STRANGER THINGS 4’S SATANIC PANIC FEELS TIMELY BECAUSE IT’S
Jun 4, 2022 7:42:19 GMT
Watertower Jones likes this
Post by addisona on Jun 4, 2022 7:42:19 GMT
(Addisona: Hi. This contains spoilers for Stranger Things just so you know)
STRANGER THINGS 4’S SATANIC PANIC FEELS TIMELY BECAUSE IT’S TIMELESS
The scariest moment from Stranger Things 4 Volume One had nothing to do with Vecna nor a Demogorgon. It did not take place in the Upside Down or involve even a drop of blood. It was during a small town meeting, when a frightened, angry high school student convinced his fellow citizens to hunt down a group of teenagers. In that horrifying moment Satanic panic truly came to Hawkins, Indiana. Just as it really did to the United States in the 1980s. But that scene, when a hateful mob blamed all its problems on a small band of powerless outcasts, resonated with such force because it felt so timely. Unfortunately the truth is that moment always will. Because our base instinct of “othering” strangers during times of trouble is timeless.
Stranger Things 3‘s final moments teased its coming Satanic panic with a news report. At the time we covered exactly what that event was. As well as (quite accurately) how it might play out on the Netflix series. But we couldn’t have predicted the real terror we’d feel watching it take place. Jason’s inflammatory speech to his equally petrified townsfolk was genuinely hard to watch. One person, with neither authority nor proof, convinced hundreds to track down a group of kids in a flash. All because those kids like to play a “strange” game.
That really did happen in the ’80s and ’90s. Fear about D&D—born of ignorance and exploited by pastors, politicians, and the media—contributed to the growing frenzy over a belief Satanic cults. And it threatened the very fabric of America itself. That irrational worry was not academic, either. The Hellfire Club’s Eddie is a fictional character running from the authorities. But this Stranger Things character is essentially based on very real kids who suffered that exact persecution during the height of Satanic panic. The West Memphis Three were three teenage boys convicted for heinous murders they did not commit. Those kids were easy for many to blame. They loved the “wrong” music. They wore the “wrong” clothes. And they read the “wrong” books. To many Americans they were pawns of the devil.
Satanic panic, a phenomenon akin to mass hysteria, is a type of moral panic. That term was first coined in 1972, and arose from the cultural causes that originally led to the frenzy. And yet its broad strokes apply to the world of 2022 same as it did the world of 1986. Here’s how Oxford Reference defines moral panic:
A mass movement based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behaviour or group of people is dangerously deviant and poses a threat to society’s values and interests. moral panics are generally fuelled by media coverage of social issues. The phenomenon was first described in 1972 in relation to the ‘Mods & Rockers’ groups of the 1960s. Since then moral panics have occurred in relation to ‘ritual satanic abuse’, that was perceived to be widespread in the 1980s, and paedophilia, which led to vigilante action against innocent people.
It’s impossible to read that and not think about how powerful institutions and people do those exact same things right now. And they almost always do so to the most vulnerable individuals and groups. Some politicians label the LGBTQ+ community as “groomers” to advance heinous agendas. Qanon, which has moved from the fringes of society to take root in the mainstream, whips its followers into an incoherent mania by claiming a secret cabal of powerful people engage in a worldwide child trafficking ring. That’s how a pizza restaurant ended up with an armed assailant showing up at its door looking for “victims” who don’t exist. And those who create these panics—whether on secular, religious, or both grounds—do so under the guise that they, and they alone, are moral leaders fighting the literal devil.
nerdist.com/article/stranger-things-satanic-panic-is-timely-history-moral-panic-hellfire-club-eddie/
STRANGER THINGS 4’S SATANIC PANIC FEELS TIMELY BECAUSE IT’S TIMELESS
The scariest moment from Stranger Things 4 Volume One had nothing to do with Vecna nor a Demogorgon. It did not take place in the Upside Down or involve even a drop of blood. It was during a small town meeting, when a frightened, angry high school student convinced his fellow citizens to hunt down a group of teenagers. In that horrifying moment Satanic panic truly came to Hawkins, Indiana. Just as it really did to the United States in the 1980s. But that scene, when a hateful mob blamed all its problems on a small band of powerless outcasts, resonated with such force because it felt so timely. Unfortunately the truth is that moment always will. Because our base instinct of “othering” strangers during times of trouble is timeless.
Stranger Things 3‘s final moments teased its coming Satanic panic with a news report. At the time we covered exactly what that event was. As well as (quite accurately) how it might play out on the Netflix series. But we couldn’t have predicted the real terror we’d feel watching it take place. Jason’s inflammatory speech to his equally petrified townsfolk was genuinely hard to watch. One person, with neither authority nor proof, convinced hundreds to track down a group of kids in a flash. All because those kids like to play a “strange” game.
That really did happen in the ’80s and ’90s. Fear about D&D—born of ignorance and exploited by pastors, politicians, and the media—contributed to the growing frenzy over a belief Satanic cults. And it threatened the very fabric of America itself. That irrational worry was not academic, either. The Hellfire Club’s Eddie is a fictional character running from the authorities. But this Stranger Things character is essentially based on very real kids who suffered that exact persecution during the height of Satanic panic. The West Memphis Three were three teenage boys convicted for heinous murders they did not commit. Those kids were easy for many to blame. They loved the “wrong” music. They wore the “wrong” clothes. And they read the “wrong” books. To many Americans they were pawns of the devil.
Satanic panic, a phenomenon akin to mass hysteria, is a type of moral panic. That term was first coined in 1972, and arose from the cultural causes that originally led to the frenzy. And yet its broad strokes apply to the world of 2022 same as it did the world of 1986. Here’s how Oxford Reference defines moral panic:
A mass movement based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behaviour or group of people is dangerously deviant and poses a threat to society’s values and interests. moral panics are generally fuelled by media coverage of social issues. The phenomenon was first described in 1972 in relation to the ‘Mods & Rockers’ groups of the 1960s. Since then moral panics have occurred in relation to ‘ritual satanic abuse’, that was perceived to be widespread in the 1980s, and paedophilia, which led to vigilante action against innocent people.
It’s impossible to read that and not think about how powerful institutions and people do those exact same things right now. And they almost always do so to the most vulnerable individuals and groups. Some politicians label the LGBTQ+ community as “groomers” to advance heinous agendas. Qanon, which has moved from the fringes of society to take root in the mainstream, whips its followers into an incoherent mania by claiming a secret cabal of powerful people engage in a worldwide child trafficking ring. That’s how a pizza restaurant ended up with an armed assailant showing up at its door looking for “victims” who don’t exist. And those who create these panics—whether on secular, religious, or both grounds—do so under the guise that they, and they alone, are moral leaders fighting the literal devil.
nerdist.com/article/stranger-things-satanic-panic-is-timely-history-moral-panic-hellfire-club-eddie/
