When “Stranger Things” debuted last year, it felt like a concentrated, binge-watchable dose of 1980s film splendor. That’s one reason the Netflix series became such a phenomenon — all those nostalgic nods to Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Stephen King.
But it wasn’t all homage. In fact, the creators, the Duffer Brothers, cleverly subverted some of the most typical tropes from movies of that era, which kept audiences guessing.
In light of the show’s Season 2 launch Friday, we look back at five of the 1980s movie rules “Stranger Things” tossed out the window.
• The absent-minded absentee parents:
Both in real life and onscreen, the 1980s were the era of the latchkey kids — little troublemakers who took full advantage of their working parents’ divided attentions. Think about the harried Mrs. Walsh trusting the weaselly Mouth to translate with her new helper Rosalita in “The Goonies” or Ferris Bueller’s clueless parents, whose work schedules (and starry-eyed adoration) blind them to their son’s “sick” day adventures.