Five Times Stranger Things Got the 80s Extremely Wrong
The Duffer Brothers have completely overlooked these moments from the past.
Matt and Ross Duffer were born in 1984, so they know the 80s mostly from hearsay. Their Stranger Things was a direct continuation of the hype surrounding the artificial sense of nostalgia as Millennials and Gen Z began to romanticize neon signs, synth-pop, rollerdromes, and Era of Excess fashion.
They hit the mark, though, evoking warm feelings even among those who actually lived through the era. The Netflix series perfectly captured the casual atmosphere of a small Midwestern town in the eighties, including bike rides, mall culture, the love of D&D, and the general worship of Nike Cortez. However, no matter how hard the show's creators try, there are still a number of anachronisms. Let's take a look at some of the aspects of the show that make the '80s seem different than they really were.
5. The lack of TV antennas
This mistake is not critical, of course, but many people who remember that period immediately noticed one big difference — in the show, the Hawkins of the 80s doesn't have TV antennas hanging over the houses at all. Instead, there are black satellite dishes on the roofs, which didn't appear until the mid-90s.
4. Dialing 911
You may remember back in the first season when Will, being chased by a mysterious shadowy figure, burst into the house and, terrified, dialed 911. The problem is that in 1983, the emergency services system was not that widespread, except in big cities.
3. Mental health awareness
To many people it seemed strange that Jonathan would tell the Hopper about Joyce's anxiety problems. Of course, Jonathan is not ignorant, and people did go to psychotherapy at the time, but in the small town of the 80s, people were much less educated about these issues.
2. Casual bigotry
Yes, let's not forget that ST tries to be relatively family-friendly despite all the horror elements. However, the people of Hawkins are a little too woke for the times, as in the 80s it was common to use racist and misogynistic slurs.
1. It's too bright
Of course, we should not forget that the bright colors in the series are part of the visual techniques inspired by the pop culture aesthetics of the time. Still, even the interiors of some of the characters' homes sometimes seem overly colorful, as people were literally obsessed with sepia tones and all sorts of browns at the time.