‘Stranger Things 5’ needs to fix fat-shaming problem

Here are spoilers for ‘Stranger Things’ season 4.

we are all still moved for him final climax of the season four of ‘Stranger Things’, Netflix’s star series, emotionally shattered by the sacrifices made and by the lack of tact with which some of its characters were treated (Eddie fans, you know what we’re talking about). It was a season to remember, but for some there remains a bitter taste that endures beyond the pain of predictable deaths, as the pros and cons of season 4 of ‘Stranger Things’ remind us.

Despite being one of the best series on Netflix in 2022, it is worrying that ‘Stranger Things’ is no stranger to fatphobia: from the beginning, the body diversity has clearly been absent in the town of Hawkins. Those who strayed from the norm were quickly weeded out (we’re thinking of you, Barb), or became the butt of all the weight jokes that could be spun in a not-so-subtle way.

At all times, hopper has been the main focus of this jokes thanks to his weight being treated as slight comic relief amidst the horrors of the Upside Down. But season four took that supposed teasing to new heights, with his sudden weight loss almost celebrated by his loved ones.

Comments about his slimming down are common, even from himself, which only serves to highlight Hopper’s discomfort at being the “fat” one. Those around him seem to forget that he has been in his own hell inside a prison camp for the better part of a year.

This is not a man who has decided to lose weight, but has been beaten, tortured and in a famine situation. However, everyone except Joyce talks about Hopper not being fat anymore.

It’s not just about the characters in the series. the fans too they have rushed to to praise the transformation of the actor David Harborwith a post joking that “jail can be a good way to lose those extra pounds”, while adding that Harbor is a handsome man who “has made the most of his looks” in this season.

Harbor has addressed comments about her weight loss in a recent interview with the UK edition of GQ. In the course of the conversation, she explains how a regimen of intermittent fasting and pilates helped her lose 80 pounds in just eight months.

“I was about 123, and when we shot [la cuarta temporada] I was around 87,” he said, adding: “I don’t think I’ll do that again“.

The fact that weight, in particular weight loss, defines a character’s arc of development is a message so worrying, which cannot be excused with “the 80s were like that”. Authenticity is not, and should not be, a factor of fat shameno matter how hard some try.

Sadly, Hopper’s emphasis on weight isn’t the first red flag in the series’ history of the show’s aversion to plus-size characters. To tell the truth, it is one of many.

throughout the four seasons, you can count the number of plus size characters on one hand. Don’t you find it alarming? Keep in mind that this series, especially in the fourth season, takes place in several large locations, two of which are schools, and even then, we only see about one fat character. Who, guess what, is relegated to the status of nerd. It is the stereotype of the outcast; apparently, fat kids can’t be cool or popular.

But let’s dig even deeper, focusing on the women. The only time we saw a plus size woman, she was treated just like a Nancy’s friend, immaterial in the grand scheme of things. The second time there’s a plus-size character, it’s an older woman who ends up being food for the Mind Flayer. doBob Newby? Eaten by a demodog.

A pattern of ‘fat equals death’ it is emerging, whether we like to admit it or not.

The way in which fatness is rejected by the industry has been denounced by the interpreter of ‘Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser (Barb), who drew attention to how in general fat actors do not have “upward projection” within the profession.

How is it possible that ‘Stranger Things’ is set in such a fantastic universe, full of all kinds of creatures, and has no room to include any fat main characters? Hawkins, California, Nevada, all of these locations full of new faces milling about, often in a sprawling public space, and almost everyone is average to small in size. Has no sense; in the law of probabilities, statistically that doesn’t make sense.

Now, no one is saying that the current cast should get fat, nor is it about shaming the smaller sizes. Is about reflect Really the wide range of body types that exist and they see each other daily. Wanting to see more body diversity is no different than wanting to see more LGBTQ+ characters – we’ve been so deprived of them for decades, it’s about time they were treated as part of the main story rather than extras.

In ‘Stranger Things 4’: is Will Byers gay? Perhaps we can already talk openly about the way in which They keep avoiding the sexuality of Will Byerschoosing to paint it as another tragic homosexual in the closet struggling to accept himself?

The absence of plus-size characters on our screens, especially in blockbuster series like ‘Stranger Things,’ only serves to further reinforce the troubled relationship society has with body image. Although unintentionally, it conditions us to believe that only thin, conventionally attractive bodies should be seen.

Not only is this a dangerous message, but it’s also incredibly boring. And if there’s one thing Hawkins isn’t, it’s boring.