Re: Tween Romance in Stranger Things
Dec. 5th, 2018 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lierdumoaSo I realized this week that the problem with the tween romance in Stranger Things is that it’s essentially the Born Sexy Yesterday trope performed by children.
Which is to say, the premise of the romantic connection is that girl likes boy because he’s the first boy she’s ever met and presents himself as her window to the world.
The other side of that is that boy likes girl because she fits a controlling fantasy in which he gets to be her first everything and teach her everything he wants her to know and never have to worry about her having interests outside of him since the only interests she has are the ones he gives her.
The trope is made even creepier in the second season, most of which she spends in solitary isolation in a shack in the woods, never able to see people her age unless she astrally projects herself, which causes her nosebleeds.
I can’t decide which is creepier:
The regular version of this trope, in which an adult woman’s body contains a mind of a baby
Or the child version of this trope, in which a 13 year old boy who should be learning how to interact in a healthy manner with girls who are his peers, instead finds a pretty girl he can keep in his closet and groom.
Which is to say, the premise of the romantic connection is that girl likes boy because he’s the first boy she’s ever met and presents himself as her window to the world.
The other side of that is that boy likes girl because she fits a controlling fantasy in which he gets to be her first everything and teach her everything he wants her to know and never have to worry about her having interests outside of him since the only interests she has are the ones he gives her.
The trope is made even creepier in the second season, most of which she spends in solitary isolation in a shack in the woods, never able to see people her age unless she astrally projects herself, which causes her nosebleeds.
I can’t decide which is creepier:
The regular version of this trope, in which an adult woman’s body contains a mind of a baby
Or the child version of this trope, in which a 13 year old boy who should be learning how to interact in a healthy manner with girls who are his peers, instead finds a pretty girl he can keep in his closet and groom.
