I admit I’m not a big TV viewer, but watching Stranger
Things on Netflix lit up the middle grade parts of my brain like a string of
Christmas lights.
The eight-episode show, set in the 1980s in a small
Indiana town, is a mystery/horror/drama that pays tribute to such movie classics
as Stand By Me and E.T.
Kids are the stars of this show, and middle grade
writers can draw much inspiration from it. Here are four ways that the creators of Stranger
Things totally nail middle grade:
Invincibility
The kid characters are active. They are DOING things all
the time: playing Dungeons and Dragons, hopping on their bikes and tearing off
into rough terrain, arguing, taking matters into their own hands. These kids
have agency. If your characters suffer from talking head syndrome, or a bad case
of letting the world happen to them, watch how these four tweens make things
happen. Even in the face of fear, in the
face of uncertainty, they have the wonderful early-adolescent belief in their
own invincibility, that they will
survive, that good will triumph over bad.
Vulnerability
At the same time, the characters show moments of
vulnerability that draw us closer to them. They deal with adults who
underestimate or doubt them. They face up to bullies and quake. Two are growing
up in the shadow of stronger older siblings, a near-universal experience. They
argue amongst themselves and battle doubts about their friendship. The
“stranger in a strange land” character, El, has the haunted vulnerability
of a refugee, someone who has experienced trauma and yet still holds out hope
for something better. Her facial expressions are worth paragraphs. None of the kids
collapse into hopelessness or ennui in the face of their vulnerabilities—they
keep going, keep trying, keep taking risks. As a middle grade writer, I took
note of this, over and over.
Seeing
the adult as “other”
Stranger Things flirts with the “all adults are
clueless” trope. Some of the adults are
comically unaware of the shenanigans going on under their roof—like hiding a
runaway child for days on end in the basement rec room. There are the classic
scenes of teens sneaking in and out of the house, the scenes in which tweens
are lost in games or bike-riding adventures for hours on end, away from the
gaze of adults. At the same time, the adults in the series are not cardboard
cut-outs—they care, they cry, they try. But they don’t eclipse the quest of the
kids as they try to find their missing friend, protect the strange newcomer, and
crack the mystery. As far as these
middle-graders are concerned, adults exist in a parallel universe. This allows
the kid characters to shine.
It
toys with gender roles
El, the otherworldly runaway character, is the classic
“stranger in town.” With her shorn hair and angular face, she presents as a
“tomboy” type, entering into a well-established friendship group of boys. She
possesses vulnerability as well as supernatural powers that vanquish adults and blow the boys away. She is by turns fragile, fierce, and protective. She is a
study in contrasts, in girl power, in gender-bending attributes, in character magnetism.
These characters will stay with you long after you’ve
clicked off the television. They provide nail-biting entertainment as well as
lots of food for thought for the middle grade writer. Take note, be inspired,
and enjoy!
