О чем сериал «Очень странные дела»
Он рассказывает о приключениях компании подростков, живущих в 80-х в вымышленном городе Хоукинс, который якобы находится в штате Индиана, США. Четверо друзей-ботанов (Уилл, Майк, Дастин и Лукас), любящих поиграть в настольные игры, где описан параллельный мир, вдруг оказываются живыми свидетелями того, что тот мир на самом деле существует и что в нем живут далеко не самые дружелюбные существа.
В первом сезоне завязка сериала строится на пропаже одного из мальчиков – Уилла (Ноа Шнапп), мама пацана (Вайнона Райдер) бежит в полицию с заявлением, но местный шериф Джим Хоппер (Дэвид Харбор) говорит, что беспокоиться ей не о чем, ведь самое ужасное событие в их городе было тогда, когда на местную жительницу напала сова. «Наверное, мальчик сбежал куда-то или уехал без спроса», – пытается он успокоить взволнованную мамашу, но Уилла не могут найти ни в первый день, ни во второй, ни в третий – с парнем явно случилась беда. Мать поднимает на поиски весь город – от полицейских до школьников, но безрезультатно. Когда героиня Райдер получает странный телефонный звонок, где ей слышится голос сына, а потом во всем ее доме начинает что-то происходить с электричеством, она понимает, что пространство посылает ей какие-то знаки, она чувствует, что мальчик жив и его стоит искать, хотя патруль даже выловил в местном водоеме разложившийся труп пропавшего парня.
Фото: Кадр из фильма
Во второй сюжетной линии мы видим девочку-подростка с остриженными волосами и выжженной на руке татуировкой с цифрой 11 (Милли Бобби Браун), она бежит от каких-то нехороших людей, которые держали ее против воли и проводили над ней какие-то нечеловеческие эксперименты. Пока девочка пыталась скрыться от преследователей, она знакомится с компанией мальчиков: Майком, Дастином и Лукасом. Они нарекают ее Оди (это производная от ее номерного знака «Одиннадцать») и вскоре оказывается, что она не только знает, где находится их друг Уилл, но и обладает сверхъестественными способностями. Она может убить одним взглядом, найти любого человека, где бы и в каком измерении он бы ни находился и знает все о темном мире. После чего разворачиваются такие баталии и битвы добра со злом, что принимают участие в них все: от бравых полицейских до маленьких детей. Все четыре сезона люди борются с существами из потустороннего мира, причем в двух сезонах повелителям Тьмы и их «псам» – демогорганам, так зовут хищных существ с цветочной головой, помогают русские, точнее, советские военные. Они, как это обычно бывает в американских фильмах, разрабатывают секретное и крайне опасное оружие и мечтают поработить весь мир.
Так чем же эта история так понравилась людям, что за несколько лет своего существования и четыре сезона обзавелась многомиллионной армией фанатов по всему миру и стала главным сериалом для миллениалов? И почему, если «Гарри Поттера» смешать со Стивеном Кингом и его культовым романом «Оно», добавить хорошую порцию «Королевства полной луны» Уэса Андерсона и щепотку любимого нами «Леона», получатся «Очень странные дела»? Попробуем объяснить. Итак, вашему вниманию 12 причин, доказывающих, что успех проекта неслучаен.
Фото: Кадр из фильма
Blaming it on Local Twitter
An informal litmus test finds very few participants in the Millie Bobby Brown meme who believe that anything they’re creating, sharing, and re-sharing is wrong. There’s an impression that as long as they’re making these jokes in their own private spaces of Stan Twitter, the memes are funny and not hurting anyone.
Reactions suggest that the blame is on Local Twitter, which “ruined” the memes and are the ones to blame for Brown’s deactivation.
(Oomf: “One of my followers”)
No social media experience is completely isolated; there are no walled-off subsections of Twitter or Tumblr or Instagram, no matter which followers you surround yourself with or what content you curate. Stan Twitter is on Twitter Twitter.
In particular, the Millie Bobby Brown meme circulated on Gay Twitter amongst queer individuals and plays (to a certain degree) into communities working to reclaim language that has been used against them. At its base level, the meme represents a reclamation of the slur “faggot” and other homophobic language as well as a modicum of control over homophobic harassment.
In this respect, the meme was also seen as something exclusive to queer individuals, a sentiment that’s clearly expressed in the below tweet, which asserts that “this is a gays only event, go home.”
While marginalized communities find empowerment in reclaiming words that have been used against them, such as “queer,” implicating a child who publicly supports LGBTQ individuals and is a visible supporter of GLAAD‘s Together movement stands out as a different type of reaction. “Why do it?” is a question that may have no answer; many argue that the humor of the meme lies in the dissonance between Brown’s public support of the LGBTQ community and the violently homophobic nature of the memes. No one circulating the memes or creating them truly believes that Millie Bobby Brown would actually do something like break a gay individual’s legs. The meme itself is supposed to be funny because it is darkly ironic.
While the leak of the meme into a more general Twitter space is what eventually prompted Brown to delete her Twitter account, it’s clear to many in the LGBTQ Twitter communities that “locals” did not ruin the meme. In their opinion, it was wrong in the first place.
While Brown is gone from her official Twitter account, her anti-bullying account @Milliestopshate is still active. The handle hasn’t posted since December, but in light of recent events, the positive messages on the account sit in stark contrast to the last 24 hours.
What is “Stan” Twitter?
Both Stan Twitter and Gay Twitter signify individuals congregated around certain, specific interests ranging from queer identity to K-pop groups. Stan Twitter is essentially synonymous with fandom twitter — the term is thought to have originated from a 2000 Eminem song called “Stan,” which tells the story of an obsessive fan that falls apart after Eminem doesn’t answer his letters. Today, the term has evolved to mean any active fan that’s deeply invested in the artist or individual that they stan. Gay or Queer Twitter (the term gay typically gets thrown around given its historical use as a general signifier and simpler nature) is comprised of LGBTQ individuals and often overlaps with other Twitter sects (Stan Twitter, for example).
Like many other “Twitters,“ Stan and Gay Twitter earned unofficial subsection monikers when their corner of the platform began dealing in specific conventions, language, and memes. They’re defined in contrast to “Local Twitter,“ or the general population of Twitter — people not congregated around specific interests or in defined communities. However, in more insular communities, Local Twitter takes on a pejorative context. Locals, in this use, are the ones who ruin memes and are behind on trends. It’s a loose concept, and more of a vague entity than anything that serves as the contrary to Stan Twitter.
These specific communities aren’t inherently bad: they begin as neutral spaces in which individuals can form relationships based on common interest and can facilitate collaboration and campaigns. But anyone or anything can float into them — and anyone and anything can float out. When a community that thinks it‘s insular bleeds into an open space, the potential for increasingly toxic behavior begins to rise.
Certain vocal members of Stan Twitter have a history of taking celebrities and turning them into hateful memes. Much like Millie Bobby Brown, Demi Lovato was used as a fatphobic meme. Edits of her social media pictures were made with fat-shaming and ableist comments.
Another celebrity to get this Stan Twitter meme treatment is Mariah Carey, who is often photoshopped to extreme thinness and called a “skinny legend.”
“Skinny legend” has taken on a life of its own, thrown around on Stan Twitter as a way to signify that someone looks good or, at a basic level, has done something perceived to be iconic.
Millie Bobby Brown is in fact a vocal LGBTQ+ ally
After quitting Twitter, Brown addressed the online harassment while accepting the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Performance in 2018.
“Since I know there are many young people watching this – and even to the adults, too; they could probably use the reminder – that I was taught that if you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it,” the actress said at the time.
In the years since, Brown has continued to demonstrate her support for the LGBTQ+ community, regularly denouncing bullying and speaking sensitively and supportively about Stranger Things character Will Byers, who fans had speculated was gay before it was later confirmed by actor Noah Schnapp.
“Can I just say, it’s 2022 and we don’t have to label things,” Brown told Variety while discussing speculation about the character’s sexuality.
“I think what’s really nice about Will’s character is that he’s just a human being going through his own personal demons and issues.
“So many kids out there don’t know, and that’s OK. That’s OK to not know. And that’s OK not to label things.”
Many fans online have also called for an end to the ‘Millie Bobby Brown is homophobic’ meme in the wake of Schnapp himself coming out as gay, with one Twitter user branding the ongoing joke “tired”.
Another wrote: “if you’re using Noah Schnapp’s coming out as an excuse to make weird “jokes” about Millie Bobby Brown then imma need you to log out for me.”
While initially designed to be funny, it’s clear from Brown’s own actions that joke homophobia accusations have taken a mental toll on the teenage star, and in an age of internet misinformation, this is one meme that should definitely be shelved.
Brown is set to reprise her role as Eleven in Stranger Things season 5, which is due to begin filming later this year. A premiere date for the show’s fifth and final outing is yet to be announced.
What is the meme and when did it start?
Joke online posts falsely claiming that Millie Bobby Brown was homophobic first began circulating in late 2017, when the actor was still just 13 years old.
Designed to be humorous in its absurdity, the meme quickly became dark and uncomfortable as it continued to grow during 2018, with violent imagery such as a video of a car being driven into protestors being accompanied by the caption “Millie Bobby Brown arriving at Pride.”
Meanwhile, doctored images attributed obviously false quotes to the teenage star.
Many of the original posts were accompanied by the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown, adding a hostile undertone to the meme during a time when the young star was still navigating her first few years in the spotlight.
In 2018, Brown quit Twitter as the viral posts continued to circulate and grow in popularity. The Emmy-nominated star has not returned to the platform since, save for a lone tweet in 2019 that reads “hi. i missed u”.
The origin of #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown
In 2016, Brown broke out as Eleven in Netflix’s Stranger Things, a part that earned her nominations for the Screen Actors Guild and Emmy awards, and a shower of praise. As part of a wave of young fashion icons, Brown became the youngest person to ever feature on Time Magazine‘s “100 Most Influential People“ list. Her social media following and activity reflected her icon status — with over 16 million followers flocking to her every Instagram post. Aside from her acting career, she’s also known for being a genuinely good person; she runs a (currently inactive) anti-bullying twitter account, has displayed her support for GLAAD’s Together movement, and has been called wise beyond her years.
There is a long history of the internet slinging mud at celebrities at the peak of their popularity. As reactions to Brown’s deactivation seem to prove, in the actress’ case, she became a target because she’s the last person who would deserve a crosshair on her back.
In November of 2017, shortly after the second season premiere of Stranger Things, an account going by the name “Kelsey Fiona” tweeted that Millie Bobby Brown had ripped off her hijab at the airport. The accusation was called out as a fake, many pointing to KelsFiona’s Twitter photo, which did not include the garment. After questioning the authenticity of the tweet, and the fact that she did not wear a hijab, Fiona responded “because she ripped it off me.“ The account was suspended, but the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown emerged.
The hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown was first used in a response to the tweet pictured above. Fiona‘s “@KelsFiona“ account has since been suspended, but after one individual condemned her original tweet, another user replied with the hashtag.
Pretty soon, #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown started propagating on social media, attached to false accusations of violent homophobic behavior. These tweets, however, were only moving in supposedly “insular” Twitter communities — namely, so-called “Stan Twitter” and “Gay Twitter.”