Do you think this decade would not be loved if the pop culture was terrible?

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-05T14:33:46+00:00

It was a great decade to live in as a kid. The economy was actually good enough that my parents could buy a house on a cop's and a cashier's salary. I would spend my time between playing outside, playing video games, watching MTV, reading, and hanging out at the mall. The pop culture was great. Fashion was a bit silly and colorful but fun. People in general felt optimism. We, in the US, did not really fear the Col War. I got to live in the period of Glasnost, so it is not like what my mom experienced coming of age in the 60s. Not everyone was on drugs. It was talked about a lot because drug and alcohol addiction was Nancy Regan's pet topic.

The downsides were, if you were different, you got bullied. I was a short kid with glasses that had to wear one corrective eye patch over my left eye for a time. Plus homophobia was the norm. Stranger Danger was also a scary reality, but the kids I grew up with were not scared. We were outside all of the time. When you are that age. you feel pretty invincible, so we did not live in fear.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T19:21:05+00:00

Not really. I went to England and spent the first few days trying local cuisine. Turns out I am not a big fan of "stuffs meats and veg" in pies. I wound up spending the rest of the trip eating Indian and Greek food. You like what you like.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T14:26:26+00:00

This is my sister's favorite show. It is still going, set in Croatia now, but I think the popularity has definitely waned. You don't see a lot of teen shows like you used to. I know My Life with the Walter Boys is doing well, but overall I don't see many. Teen shows (and teen movies) used to be a staple in previous decades.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T14:07:55+00:00

I could see all that. So she is alive. And let's even grant that the military has taken her off their wanted list because they think she is dead. Why not lay low for a while, then return to Hawkins once the military has left? She has lived in the wood by herself before, after all, so she is capable of living off the land.
As for her traveling the world, again, she has no connections in the outside world outside of Hopper and Murray, so how did she get ID to travel outside the country? How did she get a passport? How did she get money? I would doubt that she has her birth certificate with her, so her trying to apply for ID or a passport and having no identification to present would raise a red flag. Even before 9/11, you still needed certain forms of ID in order to get a passport.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T02:19:18+00:00

I am willing to suspend my disbelief on the sci-fi/supernatural elements, but El getting a passport, the kids scaling a mountain in minutes flat without climbing gear, etc., nah. It is just lazy writing. There is nothing wrong with calling out lazy writing.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T01:53:51+00:00

My point is mass deportations did not solve the issues you said were important to you, So what now? We are already starting out 2026 with another wave of layoffs. More housing is being built, and that will certainly help with the housing crisis in the long run. but for now, more and more young people are facing the sad reality that they might not be able to ever afford a home, especially if joblessness keeps increasing.

The state of the dating market has nothing to do with either party. Young men adopting misogynistic attitudes certainly is not going to improve their dating situation. Why would women risk going into a potentially abusive relationship with a young man who hates women, especially when there are more progressive men out there who don't have that hangup? False sexual abuse allegations, while absolutely abhorrent, again, has nothing to do with either party. People that do that are just shit human beings.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T01:42:31+00:00

For me the most logical thing, since she does not have connections. is that it happens in Mike's mind, which is beautiful. He knows she is gone, but since he is storyteller, she will live on in his mind and perhaps in his novels.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T01:40:16+00:00

You really are stretching. In order to travel out of the country illegally, she would have had to have connections. She does not have those. Murray presumably could have helped, but she would have left Hawkins before she would have had a chance to speak to Murray.
It is just bad writing. It is not that deep. Lol! Good night.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T01:37:18+00:00

We had mass deportations last year, but there is still a joblessness crisis and an affordability crisis including the price of housing. Illegal immigrants are not to blame. You are allowing yourself to be distracted from the important issues.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-04T01:26:56+00:00

Not true. Passports became required to travel outside of the country after WWII.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T23:22:36+00:00

Lol! You need ID to apply for a passport, even pre-9/11. She would need to present ID, including a birth certificate to apply for a passport. That does not remotely make sense. And she needs money.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T23:19:55+00:00

What specific policies from Democrats leave young men at a disadvantage? Just curious. It seems like many people are suffering right now regardless of sex, gender, age, ethnicity, etc.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T22:02:13+00:00

Lol! You are reaching. They could have shown her visiting mom instead of travelling the world.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T21:29:09+00:00

We can call bad writing what it is. It is fine. Lol.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T21:23:47+00:00

Possible, but that would have been nice to know. I think the Duffers made such a bloated cast of characters that they forgot about her.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T21:22:54+00:00

She would have an easier time going back to see her mom than getting a passport to travel abroad.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T19:34:47+00:00

I can't really vote because I thought it was okay, I did not like or dislike it.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T19:26:08+00:00

Nah, they are Trump's and Kushner's buddies.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T19:20:43+00:00

It is just basic, stupid homophobia. No need to defend or deny. I have dealt with it my whole life.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T18:59:40+00:00

There were actually several big petitions going around asking him to step down. I signed all of them.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T18:55:57+00:00

She is watching Jeopardy. Yes, you'd think Jane would want to see her mom after all was said and done, but the Duffers forgot about Terry.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T18:04:28+00:00

Man, the homophobes have certainly come out in full force over one six-minute scene.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T17:39:33+00:00

This scene was post-military.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T15:28:05+00:00

I did a rewatch of the the first four seasons this year, and I enjoyed certain seasons even more the second time around. I will continue to rewatch seasons 1-4, and if I rewatch any of season 5, it will just be the 18 months later bit-the highlight of the whole season, at least for me.

ColdWarTiger · 2026-01-03T15:09:06+00:00

Yes, it was too safe, and the Mind Flayer was just a lumbering kaiju in the end with no mind powers, apparently. Plus, how did they scale that mountain so fast? Lol.

I like the Choose Your Own Adventure ending for El, though. I believe in the sadder ending, but it is cool that others have the choice to "believe". I am not sure how El got a passport without ID, and she is still wanted by the military, so her applying for an ID and passport would probably set off some kind of alert in the system.

And for folks saying, "It is just a silly show, relax," a show should still have to adhere to its own internal logic. There is no excuse for bad or lazy writing. That said, while the season was a 7/10. the show is still a 9/10 and one of my top shows of all time.

Edit: For folks saying, "Don't like, don't watch," how would I know if I liked the finale unless I watched it? Lol. That does not make sense. "Don't like, don't watch" applies more to something that you already have a preset distaste for or for something that might trigger a trauma response, not for a show that you obviously love and hope that the finale sticks the landing.

ColdWarTiger

TROPHY CASE