'Stranger Things 3's' Teenage Purgatory

'Stranger Things 3's' teenage purgatory

Hunter Ingram StarNews Staff

[WARNING: This story contains mild spoilers from "Strangers Things 3." Only read if you have watched the new season or don't mind being spoiled.]

Being young, gay and confused about what it all means can feel like the weight of the world bearing down on your shoulders.

For Will Byers, that internal crisis is only amplified as the actual fate of the world sits on his shoulders and his soul – yet again – in Netflix’s “Stranger Things 3,” the third season of the wildly popular nostalgia-tinged sci-fi series.

In many ways, Will (played with earnest emotion and incredible range by Noah Schnapp) is the heartbeat of the beloved series. Sure, superhuman Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who now has two evil KOs under her belt, is the breakout of the show. But it’s Will who acts as the story’s catalyst, having first been pulled into the Upside Down in season one and forever branded with a connection to the grim parallel dimension.

Yet, there’s another element of Will’s story that informs what has become a near-constant fight to understand who he is – it’s possible Will is gay.

It’s a notion that was briefly hinted at in the first season, sparking plenty of online theorizing and postulating about whether or not the shy teen’s journey to another dimension and back was all one big metaphor for the internalized struggle of coming to terms with one’s own sexual identity.

That theory is given its best credence yet in season three's third episode, when Will’s best friend, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), puts him down in an argument over their friendship and girls by blurting out it's not his fault Will doesn’t like them.

It's a jarring but fleeting moment between the two strained BFFs, one followed with a few seconds of silence as they process the once-unspoken truth now suddenly voiced out loud.

Mike wields this information as a weapon, not because he doesn't accept Will, but as a selfish defensive measure. He apologizes, but Will still retreats to his once-safe space, Castle Byers, only to realize its yet another reminder of the childhood and the innocence that has been stolen from him repeatedly.

Through tears and screams (again, Schnapp is incredible), he takes a baseball bat to his hideaway and tears a picture of him and his friends to shreds – and who can blame him?

Will has been kidnapped and sent to another dimension, rescued and returned home only to be possessed by the very darkness that imprisoned him and then subjected to an exorcism. Through it all, it was his family, friends and those endless days crowded around the table playing Dungeons & Dragons that tethered him to his home, even as it slipped further away.

Much of the first part of season three sees him all but begging his friends to forget their newfound hormones and girlfriends to play D&D and just be kids again – you know, like the old days before they were thrust into an inter-dimensional battle with world-ending stakes. As that chance for some familiar sense of normalcy fades away, Will is unsure where he can take shelter anymore.

That’s how it can feel coming to terms with being gay. For those who struggle with it, as so many do, any threat to the fragile existence you build for yourself to get through the day and feel OK can be overwhelming. Like watching your glass house crack all at once – or worse, in excruciating slow motion.

For three years now, Will has been a stranger in his own body, sharing it not only with a supernatural presence trying to use their bond to infiltrate our world, but also with an all-too-familiar anxiety about who he is – something we all feel, gay or not.

But what’s more unsettling is seeing how Will has found his new normal in the chaos.

As soon as he realizes the threat of the Mind Flayer has reawakened, he buries his hurt, confusion and anger in the name of saving the world. He deflects apologies from his friends because there’s work to be done.

That self-sacrifice for the greater good of those around you is something the LGBT community also has plenty of experience in. So often, we are forced – or feel obligated – to push our own self exploration deep down to make it easier for those around us, casting aside the important work we owe ourselves to find out who we are.

The third season of “Stranger Things” doesn’t spend much time with Will’s journey and that's a shame, especially considering it was through his struggle that were first introduced to this wild world. His story is even given less narrative attention than Robin's own coming out revelation late in the season.

But if you’ve personally experienced the trials of a sexual identity crisis, you recognize the subtext.

Feeling comfortable in your own skin can be a lifelong journey, one that can seem as though someone has turned your life upside down. In Hawkins, Will Byers knows that better than anyone.

Wilmington Star-News

'Stranger Things 3's' teenage purgatory

In the new season of Netflix's smash hit, Will Byers' once again feels the weight of the world – and himself.