“Mom, you’ve got to stay calm.” Wise, yet unheeded advice, given to Joyce Byers by her teenage son, Jonathan in the eight-part Netflix Original Series “Stranger Things.”
It was a bit much. All of her wide-eyed facial expressions. All. The. Time.
And the crying? So much crying, and yelling, and exaggerated chopping hand motions. And shaking; as if her character was in a constant state of caffeine overdose. Good grief. Have another smoke. (That’s not an endorsement of smoking…the series is based in the 1980’s when smoking was a common thing).
In her return to the screen, small though it is, Winona Ryder plays it large as Joyce Byers. Was she over-acting, or was this a realistic representation of the crazed state of her character?
The producer, director, and Winona, herself, discuss her character in this short clip:
Still, despite my recoil at her unceasing, wired and crazed portrayal, Joyce is my hero.
If you haven’t seen the Stranger Things series, then do yourself a favor a watch it. Warning: It involves a suspenseful sort of scary that gives the person the willies. There’s also a fair amount of swearing and smoking, so it’s not for kids even though kids play a major role. Bookmark this page and read this post after you’ve watched the series ’cause there’s gonna be a whole lot of spoilers to follow.
Scary shows are not my usual thing, but I was intrigued by the throwback to the ’80’s. My husband, a child of the 80’s, obligingly watched the series first so he could tell me if he thought I could “handle it.”
When I asked him about it I thought he was going to swoon as he described the beginning credits. Those electric synths, the pulsating rhythm, the red, hollow serif font and climactic build-up. It’s too much! Oh, the nostalgia!
My husband figured I could “handle it,” and he agreed to watch it with me. You know, because it’s scary.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!
Winona’s character, Joyce, appears in the first episode. She’s a single mom with two sons; one teenager and one elementary age. She works hard, so much so, that her kids pretty much parent themselves. Actually, many of the kids seem to parent themselves. Let me point out that throughout the series, parents do a pretty poor job of parenting, as it seems the kids do whatever they like without any intervention from their parents. One teenager, Barb, goes missing, and her mom doesn’t seem to realize it for days. I guess it was the eighties, after all. I grew up in that decade, when it was normal to run wild. Still, if there had been children disappearing (as in the show,) I think my parents would have kept me indoors.
Anyway, I digress.
In that first episode, Joyce’s son, Will, is “taken” by a mysterious creature originating from a lab at The Department of Energy (because what’s a good ’80’s throwback without a little government conspiracy?).
By the end of that first episode, Winona’s character has transformed from a stressed, overworked, caring mother, to an insane, frantic and obsessed mother whose son is missing.
Hero Reason #1: She trusts her “gut” and never gives up
From the get-go, Joyce knows something is wrong, when her son is discovered to be missing. When the sheriff tells her that her son is more-than-likely just playing hooky or playing a prank, she firmly discounts his theories and convinces him to take action.
Then, when Will’s body is found (which turns out to be a fake) she instinctively knows it is not him and refuses to accept that outcome, despite the overwhelming evidence.
Hero Reason #2: She pursues her son, even when people think she’s crazy
After the funeral of her son, everyone tells Joyce to give up, that her son is gone, but she continues searching for Will. She is relentless, as she has seen enough evidence that proves–to her–that he is alive. So she keeps going. She travels down any path that may lead to her son, regardless of how strange it may be. Like painting the alphabet on her wall in large letters and talking to a ball of Christmas lights.
Hero Reason #3: She cares for El
Remember the scene in the school when El travels to the Upside Down in search of Will? After she returns, El is exhausted and collapses. In a very tender moment, Joyce embraces El, as if she were her own. I could nearly feel El melt into Winona’s arms as she receives, perhaps for the first time, a warm embrace. Despite the chaos around and her own grief, worry, and anxiety, Joyce reached out to a child in need.
Hero Reason #4: She goes after her son in the “Upside Down”
Uh, there’s NO WAY I would go into the Upside Down except, like Joyce, to go after my child. Only a mother (or father) would enter a world filled with darkness and a monster of unprecedented ick factor to find a child. She walked through the Upside Down like a boss. Crazed eyes and all. In fact, it seemed she became more calm the closer she got to Will. Anyone else get that feeling?
Moms in “Stranger Things” receiving an honorable mention:
Karen Wheeler, mom of Mike and Karen, holds her family together, no thanks to her emotionally unattached and uninvolved husband. One could argue; however, that the Wheeler parents are fairly clueless, since they never realize there is a young girl living in their basement. Still, Karen does a great job of confronting teenage Karen about her choices, but not so much as to alienate her daughter.
Terry Ives, El’s mother, fights for her child even though she is told the child died. (Of course, we know the child don’t die, but was rather abducted by the creepy scientist man.) Terry’s mind is broken from heartache and the myriad of drugs taken as part of the same experiments of which her daughter is now a part. This story line doesn’t neatly resolve in Season 1, so I wonder if Terry will be back for Season 2, as we discover more about the mysteries surrounding El.
What did you like (or not) about Stranger Things? The nostalgia? The kids? The scare? The reminder of your own coming of age years? The conspiracy? The mystery? What do you think is gonna happen in Season 2?
Tell me in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!
