Why does Stranger Things feel too violent?

"Dude is Vecna a pedophile???"

Trigger Warning: Sexual violence, violence, grooming

When I first watched Stranger Things, people didn’t know about it.

Now, hold on. This wasn’t meant as a flex. Just a marker of its lack of cultural ubiquity. Everyone and their mother didn’t know about Stranger Things. It wasn’t a cultural phenomenon where everyone, including kids, knew about it. This was before the Halloween costumes, the pop-ups, the Broadway play, the Target storefront, the Williams Sonoma Advent Calendar, the Pandora Demogorgon ring, the Nike fleece, etc…

Stranger Things was a show that was inspired by Steven Spielberg and Stephen King stuff in the 80s. It was like ET but creepier. You had this kid being abducted, you had telekinesis, and a retro vibe that had kids involved but didn’t seem exactly kid-friendly. It was kid-friendly in the way that you might show a 10 year old Blade. Violent and creepy, but sort of acceptable, depending on your parenting style.

The thing that stands out most to me for this brand new season of Stranger Things is the inclusion of sexual violence in the subtext of the show. The show simply did not include sexual violence as an easy reading or metaphor before this season. The demogorgon was creepy and scary, but you never got the sense that it sexually assaulted Will. You never got the sense that kids were being abducted for any sort of sexual reason. In contrast with a franchise like Alien, which is all about psychosexual horror.

In the Alien franchise, the titular Alien is frequently said to be a metaphor for sexual violence. The xenomorph and its associated forms find ways to violate you, whether that is via mouth, pregnancy, maiming, or murder. Everything about it is meant to be horrific and sexually provocative, like the xenomorph’s tail going in between a character’s legs in the original movie. However, this specter of sexual violence “goes down” smoother because Alien is made up of horror movies that are rated R. These are films for adults, with adult themes, and aren’t expected to cater to children. A 10 year old kid should not be watching a movie like Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, which features children being implanted with alien embryos that burst out of them or pregnant women being forcefed alien embryos which will eat their unborn children and then kill their host.

That being said… the Alien franchise has collabs with things like Mortal Kombat (another R-Rated adult facing franchise). The Alien franchise does not have a Starbucks drink, or a Polly Pocket playset. Children are not encouraged to watch these fucked up, crazy ass movies.

So why is Season 5 of Stranger Things opening with a child being sexually assaulted? Why does this season of Stranger Things have some crazy parallels between the main villain and a serial pedophile abuser and rapist? Why is a show that’s marketed to America at large (again, literally a Polly Pocket playset, which is for KIDS, unless I’m mistaken and there’s some sort of fucked up TikTok trend of Adults buying up Polly Pocket shit as collectible hauls idk anything about America anymore) have all this weird and sexual horror?

Again, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I believe that horror or media shouldn’t have analogies for sexual violence. I believe that art should be made freely to tackle complex and mature themes. I just think access to said mature and complex art should be restricted to people who are appropriately able to handle said themes (i.e. the Exorcist should be watched by people who can understand what’s going on, rather than just traumatizing kids. Unless that’s the way you want to raise your kids. You do you.)

It’s a crazy contrast between a Stranger Things which is the darling of corporate America and a Stranger Things season which is about the main cast taking down a man who is using his power and influence to kidnap children, assault them, and change their bodies and minds because he says that they’re easier targets. This season Vecna is no longer a Ring style or It Follows style mind curse, but someone who grooms children into being his acolytes. He’s got more in common with Jeffrey Epstein and Jared Leto and that’s heavy shit. Not for kids, I think.

Is this just me? Am I too puritanical? Is it the difference between America desensitizing me and its people to violence compared to sexual violence? Is it why I’d be okay showing a 10 year old Blade, with vampires being impaled and exploding, versus a tentacle being shoved onto Will Byers’s mouth, implanting him with Vecna’s eggs and weird substances? As a show entering its fifth season, without any hint of these themes, I wonder why the Duffer Brothers decided to put this in. I wonder why the show is now about children and their family trying to stop a pedophile groomer from expanding his influence. Its become a much more violent show in its era of being the most popular and widespread media today - crashing Netflix’s servers.

If you’re still watching Stranger Things, let me know what you think!