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#miss Steven on it too because he wasn't in the most recent season
emometalhead · 3 years
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msmaple · 4 years
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Of Stranger Things, Spielberg and King
On the tip from the Duffer brothers, explaining the homages from Stranger Things, I’ve dived into Stephen King’s books and films of the 80s. (Duffers, by the way, are very relatable - in fact, the whole video boils down to exclamations about “Oh, it was our favorite movie in childhood!”, “Wow, this one is also favorite!”, “And this is our favorite, and that one too!” Wonderful people.) I’ve seen all three seasons of Stranger Things just this summer, so I couldn't help but compare. The fact is that: while critics complained about the shameless manipulation of nostalgic spectators three years ago, I sat in complete admiration of neophyte, who knew absolutely nothing about the American 80s pop culture. What was conceived by the creators themselves as a giant collage of plots and images from their childhood (with partial rethinking), was a completely new experience for me. Well, almost, because the images and plots were recognisable, as many of them originated much earlier than 80s. Aesthetics — primarily music and visual style — are definitely from the 80s, but you can argue with the rest.
* * *
Among the ancient plots is the one that formed the basis of all three seasons — the fairy tale of a missing/enchanted child. In the first two seasons, it's poor Will (who, as a result, still remained a real child), in the third it's Billy. Usually in fairy tales the Bespelled one is a princess or a girl, but in Stranger Things the trope was inverted, as in the ballad Tam Lin (which has been retold in recent years so many times I've lost my count). The most interesting is the situation of Unspeller, because there are not one or two, but a whole group of them in the series. First of all, it’s El, but there are also Joyce, Jonathan, Mike and even Nancy. They all try to removing the “spell” in the second season, for example (a beautiful scene in the barn). In the third season, Billy turns out to be “enchanted”, and he runs into what he himself has done — no one can unspell him to the very end, because he wasn't close enough to anyone. Only when Eleven gets his most important memories, he gets his chance, but it is too late. I wonder if the Duffers will continue to play with this trope? And who will be the next victim of the "spell"? Eleven would be an interesting option.
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Well, of course, the 80s were a great source of inspiration for the Duffer brothers, and I like the way they cause a clash between Steven Spielberg’s sense of miracle and Stephen King's cruelty of the real world and then mixed it all with the modern crisis. Actually, this collision itself is perfectly conveyed in one scene of the first season — when the children run away from their pursuers on bicycles. Visually, this is a homage to Spielberg, but stylistically, of course, to King. Spielberg is pursuing a romantic tone, so the children in E.T. don't just run away from their pursuers, they fly up right into the sky. But in Stranger Things the scene has a much darker shape and represents chthonic power and monstrosity of the main conflict. Spielberg doesn't have a defined evil in most of his films in contrast to King. In his books Evil takes on a very definite form, and although this Evil is chthonic, otherworldly, it always comes into our world, responding to the call of ordinary people and resonating with their thoughts. The Evil in It isn't just Pennywise, it's the city of Derry itself; likewise, the Evil in Stranger Things is not so much the demogorgon as the inhuman scientists pursuing Eleven. And Eleven responds in the only way that these people would understand — she turns over the oncoming van, almost certainly killing everyone who is there. Someone else was surprised by the following terrible scene at school? I was definitely not. Oh, hi, Firestarter, long time no see.
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It's funny that I found a Spielberg point of view not in homages (which mood is often the opposite of the original, by the way), but in the storyline of Eleven from the first season. At the very beginning she is just a child without identity and even without a name. Unknowingly (and because she has no formed social taboos) she violates the laws of the world and incurs its anger. Eleven fights not only with the inside monster, but also with the perception of herself as a monster. Moreover, she calls herself a monster, and only friends help her not to dissolve into the monstrosity. They give her the first anchor — her name is Eleven, she is their friend, and she saved their life. All this reminded me of Spielberg’s film, not from the 80s, but from the 2000s, Catch me if you can: a boy with an unformed identity goes on a trip, violates the taboos of the outside world, incurs its anger and becomes a monster in the eyes of his own and the others, until a friend helps him find a new identity. And yes, of course, the same plotline lies at the basis of several Stephen King's books, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a number of novels by Diana Wynne Jones, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno (only in this one the monstrosity of the child wins) and so on — apparently, this plot is the one about the prodigal son, and it goes back deep into the past.
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The most interesting thing is that Stranger Things doesn't really look like a nostalgic Amblinesque film. This term goes back to the name of the Steven Spielberg's studio Amblin, that shot films in the style of E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But although Stranger Things carefully lays out the Amblinesque background, at the same time the Duffer brothers stir things up. Here, look, they say, there is the image of an ideal family! But that's the Wheelers, and they're a long way from ideal. Here, media-can-save-the-world! But we get the diluted truth and the newspaper misogynists. Here, there's a beautiful new mall for shopping! But the town is dying because of unemployment. I am not saying that these are particularly deep or original thoughts, but they could not exist in the Amblin world. Stranger Things is Amblin knocked off by Stephen King and the beginning of the 21st century. If that's a nostalgia, then I am a rhino.
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Somewhere here should be one of my favorite Stephen King’s Danse Macabre quotes, why horror stories are so simple and so necessary: ​​I've tried to suggest throughout this book that the horror story, beneath its fangs and fright wig, is really as conservative as an Illinois Republican in a three-piece pinstriped suit; that its main purpose is to reaffirm the virtues of the norm by showing us what awful things happen to people who venture into taboo lands. Within the framework of most horror tales we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile. The horror story most generally not only stands foursquare for the Ten Commandments, it blows them up to tabloid size. We have the comforting knowledge when the lights go down in the theater or when we open the book that the evildoers will almost certainly be punished, and measure will be returned for measure.
In this regard the Duffer brothers are also agents of the norm, that's why Stranger Things has such a pronounced dichotomy of good and evil. It's nice that some nuances come on top, but there's also a quite unambiguous assessment of every moral decision. The horrors of Stephen King and the horrors of Stranger Things have one more thing in common — they are extremely comfortable because they set the rules. It is a very comforting feeling to know what is good and what is bad. You will have your time to rock the boat, King and the Duffers say. Right now let's get it steady and fine. I’m still quite sure that King writes for children, like Rowling, but adults like to wrap themselves in a horror blanket and get their cup of morality too.
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But that’s all not what I love Stranger Things for, of course. The Duffer brothers and their team are great storytellers, and that's a fact. Even if this story is simple and unpretentious, it is oh-so-beautiful because of the way it is told. James Cameron and Steven Spielberg discussed Stranger Things in Story of Science Fiction and told everything that should be told about that:
I think we’re all influenced by the stories that came before us, going back thousands of years, by myths, legends, fairy tales. I think the worst films just refer to other movies. The best films somehow connect you to something that you’ve actually experienced. Yes. Well, Stranger Things has done that very well. Yeah. It touches on a lot of the movies that you and I and others have made, but it does it brilliantly. It’s an amalgam of genres, but all having to do with one thing. And that is, you love these kids. And you don’t want anything bad to happen to them. And Stranger Things, for all of its brilliant imaginings, is about that characters. 
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airoasis · 5 years
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Kaufman: Gordon Hayward's Ultimate Inspiration To Sign Up With Celtics Wasn't Brad Stevens
BOSTON (CBS)-- For the second straight summertime, the Celtics landed a marquee totally free representative and chose third in the NBA Draft. Not bad for a team that completed initially in the Eastern Conference, won 53 video games, and ranked amongst the last three groups left standing in the postseason.Following an afternoon
of apparently make-believe deliberation as he wrapped up a lengthy 2,100-word piece for the Players 'Tribune, Celts top target and Jazz All-Star totally free agent Gordon Hayward went with a move east to reunite with former Butler head coach and current Boston bench employer Brad Stevens.Even after reading Hayward's thoughts, you may be wondering,"Why the Green?"Not the money. Four years and roughly$128 million, with a player-option on that fourth season, is a healthy kind of green in its own right, however it's less than Hayward would've made by just remaining in Utah and even selecting his other finalist in Miami, where there are no state earnings taxes.Most would recommend Stevens was the driving force, which is definitely affordable when you consider their bond that dates back to Hayward's teenage years and recruitment to bet the Bulldogs. The soon-to-be eighth-year pro even concluded his goodbye to Utah with a message to his new coach, referencing their unfinished organisation in Butler's 2010 championship game video game loss to Duke.That title still avoids them both and what better experience than to lower an NBA net together.Stevens alone, however, wasn't enough for Hayward to leave Quin Snyder, another highly respected coach he invested the last 5 seasons developing under and growing with in Utah.
Honestly, all things being equivalent, Stevens might not have even sufficed to be the deciding aspect. He didn't need to be, at least not with regard to their preexisting relationship.Stevens'coaching expertise, however, coupled with president of basketball operations Danny Ainge's lineup building, a strong and committed ownership group going to pay into the high-end tax for a winner and, of
course, location-- those were the factors Hayward decided to call the Garden home for at least the next three years of his career.Hayward's no fool. From the world-beating Warriors on down to deals that have actually brought star forwards Paul George( too soon dealt from the Pacers to the Thunder), Jimmy Butler (traded from the Bulls to the Timberwolves), and Paul Millsap(left the Hawks to sign with the Nuggets)from the East, the West is filled. Had Hayward returned to the 51-win Jazz, he was looking at a clear postseason ceiling. Utah reached the second round in 2015 and, thanks to a significantly enhanced and much deeper conference, there was no guarantee of leaving the opening round again.Yes, the East belongs to LeBron James'Cavaliers, though the Celtics reached the conference finals a season back without Hayward and no group amongst the other 13 took a significant advance. The Raptors, Wizards, and Bucks will contend for home-court advantage, however the C's are comfortably at worst the second-best club in the conference. If Ainge has the ability to include another impactful piece through trade in between now and the deadline ( Marc Gasol!.?.!?), the Cavs suffer a substantial injury, or James leaves Cleveland a year from now-- a widely reported factor to consider-- then unexpectedly Boston will rule supreme.However, it's not merely where the Celts are now Much as where they're going. Hayward joins vets Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford and a deep young core featuringNo. 3 selects Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, highly-touted huge male Ante Zizic, and a tenacious defender with an improving skill-set in Marcus Smart (if he isn't traded).
Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder are substantial two-way pieces as well, however either or both might soon be on the move. Beyond this season, Boston has up to seven first-round draft selects the next three years-- perhaps 2 in the top-five in 2018. Ainge has his C's in position to develop towards the continual excellence the company has actually craved because the new Big Three age, just longer, and he can elect to continue to develop patiently through the draft or invest a few of those desired properties on other stars as they end up being available.Thinking in the short-term, Hayward's offensive production has actually climbed up each of his seven seasons, most recently averaging 21.9 points last year( 24.1 in 11 postseason contests ), but it's useful to know, too, he will not have to shoulder the offending load each and every night for his new group with Thomas at the point. Thomas finished fifth in the Many Belongings Player balloting, and the" King in the 4th" averaged a career-best 28.9 points. Hayward will slide perfectly into Stevens'system for a coach currently quite familiar with designing an offense that finest fits him and a group in desperate requirement of reputable scoring on the wing.In terms of distinctions, Hayward likewise stands to make more with All-Star or All-NBA group acknowledgment. All-Star nods most likely weren't in his instant future out West with Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and now George and Butler, to name a few, in his way.And, not to be missed, there's Boston. Is it warm with loads of nightlife? Not unless you like the cold tea in Chinatown in the summer season. Still, with 10 champions amongst the Celts, Patriots, Red Sox, and Bruins going back to 2002,
athletes in this area have learned how revered one can quickly end up being when they get here in the Hub and provide a title. Hayward could have remained in Utah and possibly changed into a legend along with Karl Malone and John Stockton. Here, in front of arguably the most passionate fan base in the country, he can be a god.All things being equivalent, Hayward likely would have stayed with the Jazz, even with his precious old coach across the nation wanting to help him with his move at baggage claim. All things aren't from another location equivalent. If Hayward prioritizes the surest course to a championship now and in the years to come, he made the smart choice. Include Stevens as the coach leading that charge, and it was the only choice.There's no doubt Hayward's decision was challenging, even gut-wrenching, leaving the only professional home he's ever known and a community that accepted him and his household as its own, but a comfort with Stevens and Ainge's master strategies reduce that pain. By the time the season begins, any staying doubts will be snuffed out as rapidly as previous fans are burning No. 20 Jazz jerseys in Utah.
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