Culture

Stranger Things’ memeability sets the internet alight

Popularity of Netflix’s hit show has led to YouTube critiques and bobble-headed toys

The show’s popularity isn’t limited to the on-screen action

Seamus O'Reilly
Sat Nov 4 2017 - 05:00

A commercial hit and critical darling, Stranger Things is also a masterclass in tailoring itself toward memeability, scoring high in many of the internet’s favourite viral metrics: childhood nostalgia, hooky sci-fi premises, eye-popping plot twists and long, loving shots of extravagantly large hair.

The web took to the show in earnest, flooding the collective timeline with a bewildering gush of discussion, analysis, hysteria and outrage. Since its release, we’ve seen YouTubers such as BlindWave and Collider dissect each episode in depth, while ScreenRant and FlicksInTheCity have crafted standalone video essays investigating more esoteric theories about the show. These are less “who’s hair is best?” and more “Is Eleven secretly the ghost of a dead Rubik’s cube”?

The show's popularity isn't limited to the on-screen action. The series score was released on Spotify with nearly as much fanfare as the show's Netflix premiere. The streaming platform also launched https://www.spotify-strangerthings.com, a nifty collaboration that determines your Stranger Things character based on your Spotify listening habits. (Shout out to all the other Dustins out there.)

Delightfully nerdy

Meanwhile, the show’s composers, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, of Texas-based band Survive, took to Radiotopia’s excellent Song Exploder podcast to discuss their buzzing, warbling synths in more detail, giving a delightfully nerdy dive into their process and even sharing some early, unheard drafts of the show’s creeping, arpeggiated riffs.

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Since this is the internet, not all of the coverage has been positive, and one viral story about the show’s merchandise raised more than a few acrylic-paint eyebrows.

It turns out Target’s advertisements for the show’s tie-in Funko Pop dolls (basically, bobble-headed toys for hardy collectors) didn’t include all of the cast. The omitted figurine was the cast’s most prominent black character, Lucas, making the gaffe much worse – especially seeing as cult character Barb was prominently displayed, despite having been on-screen for just a few minutes in two episodes.

Target subsequently made a full retraction, and made clear that a Lucas doll was very much in stock and ready to go, saying “it was never our intent to leave characters out”. This mostly settled the matter, leaving fans free to engage in one of the few broadly positive internet trends of recent months, whether by re-watching YouTube critiques, exploring its soundtrack, or spending hundreds of dollars on small, expensive figurines they will never, ever take out of their packaging.