The (Metaphorical) Blackface Of Stranger Things

Stranger Things 3 Has Some Issues.

Stranger Things is no stranger to controversy. The series showrunners — the Duffer Brothers — came under fire in Season 2 after a behind-the-scenes episode revealed that child star Sadie Sink (who plays the character Max) was pressured into kissing actor Caleb McLaughlin’s character Lucas Sinclair. The kiss was allegedly unscripted, and when Sadie Sink expressed her disinterest in doing the scene, the showrunners doubled down on it. As Ross Duffer said to Sadie on television:

“You reacted so strongly to this — I was just joking — and you were so freaked out that I was like well, I gotta make her do it now… that’s why I’m saying it’s your fault.”

Many fans were outraged by this comment, and the Duffer Brothers have not only been criticized for their poor handling of gender, but also of race. The series has been accused of treating its black characters ineptly. The character Lucas is one of the series’ only men of color. Critics have routinely highlighted the underdevelopment of his character, as well as the erasure of racism from the 80s in general, as signs of the show’s inability to illustrate issues of race.

In the show’s latest outing, Season 3, Stranger Things continues this tradition by making one of its youngest characters, Erica Sinclair (Priah…