Stranger Things, Binge-Watching, And What the Church Can Learn From a Powerful Story

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have seen Netflix’s viral hit-show Stranger Things and those who are missing out. If you’re online at all then you’ve heard the hype: the show is fantastic, the storyline is unique, the plot twists never stop. The kid actors from the show have done the complete talk show circuit, merely fueling the hype. And so, you’ve either watched the show and gotten sucked into the fascinating storyline of the “upside down” (as I have), or you’ve made a generalized decision not to watch it.

People have many legitimate reasons not to binge-watch another show:

• You don’t have Netflix.
• You don’t have time to watch another tv show.
• You don’t like that genre of television.
• Stranger Things doesn’t sound like the type of tv show you’d like to watch.

And yet Stranger Things has overcome those stereotypes to become one of the best reviewed and most watched programs on Netflix. Why? Because of the compelling story: a group of kids in 1980s small town Indiana. Intriguing, huh? It’s how you tell the story that makes the difference. Tiffany Deluccia makes a great argument when she writes why young adults are leaving the church in record numbers: it’s too predictable.

“Most Americans think they understand the story of the Church. In one way or another, they have their experiences and stereotypes, their beliefs and hopes about what it is. Increasingly, young adults, in particular, are choosing not to engage it for themselves, assuming they get the story and that it’s not worth picking up. They think they know what you’re going to do next.”