Eggo Waffles and the Power of Nostalgia in Stranger Things

My wife and I re-binge-watched the entire Stranger Things series leading up to the anticipated release of the final episodes over the holidays. It produced two key takeaways: 1) a comically long (though unwritten) list of things we’d entirely forgotten from our original viewing; and 2) a deep anticipation of the two-hour New Year’s Eve finale.

The latter was so strong, we decided to snag tickets to watch it in a theater rather than from the comfort of our couch, and even ordered shirts for each other so we could participate in the fan craze (full-on Scoops Ahoy costumes fell way out of our agreed-upon price range).

As 50-somethings, we expected to be among the oldest people at the show. We were not. And pop culture has almost everything to do with that.

Stranger Things was a cultural phenomenon with a grip on fans of all ages. As of this writing, its closing Season 5 had logged more than 105 million English language views—putting each of the series’ five seasons among Netflix’s top 10 most-watched shows of all time.

Sellnow defines popular culture as being comprised of the everyday objects, actions, and events that influence people to believe and behave in certain ways. Series creators the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, managed to blend a barrage of ’80s pop culture artifacts into a magical trip down Memory Lane for our demographic that also offered more than enough action, drama, and “kid power” to mesmerize young fans, too.

Importantly for study purposes, those ’80s pop culture artifacts are not just nostalgia for entertainment’s sake. They work rhetorically to help the audience feel a certain way about themes like friendship, connection, and simplicity.

Bikes, arcades, shopping malls, walkie-talkies, Levi’s jeans, Eggo waffles, games of Dungeons and Dragons played face-to-face at a table … these aren’t neutral artifacts surfaced solely to jog our memories of them. They compel us to feel things like:

• Human interaction > digital communication
• Imagination and physical presence are key elements of a “good” childhood
• Positive emotions can come from everyday consumer items

Sellnow argues that we can be influenced through “subtle messages proposing a particular perspective about what is ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate,’ ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable,’ ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ and so on.” The sincerity of the interactions, innocence of the characters (even foul-mouthed, late-season hero Derek), and simple sense of community throughout Stranger Things is clearly held up as a contrast to a complex modern world where technology dominates, isolation and loneliness are becoming an epidemic, and interactions can seem less authentic. The “good” and “bad” are obvious in this portrayal.

Nostalgia was the big winner thanks to Stranger Things (well, perhaps a close second to Prince and Kate Bush, whose music rocketed back up the streaming charts after being featured in the series). A question this might raise: Are there any dangers to consider when a pop culture phenomenon like Stranger Things uses an idealized past to critique the present?

We’re going to ponder it over an Eggo.