"Stranger things" is a pretty thrilling series.
It's is well-written, emotionally impactful, and implements a very well-appropriated and popular '80s aesthetic in its visuals. What's not to like?
If I'm being honest, long form television is something I just don't really have the attention span for. That's why so many popular TV shows in the past never really got me hooked. With series like "Breaking Bad", "Bates Motel", "The Walking Dead", or "Game of thrones", I knew they were good, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and watch them. This is still kinda the case for "Stranger things", but not enough for me not to want to see more of it. More on that later.
To start, I'll share my experience watching the show. The whole time I was watching, I was thinking to myself "This isn't particularly original, but it's definitely entertaining enough for me not to care." I don't mean to be snobby about originality. I appreciate experimentation, but I guess it's risky on a TV project when there are too many people relying on the creators not to do anything that will put their getting paid at risk.
That being said, I don't want to make anybody think "Stranger Things" is some cookie-cutter rehash of a familiar concept and execution. The adrenaline-moments, for one, never feel too melodramatic, yet they're still extremely engaging. Watching television dramas always made me question why the writing was so goddamn dumb when it came to fights between characters. I assume it's a way for the writers to let their audience know that they need to be paying attention, but its unnecessary and condescending.
An example was a fight between two characters, Jonathan and Steve. Screenshots wouldn't do it any justice, but it was refreshing to see a fight that wasn't just "yo-mamma" jokes or dumb catch phrases. It honestly felt like I was watching a fight between two real people. They also beat the hell out of each other, no-holds-barred. I loved it.
There's far more I could go into, but I don't want to spoil anything.
Anyways, as for what I noticed about the medium: I noticed a lot. In long-form television, it's usually pretty obvious. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger or leaves unanswered questions, there's a high contrast between adrenaline moments and relief, comic or otherwise. If I can sum it up in any way, I would just say that it keeps you hooked. It's like how at a casino they do all this corrupt psychological shit to keep people "addicted".
I wouldn't be surprised normally, but the series is hosted on Netflix, so I was even more not surprised. That being said, I was definitely able to "Give in" to the enticing siren calls. It was a series that was different enough for me not to feel like an idiot while i got invested in it, and i wasn't feeling like I was stretching to say that it was a "must watch". I think, given that it was hosted on the internet, it also was great bait for the meme crowd. Watching the logo for the TV show be parodied by my facebook friends using a website hosted by the creators of the show made it all the more fun to watch. As evil as it feels for these TV shows to bend over backwards keeping you addicted, it's a bit redeeming to realize that it's just creating a common interest. It's a platform that many people can unify under.
No comments:
Post a Comment