Intertextuality in “Stranger Things”
Stranger Things uses intertextuality as an advantage and realizes that they can still be unique without being completely original. The viewers’ first look at the kid ensemble is of them playing Dungeons & Dragons, which quickly establishes them as a tight-knit group compiled of outcasts. As recognized by Eric Goldman in his review for IGN, the kid ensemble evokes “the vibe and the domestic/”kids on an amazing adventure” scenes of E.T. (plus some of the Spielberg-produced The Goonies).” He goes on to further note that Stranger Things does not just take up on one influence, it is a true mashup of the ‘80s. Taking influences from John Carpenter, in regards to the style and vibe, Spielberg and Stephen King. However, some may not see the vision behind Stranger Things. Sean T. Collins for Vulture writes, “nothing in Stranger Things is ever any stranger than the things it’s based on [...] Barb’s demise, Will’s cocooning and his later incubation of worm-like parasites — they’re nothing you haven’t seen before from Ridley Scott or David Cronenberg.” Perspectives like Collins may not understand the need for intertextuality in Stranger Things if it’s just going to be pedestrian and surface level. Despite this, I’d have to agree with Scott Mendelson’s perspective, in which he understands the success behind the intertextuality used in Stranger Things. Mendelson for Forbes writes, “The best lesson to be taken from the success of Stranger Things is that there is far more value, commercially and artistically, in successfully ripping off a popular story or popular genre than there is in explicitly remaking or rebooting a particular property.” Ultimately, intertextuality does successfully work in Stranger Things. The ‘80s influences is an ode to works before them and introduces them to a whole new generation. A new generation that has become so attached to the show that there are now fandoms and discourse about it. “Ripping off” ideas is not a severe crime that many people seek it out to be. Truth is, there is no such thing as originality anymore. There have been multiple plot lines and characters as seen in Stranger Things that have been shared with the world previously. What matters most is how the creator can make the idea their own. To me, Stranger Things has been very successful in making the show unique, as there are no other current TV shows that are on the same level as it. The show’s use of a kid ensemble as seen previously through The Goonies, makes the show seem grounded in reality in an unrealistic scenario. Through the kids’ banter with one another, it makes the show enjoyable to watch as they try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of their close friend in the first season. The show has also been very successful in keeping an audience, both younger and older, engaged in their plotlines and maintaining a likeability within their characters. Due to this, there is a reason why many people have awaited the season 4 release this past summer.
