an idea that has been bugging me since Friday is forcing it’s way out to ya’ll
I just think Cancelled from the new taylor swift album is quintessential Stranger Things vibes (especially season 4) and let me tell you why.
Stranger Things is all about the outsiders and freaks turning out to be the ones keeping the world afloat and all of the characters end up ostracized from the popular and easily accepted public because of their differences, despite their differences being the reason the world didn’t end in season 2. And I think this line of thought translates beautifully into CANCELLED!
“you thought it would be okay, at first. The situation can be saved, of course” Eddie, for example, enters into the narrative completely by chance. He runs to avoid the cops, naturally, but what comes next?
“but they’d already picked out your grave and hearse, beware the wrath of masked crusaders” it took next to no time for everyone in town to rally together and decide that not only did he do it, they needed to kill him in response like a bunch of knock off vigilantes. there were definitely lots of people who had been looking for a chance to do this
“did you girl-boss too close to the sun? did they catch you having far too much fun?” screams Hellfire to me. Eddie stomping on tables to give speeches, the entire club having fun together while the rest of the world was publishing magazine articles about how D&D can make you a murderer. People with different interests than me having fun? hell no
“it’s easy to love you when you’re popular, the optics click, everyone prospers” king steve and s1 nancy as hell but also kind of s4 lucas
“but one single drop you’re off the roster, tone deaf and hot let’s fucking off her” steve and nancy both lost their friends, a few they’ve had for years, the second steve stopped partying and going along with townies who had fun embarrassing and torturing people.
“did you make a joke only a man could? were you just too smug for your own good?” nancy as hell. nancy was called princess by steve’s friends all through season 1 because she did well in school and hadn’t slept with anyone and his friends immediately saw that as her thinking herself too good for them, which was never true. also, her getting raked over the coals for actually trying to be a reporter by this misogynistic assholes in season 3
“or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight?” sounds weird but definitely makes me think of mike. mike haters always say he’s too whiny and selfish, which is kind of true but the man is a highly traumatized teenager. but he’s definitely the one labeled as overdramatic
“can’t you see my infamy loves company” so el. the reactions when she enters the bunker for the nina project
“now they’ve broken you like they’ve broken me, but shattered glass is a lot more sharp”welcoming Eddie into the group after he’s ostracized, all of the trauma and violence they’ve all been through making them more hardened to danger
“everyone’s got bodies in the attic” crazy kill count for the under 25 crowd in this show, can I just say
“we’ll take you by the hand, and soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught” somehow the only time any of them have been implicated in a crime is four seasons in, and it was definitely the lightest crime el ever committed. eddie needs to learn a thing or two from them
“i salute you if you’re much too much to handle” eddie specifically was seen as too much by the other students, because of the way he dresses and D&D but I think they all ended up being seen that way by others
“welcome to my underworld, where it gets quite dark, it’ll break your heart” i mean, do i even have to say it?
“at least you know exactly who your friends are, we’re the ones with matching scars” yet again, do i even have to say it?