#classic duffer foolery

[shprka]

The way the Duffers write characters is so baffling to me. Like we clearly have Good characters (that no matter what they do, they're always remain Good, for example, Nancy cheating on Steve, Jonathan being creepy) and Bad characters (that no matter what they do, they will remain Bad, aka Billy.

It's not even actions of those characters, it's about everyone else's reaction and how it's written

- No one ever explicitly says Nancy was cheating (or emotionally cheating) on Steve and even Steve is hang up on her and never mentions how bad it was for him

- Steve calls Jonathan a creep for taking pics of Nancy in the woods but it's only specifically there to be "a bully". No one ever says anything about it being weird or creepy after that. Even the subject of those pics, aka Nancy

- Eleven killed a d hurt people multiple times and calls herself a monster but people around Eleven never even think that. We as the audience are never meant to think that

- Sorry yall, but Hopper was sometimes horrible to Joyce in s3. He was made out to be this toxic action 80s hero that yells at their love interest and tbh, my Hop would never, and also Joyce or any other character ever reacts negatively to that. Murray even sees it as romantic. Which we as the audience are meant to see it as well

- Nancy is hot for Steve suddenly in s4?? 2 seconds for cheating on her actual boyfriend with her ex?? And Eddie, Robin, Dustin, even Steve are written to see it as a positive

There are some things that could make out characters unsympathetic (maybe not as much the Eleven thing bc shes a kid and we have empathy but its the kids in the show could easily be like, hey murder is wrong, if they decided to write it that way) but because those characters are Good characters they're never treated this way by the writers. They are Good, so everything they do is Good

Then we have the Bad characters. Everything they so is Bad, no matter what it is. Or should I say Evil, even. Brenner, Russians, Vecna - aka literal villains. Jason, Billy and other "bullies". Written specifically as Bad characters.

The Duffers have something with "bully" characters, I'm telling you. They think they are born evil and their entire existence is evil

But we are never really shown why Billy is supposed to be Evil. It's just the entire assumption behind his character is that - Evil. As an audience member you should assume because he's Evil, all of his motivations and thoughts are for Evil Purposes.

He's written that way and it comes across like that. If you have a working brain you can figure out its not the case and you can sympathise with him and understand him. But he's literally written to be hated 😭😭

And it's a simple trick the Duffers use with every "bully" character in the show, like a template:

1) Fixating on and obsessively hating one of out protagonists (Billy-Max and Steve, Jason - Eddie, Angela - El, that kid in s1 - Mike and Will)

2) They are an annoying presence, a hindrance in our protagonists lives. Makes us the viewers be annoyed and just want them out of the way

3) The bully "forcing" a confrontation on our beloved protagonists don't start a fight (oh they would never)

4) The confrontation in question where our protagonist tryumphs

Bullies in ST are like mini bosses for the Duffers I suppose. Evil people you have to fight. And they're always jocks or girly girls, like that's such a stereotype, give me a break

Also the Bullies don't exist on their own. They are only relevant when they are useful for the plot and furthering the protagonists stories

And every day I'm so fucking sad Billy was never meant to be written as a person, just a Evil bully character, a mini-boss for others to fight

I want to say the Duffers learned their lesson in s3 but he's literally the same, except he's upgraded from mini-boss to Main Boss

There's something to say about being a writer. Never judge your characters. Well' the Duffers very much do.

Reminder that the DBs and Shawn Levy on Beyond Stranger Things called Billy, a 17 year old abusive victim, an irredeemable sociopath, and on another episode said that while his father's behavior MIGHT give a glimpse into Billy's behavior, it doesn't change the fact that he's (Billy) EVIL. And essentially something along the lines of he's the most evil human antagonist on the show. Yeah, they said that. Joe tried to defend Billy and say that even though he appeared popular and cool, he was actually hurting just like all the other characters and they brushed him off with "yes, sure" and proceeded to talk about how Steve was a popular jock. You're telling me a 17 year old abuse victim who, at worst (in season 2, this was before 3), bullied a few people and got in a couple fist fights is more evil and irredeemable than Dr. Brenner, a man who STOLE babies from their mothers and then (essentially) tortured them and experimented on them. Okay, sure. In what world does that make sense? In the words of Nancy Wheeler, it's bullshit.

Fuck anyone who ever perpetuates the idea that abuse victims are all abusers themselves who can't grow or learn, and fuck them for not redeeming Billy other than in death. He was a kid. Scared, lost, hurt, abused, misguided, and alone. One gentle touch and the reminder of the love and happiness of his mother and he threw off the control of an interdimensional monster and SAVED the whole fucking party. Fuck them for using him as a plot device for the party and to torture Max. Fuck them for having the party immediately trust and fill in Eddie, but not Billy. It's all bullshit and I'm pissed. He deserved a Steve Harrington level redemption arc. He deserved to learn, heal, and grow. I will never forget that they chose to write him out of the story in death instead of giving him true character growth.