are good at building secret underground lairs but suck at providing adequate security for that secret base.
A sitcom based on Suzie and her siblings would be hilarious.
Obscure 80’s tunes can break a mind-lock on an individual being controlled by a sociopathic psychic monster in another dimension.
Since it was used a few weeks ago in the new season of “Stranger Things,” Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up that Hill” has exploded across pop culture. Bush connected the song to her Catholic upbringing. “I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and had the imagery of purgatory and of the idea that when you were taken there that you would be given a glimpse of God and then you wouldn’t see him again until you were let into heaven,” she told MTV in an interview in 1985. “We were told that in Hell it was even worse because you got to see God but then you knew that you would never see him again.”
Jim McDermott, ‘Stranger Things’ brings Kate Bush’s Catholic hope to a new generation | America Magazine
Fornacating with your boyfriend can cause your best friend to die.
If your name begins with a B it’s a good indication you might die. Barb, Bob, Billy, Benny.
To Millennity and Beyond@Drake_OMalfoy (Jul 24, 2022): I feel like when people post memes and such about the good folks who died in #StrangerThings Benny always gets forgotten which is a shame because he was so good to Eleven and also the actor voiced the camel in the hump day commercial.
Want help fighting monsters? Learn science.
Fr. Casey, OFM@caseyofm (Jul 2, 2022) People often talk about how scary or creepy Stranger Things is. But it doesn’t get enough credit for how absolutely gut-wrenching it is. Gosh. All the feels.
Really smart people sometimes want the simple things in life. Learn the lyrics to The Neverending Story. It may come in handy someday.
Kids can be away at home for days on end without the parents ever worrying where their kid really is.
A spinoff series starring Steve, Amanda, Dustin and Erica would be worth it. Especially if they added a wacky animal sidekick.
Even though your loved ones are off doing other things in life, by the end of a season all will be reunited like everyone at the end of Lost.
Never underestimate those that work at either pizza or ice cream shops to help bring down evil.
Bullies are mean people.
Sometimes Bullies have redemption arcs and either make a life giving sacrifice or turn into a heroic figure that inspires younger generations.
Be kind to monsters you find in the garbage. They may grow up to help you fight off other monsters who are not your friends.
Mouth Breathers is a legitimate insult.
Dungeons and Dragons helps prepare you for when real life monsters attack your home town.
Some people actually liked new Coke.
Just because you have a basement for your son’s friends to hang out in, doesn’t mean they are having a wild party like you see in many movies and TV shows. It could be used to house a homeless super powered tween on the run from the government.
Back to the Future is an awesome movie in any universe.
The hive mind in the Upside Down is a foreshadowing of the Borg. This is the origins of it.
The Insights of R.C. Mulare
Never underestimate the power of Stranger Prayers in weird situations. Click here to find out more.
In the end, Stranger Things is a testimony to a God who wants to take us as we are, beaten and bruised and broken and proud and sinful and wallowing in the muck (and maybe even a little vain, alcoholic, callous, neurotic, nicotine-dependent, or emotionally unavailable) – and with the transformative workings of His grace, make something beautiful of us; after all, His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
What could possibly be a stranger – or more Catholic – thing than that?
Donna Provencher, Stranger Things is the Most Catholic Show on TV | Guest Contributor (patheos.com)
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