"Stranger Things 4" reinvigorated the Upside Down
How the Duffer Brothers leaned into everything I hate about modern TV and still managed to make their fourth season a winner. By: Josh McCormack When looking over what would be considered the totemic pop culture artifacts of the current generation, Netflix’s “Stranger Things” — for better or worse — has proven to be one of the most substantial. Over the past nine years, this sci-fi/horror ’80s throwback has been at the center of countless conversations and studies of what’s right or wrong about the past decade of film and television. The culture’s endless obsession with ’80s iconography, fan culture in the age of social media, and the thorniness of young celebrity are all topics of discussion that “Stranger Things” has invited over the past decade of its existence. While the show has clearly developed a strong fan base that’s almost unmatched in modern television, these polarizing topics have also helped make “Stranger Things” the target of many cultural critics. It’s not completely un...
