Abstract

Even for the casual viewer, the Netflix series Stranger Things will likely feel familiar, reminiscent of popular 1980s coming-of-age movies. While Stranger Things and these classic 1980s films are all tales of childhood friendship and shared adventures, they are also narratives that reflect and shape the burgeoning cynicism of the 1980s. Throughout Ode to X: Institutional Cynicism in “Stranger Things” and 1980s Film, Melissa Vosen Callens explores the parallels between iconic 1980s films featuring children and teenagers and the first three seasons of Stranger Things, moving beyond the 1980s Easter eggs to a common underlying narrative: Generation X’s (Gen X) growing distrust in American institutions. Throughout, Vosen Callens demonstrates how Stranger Things draws on popular 1980s popular culture to pay tribute to Gen X’s evolving outlook on three key and interwoven American institutions: family, economy, and government.

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