Stranger Things is an homage to all the greatest sci-fi movies of the 80s, and to all things 80s for that matter. Even though the Duffers were born in 1984, so weren't really part of the very time they're writing about, they capture every feeling and nuance of the age, from the clothing, music, and home decor to freedom kids had before "helicopter parents" were a thing. The writing and incredible acting by a perfectly cast ensemble of talented actors contribute to the experience. They take the viewer on such a faithful, accurate trip back to that era that it becomes a complete immersive experience. So much so that turning it off at the end of an episode and looking around a 2017 house is disorienting.
But that's not what has me so completely engrossed and captivated by Stranger Things. It's the story-telling itself. The Duffers tell stories in a way that resonates with me. It's the way stories in real life unfold: from multiple perspectives. This isn't the simplistic story told from a single point-of-view (POV), either in the first or third person limited, focusing on a single character. (IMHO, first-person is too often lazy storytelling where many writers never really "show" anything, only tell, "Look at me, here's what I did..." Third person requires the writer to do a bit more work to show the reader how things are unfolding, but is too often used for linear, direct, this person goes from point A to point B with all the expected and predictable plot points crossed along the way. (Boy meets girl, miscommunication happens, go their separate ways, trauma ensues, they realize they're meant to be together and live happily-ever-after.)
That's not how our stories play out in the real world. In the real world, our stories involve many people, some directly and others indirectly, all interconnected, all affected by the actions, but not always (rarely) aware of the others involved. Until their stories and our own intersect. All of our stories are richly nuanced, complicated, and interrelated, and we all live multiple narratives, all at the same time. It takes a lot of extra work and depth and mental energy to identify, trace, and keep track of all that inter-relatedness. In Stranger Things, the Duffers (and director Shawn Levy and the terrific cast) have done that.
The Duffers have created this huge hit that tells multiple intertwined stories with many protagonists, in short, fast scenes...well, if you've read the first two books in my Chupacabra Trilogy (Ye Gods! A Tale of Dogs and Demons, and The Un-Familiar: A Tale of Cats and Gods) you know that's how I think stories should be told. That's why the Duffers are my writing heroes. I'm bowled by a story where, I recognize that style, that desire to show the WHOLE story, from all the POVs that are actually living it. Stranger Things is a complex story with multiple lead characters of all ages--the boys and El, the teens, the adults--all have their own very complex and well-developed story lines, with their own inciting incidents, motivations, challenges, and climaxes. Any of these characters could have been chosen as the protagonist and the story told in s a simple, linear arc and it would probably have been satisfying.
By giving the whole cast their own interesting and related story, with the audience following all of them, jumping quickly between short scenes focused on one character or group, then moving to the next, related but not yet connected scene with another character or group, we start to follow the threads and anticipate, try to guess how they'll be pulled together. Because we know they have to be pulled together. They're related, all in each other's orbitals, just like our own stories in real life overlap with so many others, but we don't think about those until our stories collide.
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| The ensemble cast of season 1 tells the tale from multiple POVs: primarily that of the adults (Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper, played by Winona Ryder and David Harbour); the teens (Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, and Steve Harrington, played by Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery), and the kids (Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, and Will Byers, played by Millie-Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp) |
While this more complex approach to storytelling might not be for everyone, I am personally thrilled that the Duffers have at least given writers such a great model to refer to the next time an agent or publisher says, "You can't have more than one protaganist. Re-write it from one POV."
Yes, I heard that from every one of the 4 agents that requested the manuscript of Ye Gods! I'm glad I stuck to my guns and said, "That isn't the story. This isn't one character's story, its this ensemble story." I'm glad I found a publisher that's able to keep up with story telling where each of the multiple main characters is moving along his or her own story arc. For example in Ye Gods! Jack trying to overcome writer's block, Kiki trying to demonstrate her "powers," Eddie trying to solve the murders, Senora Milagros trying to find the dog and Carmen, Carmen trying to survive, and the dog/chupacabra just out doing his thing. It's told in short scenes from different POVs as each character lives their own live, the one they're the center of, with the other's only satellites orbiting, briefly touching and overlapping their stories. The reader knows those multiple, brief overlaps need to all intersect at some point to get the whole story. How that will happen is part of what keeps readers turning the page.
At least, that's what keeps me turning the page as a reader. My favorite authors tell complex, complicated stories, rarely in a linear fashion. Rarely is the entire story told from a single, or even two POVs. Stranger Things is just one more in a long string of successful stories told from multiple POVs but too often, the publishing industry is afraid to trust in a literate, well-educated, and discerning reading public. I'm happy Netflix took the chance on the Duffers and Stranger Things because it shows this isn't just some small subset of people who want stories that make them think and guess, rather than spelling it all out for them. It's not just the fantasy/sci-fi crowd, but the mainstream viewer and reader. The huge success of Stranger Things will hopefully be the wake up call to the publishing industry that stories don't have to be told from a single POV, they don't have to follow a protagonist. I hope the Duffers, by writing such a monster hit (sorry, couldn't resist!), have changed the rules of what sells. Stories don't have to be linear. They can be told in parallel until its time for them to converge.
When stories are told in this way, with all the players only having access to their piece of the puzzle, but the reader/viewer seeing all of them and trying to figure out how the puzzle will ever get solved, it's a thing of beauty to behold. The Duffers tell their strange story the way all our stories unfold in the real world--with everyone holding a piece of the puzzle--and that format resonates strongly with me, as I try to explain in this interview at Serious Reading:
I love when the chaotic swirl of complex story lines tumbling around in my head all come together into a cohesive whole. When I first see the outline filled with plot points spreading out in front of me, but only blank pages on the computer screen, it’s a bit intimidating... It’s very similar to how I feel when solving puzzles...
And again in this interview at Connie's Random Thoughts:
I tend to tell a story from multiple points of view. I love reading and writing stories that are revealed from multiple perspectives because that’s how the real world works. We’re all in the story together, and no one person has all the information. We don’t get anywhere until we all come together with our piece of the puzzle. Curiosity about how and when that will happen keeps me turning the pages in the books of my favorite authors and I hope it keeps the reader turning the pages in my stories, too.
If you haven't watched season 1 of Stranger Things yet, I urge you to go get Netflix and watch it. It's phenomenal on so many levels. Watch it multiple times. It's worth it. The first time, just to follow the story. The second time to really enjoy the big and small details that pull the reader so completely into 1983. Then, once you've relished the beauty of that, watch again and pay attention to how masterfully these multiple POVs, with intertwining, skimming past but not touching storylines are slowly woven tighter and tighter until the collide.
You'll be drawn in and wowed every time.
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