WEBVTT

00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:15.269
The hit Netflix series Stranger Things is a love letter to iconic pop culture media of decades past.

00:00:17.009 --> 00:00:24.379
The duffer brothers create this spectacle of nostalgia by borrowing liberally from movies and TV shows from the

00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:26.899
1970s and 80s.

00:00:36.870 --> 00:00:44.120
They appropriate and masterfully remix everything, from overarching themes to specific plot points

00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.519
From lighting techniques to snippets of dialogue

00:00:49.519 --> 00:00:51.519
"You want hurt me"

00:00:51.519 --> 00:00:53.519
"Oh, yeah.. Why not"

00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.860
"Because you're a policeman, there are rules for policemen"

00:00:57.960 --> 00:00:59.960
"Because you're a policeman

00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:03.350
Policemen have rules"

00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:06.919
But there are dangers to leaning too heavily on nostalgia,

00:01:07.860 --> 00:01:13.400
because media makers can end up reproducing harmful patterns along with their retro aesthetics.

00:01:14.189 --> 00:01:20.119
This is especially true when it comes to masculinity and romance conventions in popular entertainment.

00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:23.839
Some of the unintended consequences of

00:01:24.210 --> 00:01:30.199
uncritical homage coming to sharp focus with the character of Jim Hopper in season 3 of Stranger Things

00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:36.349
In addition to his new look inspired by Tom Selleck's Hawaiian shirts from the TV show Magnum P.I.,

00:01:38.220 --> 00:01:41.659
Hopper undergoes a sudden and dramatic personality shift.

00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:48.139
He moves from a deeply flawed but introspective character in the first and second seasons

00:01:48.720 --> 00:01:54.080
to an entitled aggressive verbally abusive one for much of the third

00:01:54.080 --> 00:01:56.080
"HEY...

00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:58.080
HEYY!

00:01:58.080 --> 00:02:01.500
WHEN I SAY THREE INCHES! THREE..."

00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:02.000
"Do you knock?...Jeez"

00:02:07.220 --> 00:02:12.534
Hopper's increasingly belligerent interactions with Joyce are particularly troubling.

00:02:12.534 --> 00:02:14.660
"He's not eccentric, he's certiable"

00:02:17.220 --> 00:02:18.534
"Glass Houses stress"

00:02:18.534 --> 00:02:19.034
"What?"

00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:21.120
"You know, pot calling the kettle black."

00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:22.100
"Oh come on"

00:02:22.140 --> 00:02:23.260
"Excuse me."

00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:24.260
"What?"

00:02:24.260 --> 00:02:27.661
"Do me a favor and move your lover's quarrel elsewhere"

00:02:27.661 --> 00:02:29.640
"This: not a lover's quarrel pal"

00:02:29.640 --> 00:02:31.030
"SPARE ME!"

00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:38.130
They're dynamic is borrowed from well-known bickering couples of the 1980s, notably Sam and Diane's love hate

00:02:38.130 --> 00:02:40.380
relationship on the sitcom Cheers

00:02:40.380 --> 00:02:42.380
"Rember the day I said this:

00:02:42.380 --> 00:02:44.380
you are the nuttiest, the stupidest,

00:02:44.380 --> 00:02:47.060
the phoniest fruitcake i have ever met"

00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:49.860
"You, Sam Malone, are the most arrogant, self centered..."

00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:51.860
"SHUT UP! Shut your fat mouth"

00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:52.860
"Make me"

00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:53.860
"Make you?"

00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:58.180
"I... I'm gonna bounce you off of every wall in this office!"

00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:03.600
It's an extremely unhealthy dynamic played off as an endearing form of sexual tension

00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:11.009
Now, I'm not going to be using that term in this video because what is often presented as sexual tension in Hollywood is, in

00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.600
reality, red flag behavior for an abusive relationship

00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:19.640
"You know, I always wanted to pop you one. Maybe this is my lucky day"

00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.400
"You disgust me"

00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:22.780
"I hate you"

00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:23.840
"Are you as turned on as I am?"

00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:24.460
"More"

00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:35.360
The framing of interpersonal hostility as a precursor to romance didn't begin or end with Cheers

00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:44.959
That pernicious pattern is part of a long tradition in media going all the way back to the Golden Age of cinema

00:03:49.110 --> 00:03:54.380
But in the 1980s love-hate romances could be found everywhere

00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:01.220
"Oh, I think I'm entitled to throw a little anger your way

00:04:01.220 --> 00:04:04.850
Especially when I'm being told how to live my life by Miss Hospital corners"

00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:07.320
"What's that supposed to mean"

00:04:07.320 --> 00:04:10.660
"Don't start with me, all right? I came halfway across Africa to rescue you"

00:04:10.660 --> 00:04:11.800
"Rescue me!

00:04:11.810 --> 00:04:13.519
I was doing fine without you."

00:04:13.519 --> 00:04:16.310
"All right, when we get out of this alive, I'm gonna kill you!"

00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:18.004
"Come on!"

00:04:18.004 --> 00:04:19.260
"You are imagining things"

00:04:19.260 --> 00:04:23.580
"Am I? Then why are you following me, afraid I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?"

00:04:23.580 --> 00:04:25.020
"I'd just as soon kiss a wookie"

00:04:25.020 --> 00:04:27.020
"I can arrange!"

00:04:28.280 --> 00:04:35.540
Harrison Ford essentially built his whole career on belligerent romances, especially Indiana Jones

00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:37.540
"What are you supposed to be,

00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:39.540
A lion tamer?"

00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:41.540
"I'm allowing you to tag along.

00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:44.860
So why don't you give your mouth a rest?

00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:47.300
Okay, doll?"

00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:49.300
"What do you mean "tag along"?

00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:51.460
Ever since you got into my club you haven't been able to

00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:53.259
take your eyes off me."

00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:53.940
Oh, yeah?

00:04:56.070 --> 00:05:02.869
To understand why the Duffer brothers decision to pay homage to this particular media convention feels so jarring,

00:05:03.210 --> 00:05:07.519
We need to take a quick look back at Hopper's character arc in the first two seasons.

00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.110
Hopper begins the series as a man adrift an

00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:17.749
alcoholic struggling with the unresolved trauma of losing a daughter and a marriage.

00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:23.420
He's resigned to going through the motions of being police chief in a town

00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:24.963
where nothing ever happens

00:05:24.963 --> 00:05:29.059
"On a more pressing matter, Joyce Byers can't find her son this morning"

00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:34.840
"Joyce is very upset"

00:05:34.840 --> 00:05:38.420
"We've discussed this, mornings are for coffee and contemplation"

00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:39.720
"But chief she's in..."

00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:41.400
"Coffee and contemplation."

00:05:41.400 --> 00:05:47.780
He's also a bit of an asshole with a propensity for solving problems by punching them in the face

00:05:51.810 --> 00:05:57.169
Hopper's character arc in season 1 is all about regaining a sense of purpose.

00:05:58.080 --> 00:05:59.680
"Hey, I got something!"

00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:05.359
and through his quest to unravel the mystery around Will's disappearance, he begins to reestablish

00:06:05.900 --> 00:06:07.900
connections with the people around him

00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.120
"You were right

00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:15.500
This whole time you were right"

00:06:18.479 --> 00:06:21.469
Season two sees hopper continuing along that trajectory

00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:30.880
He's figuring out how to navigate his own fears while at the same time trying to be a father again

00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:36.600
"'Aight. Get to work"

00:06:37.940 --> 00:06:42.820
He still loses his temper and fails in balancing work with caregiving

00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:46.080
"Hey.. HEY! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:52.900
But he has made progress and remarkably he manages not to fall back into alcoholism or face-punching

00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:59.449
He's also learned to treat Joyce's feelings with a measure of sensitivity

00:07:01.440 --> 00:07:06.889
"Nothing's gonna go back to the way that it was, not really but it'll get better

00:07:08.940 --> 00:07:10.650
...in time"

00:07:10.650 --> 00:07:16.849
The last episode in season two gives us this heart-to-heart in which Hopper is openly vulnerable in

00:07:17.069 --> 00:07:19.069
sharing his feelings with Eleven

00:07:19.380 --> 00:07:21.380
"I've just been scared, you know

00:07:22.979 --> 00:07:24.979
that's why I get so...

00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:27.889
mad

00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:36.620
I'm so sorry. I could be so... so... "

00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:37.540
"Stupid"

00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:39.260
"Yeah...

00:07:39.269 --> 00:07:41.269
stupid"

00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:52.299
Now fast-forward to season 3, and all that character development has been thrown out the window in the name of paying homage to the

00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:54.880
1980s cowboy cop archetype

00:07:55.260 --> 00:07:57.260
"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!"

00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:04.780
But resurrecting that brand of action hero masculinity brings with it a veritable minefield of unhealthy behaviors

00:08:11.190 --> 00:08:17.660
This new hopper is a domineering powder keg who no longer has any patience for the women in his life

00:08:18.570 --> 00:08:23.779
He's obsessed with sabotaging Eleven's teenage romance with her new boyfriend Mike

00:08:25.590 --> 00:08:32.000
"You know, is that smug son of a bitch Mike. He's corrupting her. I'm telling you and I'm just gonna lose it

00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.787
I mean, I'm gonna lose it, Joyce!"

00:08:33.787 --> 00:08:35.559
"Just take it down, Hopper."

00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.220
"I need for them to break up!"

00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:38.840
"That is not your decision!"

00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:43.400
Joyce, for her part, implores Hopper to calm down and talk it out.

00:08:43.400 --> 00:08:44.720
"I think you should talk to them

00:08:45.020 --> 00:08:47.660
"No, no because talking doesn't work"

00:08:47.660 --> 00:08:49.820
"Not yelling, not ordering

00:08:50.370 --> 00:08:52.370
Talk to them

00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:54.370
You know, with a heart to heart"

00:08:56.040 --> 00:08:57.930
"A heart to heart?

00:08:57.930 --> 00:08:58.980
What is that?"

00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:04.000
And we see her doing a lot of emotional labor for him in an effort to help facilitate a healthy

00:09:04.530 --> 00:09:06.530
heart-to-heart about boundaries

00:09:09.570 --> 00:09:14.479
"So we can build an environment where we all feel comfortable"

00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:20.090
It's all for naught though because this version of Hopper has forgotten how to express his feelings

00:09:20.670 --> 00:09:22.110
"Share our feelings"

00:09:22.110 --> 00:09:26.820
"To sharing our feelings. This isn't gonna work It's not gonna work."

00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:27.560
Yes, it will

00:09:27.630 --> 00:09:32.719
He suddenly can't even fathom the idea of openly communicating with his adopted daughter

00:09:33.450 --> 00:09:38.059
Even though we just saw him doing exactly that at the end of the previous season

00:09:39.180 --> 00:09:41.180
"Maybe I'll just kill Mike

00:09:41.490 --> 00:09:43.520
I'm the Chief of Police. I could cover it up"

00:09:44.640 --> 00:09:51.650
The old overprotective dad trope is played for laughs but it's all about patriarchal control

00:09:51.650 --> 00:09:53.640
"HEY!

00:09:55.060 --> 00:09:57.880
Hey! 3 inches minimum!"

00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.040
It's rooted in the idea that young women can't be trusted to make their own decisions and

00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:08.280
therefore need older men to step in and protect them from themselves

00:10:15.060 --> 00:10:21.260
Having devolved into someone who is unable to express himself, except through anger and rage,

00:10:22.520 --> 00:10:27.400
Hopper relies on intimidation to scare Mike into staying away from Eleven.

00:10:27.400 --> 00:10:28.320
"You're crazy!"

00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.060
"Crazy?

00:10:31.049 --> 00:10:33.049
You want to see real crazy?"

00:10:34.400 --> 00:10:41.320
This is just one of many instances where he relies on violence or the threat thereof to resolve conflicts

00:10:51.890 --> 00:10:59.469
Consistent with 1980s conventions of tough-guy manhood Hopper's violent outbursts are undertaken in a remarkably casual and

00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:04.480
humorous manner even when engaging in torture or murdering a bunch of people

00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.434
"I had it under control"

00:11:06.434 --> 00:11:07.900
"Yeah, sure you did"

00:11:08.900 --> 00:11:14.880
Hoppers aforementioned dysfunctional relationship with Joyce is another example of his dramatic regression

00:11:14.880 --> 00:11:16.880
"You wanna have dinner tonight"

00:11:16.880 --> 00:11:18.500
"I have plans"

00:11:19.280 --> 00:11:21.280
"Okay, sure"

00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:28.330
Even after Joyce says she's not interested, Hopper tries to trick her into a date by pretending it isn't one

00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:33.550
"I'll tell you everything over dinner. I was thinking, you know, Enzo's, tonight

00:11:33.550 --> 00:11:40.630
seven o'clock. Hey, before you say no. I'd like to make one thing crystal clear. This is not a date"

00:11:41.020 --> 00:11:42.740
"Wait, a date?

00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.565
You never said anything about a date."

00:11:44.565 --> 00:11:46.630
"I know. I didn't say anything about the date

00:11:46.630 --> 00:11:49.260
I just wanted to clear it up in case there was any confusion on your part"

00:11:49.260 --> 00:11:50.127
"There's not"

00:11:50.127 --> 00:11:52.470
"Great! It's just two friends getting together for a nice dinner"

00:11:54.280 --> 00:11:59.460
When she then doesn't show up for their not-date he becomes angry and resentful

00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:02.860
"Oh, look who it is"

00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:04.460
"We need to talk"

00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:08.940
"Yeah, we do.I haven't been stood up like that since Alice Gilbert in the ninth grade

00:12:10.430 --> 00:12:12.430
What are you doing?"

00:12:12.920 --> 00:12:14.920
Recall that over the prior two seasons

00:12:15.290 --> 00:12:22.510
he learned to respect Joyce's intuition because her ideas about the upside down have always turned out to be correct

00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:29.440
But this new Hopper angrily ridicules her for her investigations into paranormal phenomena

00:12:30.270 --> 00:12:35.610
"I think that when I asked you out, I think you got scared. I think you got scared and now,

00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:41.489
You're inventing things, you're inventing things to get worked up about so that you can push me

00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:44.670
away, because god forbid

00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:47.230
any of us

00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:51.200
move on. That would be too much, wouldn't it, Joyce?"

00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.200
His entitlement to a romantic relationship one that Joyce?

00:12:55.210 --> 00:12:59.100
escalates from not respecting her wishes to demeaning her feeling

00:12:59.650 --> 00:13:01.650
and then in fits of jealousy

00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:04.440
trying to police her friendships with other men

00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:06.440
"That's why you should listen to Alexei"

00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:08.440
"Yeah, your new boyfriend, right?"

00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:12.340
"Yes, every man I talk to from now on has to be my boyfriend"

00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:14.460
"He remind me a little bit of Russian Scott Clark."

00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:15.440
"Oh, here we go."

00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.160
"Maybe you should go on a date. I don't know. I'm thinking like Enzo's"

00:13:18.760 --> 00:13:24.210
Instead of framing any of this behavior as cause for alarm. It's all written to be part of an endearing

00:13:24.310 --> 00:13:26.460
Will-they-or-won't-they scenarios?

00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:30.080
"What are you gonna do? You are gonna walk back to Hawkins?"

00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.840
"I will do anything if it gets me away from you!"

00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:34.140
"CHILDREN!

00:13:34.140 --> 00:13:39.900
Why don't you two cut the horseshit and get to the part where you admit your sexual feelings for one another"

00:13:39.900 --> 00:13:40.800
"WOOO"

00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.060
"YOU ARE WAY OFF BASE, BUDDY"

00:13:43.060 --> 00:13:46.280
"OH, SPARE ME! SPARE ME! SPARE ME!"

00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:53.600
When actress Evan Rachel Wood, among others, pointed out the toxicity of Hopper's behavior on Twitter,

00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:59.520
she received an avalanche of defensiveness from fans who simply couldn't see what the big deal was

00:13:59.780 --> 00:14:01.780
"I'll tell you what you do? I'll tell you..."

00:14:03.520 --> 00:14:11.280
Well, it might be entertaining to watch fictional characters verbally sparring with each other, when media frames disrespect and ridicule has

00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:14.670
evidence of romantic interest, it can reinforce the idea that

00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:17.369
mistreatment is a normal part of courtship

00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:26.409
It can also lead people, including authority figures, to dismiss or downplay the seriousness of emotional abuse

00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:29.510
The truth is that

00:14:29.510 --> 00:14:36.039
psychological, emotional, and verbal abuse is just as real and can be just as harmful as physical violence

00:14:38.990 --> 00:14:43.599
Media stories frequently advance the dangerous myth that volatile or

00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:50.409
domineering men just need a special woman to soften their rough edges and temper their aggression

00:14:51.140 --> 00:14:55.419
But intimate partners are often the ones who bear the brunt of men's rage

00:14:56.990 --> 00:15:03.399
Guys like Hopper don't need a relationship, what they need is therapy

00:15:06.290 --> 00:15:14.140
If you were holding out hope that the Stranger Things writers may have been going for some sort of critical commentary, about unhealthy relationships

00:15:14.690 --> 00:15:18.760
the final episode in the season makes clear, that is not the case.

00:15:19.310 --> 00:15:21.310
"You know,

00:15:21.769 --> 00:15:24.578
I think despite everything, I mean, despite the arguing

00:15:26.510 --> 00:15:28.510
I think we make a pretty good team"

00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:35.589
In a page lifted directly from 1980s rom-coms, Joyce ultimately responds to Hopper's belligerent entitled attitude

00:15:36.050 --> 00:15:37.550
by

00:15:37.550 --> 00:15:38.930
asking him out

00:15:38.930 --> 00:15:41.152
"What you say? Friday, 8 o'clock?"

00:15:41.152 --> 00:15:42.459
This plot point then

00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:50.100
perpetuates the idea that controlling or aggressive behavior is somehow a sign of love attraction or passion

00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:50.820
"Just for clarification

00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:52.860
because I... I mean... just.. if

00:15:53.209 --> 00:15:56.828
When you say date, just so that we're crystal clear about things, so"

00:15:56.828 --> 00:15:57.829
"Yeah, Hop?

00:15:57.829 --> 00:15:59.829
Stop talking, or I'll change my mind"

00:15:59.829 --> 00:16:00.890
"Okay.. yeah.. okay"

00:16:00.890 --> 00:16:06.800
It's the kind of twisted logic that can lead people to remain in unhealthy or abusive relationships

00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.240
"Live for the day! Go for it, Sam!

00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.240
I tell you, go for it!"

00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:20.740
Hollywood writers like to use combative interactions between love interests because it's an easy shortcut to dramatic tension

00:16:21.140 --> 00:16:24.339
but there are many many ways to write interesting conflicts.

00:16:24.709 --> 00:16:29.289
For example, tensions can arise from external pressure on relationships

00:16:30.949 --> 00:16:36.489
Things like shared traumatic experiences, which is something Stranger Things has in spades

00:16:37.490 --> 00:16:43.240
There's no good reason to keep writing romantic tension as something drawn from interpersonal hostility

00:16:45.030 --> 00:16:50.929
When you really think about it, we very rarely see healthy relationship dynamics modeled on screen

00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:57.589
That said, Stranger Things does give us one example of what a positive romantic relationship looks like

00:16:57.589 --> 00:16:58.580
"Hey there"

00:16:58.580 --> 00:16:59.380
"Hey"

00:16:59.380 --> 00:17:01.580
"Do you happen to have this in any other colors?

00:17:01.589 --> 00:17:03.589
I'm not a big fan of orange"

00:17:03.589 --> 00:17:05.589
"I'll just check in the back"

00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:13.128
Bob "the brain" Newby is Joyce's love interest and dad joke aficionado from season 2

00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:20.750
Bob is loving and affectionate. He listens to Joyce and he respects her feelings

00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:22.750
"I know it sounds silly"

00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:24.750
"No, it's not silly.

00:17:24.750 --> 00:17:25.500
It's not silly"

00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:29.989
While still honestly communicating his own wants and desires for the relationship

00:17:29.989 --> 00:17:33.020
"What if we were to move out of Hawkins

00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.200
Together"

00:17:37.080 --> 00:17:42.494
This is essentially the exact opposite of how Hopper treats Joyce in season 3,

00:17:42.494 --> 00:17:44.299
"I just, I like you so much

00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:47.220
Not just you

00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:49.050
Everything that comes with you

00:17:49.050 --> 00:17:50.480
your family, your boys"

00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.359
Bob's genuinely loving nature is refreshing for male love interests, but it's also very

00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.380
unusual, in fact, it's so unusual that we as the audience

00:18:00.990 --> 00:18:07.760
almost automatically assume his compassionate persona must be some kind of trick or a cynical ploy

00:18:10.560 --> 00:18:13.249
"Look at me now, I get to date Joyce Byers

00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:19.520
See it all works out in the end"

00:18:19.520 --> 00:18:20.640
"It does"

00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:28.550
We've come to expect sensitive or loving male characters to ultimately be revealed as either selfish cowards or

00:18:28.820 --> 00:18:31.360
to have secretly been evil all along "

00:18:31.360 --> 00:18:32.460
"I hope

00:18:32.479 --> 00:18:34.479
it doesn't suck"

00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:39.840
If a man does turn out to be as warm-hearted as he initially appears

00:18:39.840 --> 00:18:41.820
"Bob Newby. Superhero"

00:18:41.820 --> 00:18:46.300
He's almost always killed off as a way to up the stakes for the other characters

00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:51.589
"It's the ones like us, that don't punch back, that people really take advantage of

00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:54.130
To rub your nose in it just a little bit more

00:18:56.490 --> 00:18:58.490
I don't know why they do that

00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:02.300
Maybe it makes them feel powerful"

00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:07.670
It's the dysfunctional violent tough guys

00:19:07.670 --> 00:19:14.749
like Hopper who are framed as having what it takes to conquer otherworldly threats and survive

00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:20.060
A trend that helps normalize cultural ideals around aggressive masculinity

00:19:22.860 --> 00:19:30.799
One of the reasons so many people have trouble recognizing abusive behavior is because in popular media, it's often done by the good guys

00:19:32.970 --> 00:19:38.240
These are male characters who are otherwise written to be charming righteous and valiant

00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:46.970
And like abusers in the real world these fictional men don't act in controlling or domineering ways all the time

00:19:47.490 --> 00:19:49.819
their abusive behavior comes in waves,

00:19:50.490 --> 00:19:55.099
often preceded by moments of kindness and then followed by expressions of remorse

00:19:57.630 --> 00:20:02.749
Since Hopper is one of the good guys we're supposed to want him and Joyce to get together in the end

00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:09.470
Despite his rage, his jealousy, his control issues, and his propensity for violent intimidation

00:20:10.110 --> 00:20:13.370
we are nonetheless meant to be in Hopper's corner

00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:18.470
And that's because Jim Hopper is not a one-dimensional cartoon oaf

00:20:19.140 --> 00:20:25.310
We have after all been shown glimpses of his introspective caring and vulnerable sides

00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.680
during the two previous seasons.

00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:36.079
There are also a couple scenes near the end of season 3 that are very clearly designed to reinforce to viewers that Hopper really is

00:20:36.080 --> 00:20:38.080
a good guy deep down inside

00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:45.499
The first of these comes when he seemingly gives his life to save the world and the people he cares about

00:20:46.770 --> 00:20:54.440
I'll make a whole video essay about the heroic sacrifice trope in the future. For now though. I'll just say that selfless acts are not

00:20:55.080 --> 00:20:56.760
necessarily a negative thing

00:20:56.760 --> 00:21:03.770
But for troubled male characters, like Hopper the grand heroic death is often written to be a shortcut to redemption

00:21:05.820 --> 00:21:13.470
And a shortcut that doesn't require men to actually do the slow painful work of personal transformation.

00:21:17.769 --> 00:21:22.049
The epilogue flashback at the end serves a similar narrative purpose.

00:21:23.229 --> 00:21:29.789
In this scene, we hear Hopper's inner voice as he mulls over how to share his feelings with Eleven

00:21:30.549 --> 00:21:33.449
"But lately, I guess I've been feeling

00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:37.619
distant from you,

00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:40.019
like you're

00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:42.289
you're pulling away from me, or something"

00:21:42.419 --> 00:21:49.759
The voice-over is meant to remind us that this is a man who is at least capable of being sincere caring and vulnerable.

00:21:50.309 --> 00:21:55.729
The trouble is, good intentions don't mean anything without the follow-through and

00:21:56.309 --> 00:22:01.099
Hopper never actually follows through in having that heart-to-heart with his adopted daughter.

00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:05.490
Like we saw with his apparent death,

00:22:05.490 --> 00:22:12.500
this flashback is designed to absolve Hopper of the emotional damage or harm he caused throughout the season

00:22:13.020 --> 00:22:15.020
All without having him actually

00:22:15.390 --> 00:22:18.409
apologize or make amends for his behavior.

00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:28.249
I want to be clear about something, the problem isn't that male protagonists are sometimes depicted as having anger issues or

00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:30.740
engaging in unhealthy behavior.

00:22:31.289 --> 00:22:37.009
Character flaws are human and therefore a key ingredient in creating stories about relatable people.

00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.640
The question is how are those flaws framed?

00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:47.780
Are unhealthy behaviors romanticized excused or rationalized

00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.939
or are they presented as cause for serious concern?

00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:58.459
And critically, do these men learn to grow and change over time?

00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:02.659
In action adventure stories like Stranger Things

00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:08.539
we rarely see male heroes learning how to change their behavior, how to effectively communicate

00:23:09.150 --> 00:23:11.150
or how to build and maintain

00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:13.220
healthy relationships

00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:15.220
"What did you say?"

00:23:19.550 --> 00:23:27.310
At the end of season two it appeared as if Hopper might be able to break free from the constraints of 1980s action hero manhood.

00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:36.370
Unfortunately, when media makers rely so uncritically on nostalgia for inspiration, it prevents them from imagining new possibilities

00:23:36.370 --> 00:23:38.370
for male characters.

00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.949
As a result, we risk encouraging men to remain stuck in the past

00:23:45.890 --> 00:23:49.780
held hostage to retrograde ideals of masculinity.

00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:55.750
I hope you enjoyed this bonus video on Stranger Things.

00:23:56.060 --> 00:24:03.190
The next video published on my channel will be part two in my series on the sexual assault of men played for laughs in Hollywood.

00:24:03.560 --> 00:24:10.179
So if you like these long form video essays, please consider going over to patreon and helping to fund this project there.

00:24:10.280 --> 00:24:17.169
I've also left a link to Pay Pal in the description below. I really couldn't do this work without your support. So, thank you

00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:19.170
so much