Is Stranger Things Queerbaiting? Let's Talk About Will Byers.

#StrangerThings #WillByers #LGBT
I had to talk about it, lol. Let me know what you think down below!

Thanks so much for watching and Gay the Force be with you, always!! 💫

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[sortingoutmyclothes]

What I would like, now that everyone is in the same town, is for Robin and Will to develop a relationship. Maybe she notices his queerness and becomes a sort of subtle mentor for him.

[edalder]

There is no queerbaiting here. I was a year younger than the "Stranger Things" kids during the 80's. Gay folks on TV were crazy, evil, had AIDS, or a combo of the three. Evangelicals and mainline churches said AIDS was God's punishment for being gay.

The private high school that I attended? The most powerful teacher was an open misogynist and homophobe. It was accepted and not challenged. The most realistic part of Will's arc is loneliness. He is in the closet out of fear. It has to be subtext because that is realistic for when Will and I were growing up.

If Steve Harrington strikes out flirting with a girl, the worst he gets is embarrassed. Back then, if I had hit on the wrong boy, I would have been beaten up or killed.

So many times, gay characters have been just "gay." That's it. That is the extent of the character. Will Byers is a person with conflicting emotions and needs. His loneliness and alienation were me as a kid.

Will Byers? I am seen and respected. When Jonathon finally validated Will, I broke down and cried. Adult me understand that I am a good man. But 13-14 me finally understood that 35 years later.

[willbeaty]

Loved your approach to this topic! From my perspective (elder millennial with Gen X husband) I tend to question the line between "queer coding" and "queer baiting." To me, queer coding has always been our fun little secret activity that homophobes don't even notice. Look at how many viewers still don't get why Will Byers is sad! It's an art form, and a media literacy skillset that is being lost.

[TetPnk]

I absolutely loved your level-headed approach to this topic. Queerbaiting is a big issue and it's hard to talk about without getting emotional but like you said, I don't think Netflix is censoring this story I think whatever arc they have planned is something that Netflix will allow. Don't forget the show take place in the 80s too! Loved the more unscripted approach btw :)

[justbirdthings]

My real issue with how Will was handled was that his unrequited (and extremely painful) feelings were used to advance a hetero plot. That felt really ick and hopefully they'll do something to fix it in S5.

[foolgazer]

First of all... YOUR HAIR 😍 Second, I love your take on this with reminding us that it's not our story to tell. I think if anyone is to get bothered over the story, queerbaiting, etc, then it makes sense to at least wait until we've seen season 5.

So far, they really have done a spectacular job at the realistic process of discovering your feelings, and given that I'm 26 and still haven't "come out" to any of my family and likely never will (i don't feel like I need to state my preferences outright), i could see it feeling rushed if s5 is too explicit about it. Sadly, bc of course I'd love a gay filled ending.
Still greatly hoping for some tender Byler intimacy with some longing stares and sweet words though!!

[cowcorners]

I hope you're right that its ultimately not queer baiting, because so far I don't think it can be ruled out. I have been hurt so many times with relationships that were strongly implied to be queer but ultimately were not, and it hurts so much every time. I can't help but be guarded. I wish they would say something textually to make Will's queerness real because until they do that, I just can't trust straight creators

[heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy]

As a big Will Byers fan, and as a closeted lesbian, i loved the video i agree in many things (and i also love your energy! :))

[lindseyborgeson]

SUCH a beautifully nuanced take on a loaded conversation - love love love you and this video and any and all ST content ❤️

[Joy-zglv]

hey, would wonder if you could do one with mike as well? not really a queerbaiting, but maybe have a video essay just trying to make sense of the whole fact that mike, does not seem interested in women at all? im not a dude and i do like women and men, so i dont know how it feels to not like women sadly, but i can tell that mike is probably queer feom the fact that: most of mikes 'homophobic' interactions with will he seems to be projecting, like in season four episode two he goes 'were friends were friends!' but he doesnt know will feelings for him and clearly will didnt mean it romantically for his reaction was 'we use to be best friends' i just wanna hear your thoughts on mike wheelers (most likely) internalized homophobia and byler,

your video was really fun to watch and your points are like the same point i have :))

[Jollimorerebecca]

I have been hoping and waiting for your take on will and queer baiting. As a Straight woman I wanted to opinion of somebody who is queer.
And YES please do a rant on fan entitlement this is one of my biggest irritations in many fandoms

[AldenDiaz]

Wonderful, eloquent work, my friend. Loved this whole exploration.

[eleegee]

I watched this video around when it first came out and revisited it now, I still agree with you 100%! I love that you acknowledge the nuance of this situation, and also the toxicity of some fans.. It was just really refreshing to hear a take like this! I’ll definitely be checking out more videos, the world needs more queer nerds c:

[brendanbitler]

I only just found your channel through this video and am already OBSESSED with it as I too am a Gay Star Wars Fan so I am definitely excited to continue watching your videos in the future!! 🥰
As for Will… It is so nice to find another person who loves Will as much as I do!!! As soon as I saw him I knew that if I was a character in this show I would DEFINITELY be Will… I always had my group of friends but was never the leader but was always known to be there for everyone else before taking care of myself. And his journey so far as to discovering his sexuality has been VERY similar to my own journey and every single trait that he has in every single season is the exact same way that I was at that stage in my life as well. I’ve never seen a character that I relate to more and I just hope that Will finally gets to be happy once the show is done. 🤞🏻
I totally agree with your comment about Will feeling like a Gay younger brother. I feel the exact same way about him!! He needs to be protected at all costs! 💞

[istherelifeon]

This is the first video of yours that I watch and it's an instant subscribe. I like how you talk about things. I also agree with the points you brought up. I think I agreed with pretty much everything, yeah. I've also been doing some thinking about this recently and I definitely don't think the show is queerbaiting or doing a bad job with their queer characters because idk somehow watching ST made me start to realise I might be lesbian and not bi...??? So I think they show very relatable queer experiences.

I also like that Will hasn't like "officially" come out because like you said, he's been dealing with much so it would feel kind of sudden for him to be so explicit with that. idk maybe I am projecting but it feels to me like he's just not there yet, not ready, you know? ESPECIALLY in the context he's in. I mean society being what it was, and him being bullied because people just assumed he was gay and his dad being mean to him about it. Like, he's got a lot to come to terms with :(. I mean I get anxiety about my sexuality and I live in vastly more accepting times, so it must be immense for him. And I think the writers are showing that! They're showing us how hard it's to deal with and that the struggle of self acceptance is an important part of Will's character arc... which is why it makes sense for it to be resolved in season 5. I mean it's kind of been building up since season 1.

I know a lot of people wanted it to be explicitly said he's gay but to me it feels like they did just that--he said what he was ready to say. And that's okay. And like you I think we'll see more of it in season 5. I think his internal process in season 4 was an important stepping stone for season 5. Baby steps, you know? I get that we all want queer rep but in the end every story has its own narrative, every character has their arc and those shouldn't be dictated by what the audience wants but what the story needs, I feel like. And like I said, Will's journey is really relatable (minus interdimensional kidnapping and possesion) and isn't that what's important? Rather than focusing on if certain words are being said or confessions are being made, isn't the big point wether or not the representation feels real and relatable?

Am I making sense? HAh. I don't usually ramble like this in comments but I really liked your video soooo I wanted to share my thoughts too. I probably missed some things. Anyways, thanks for a good video :)

[ozztth]

i am an avid byler shipper and i really hope it happens, it’s scary to imagine him coming out to mike and confessing just for mike to not support or reciprocate 🥲 i feel like it might be an IT situation where one dies without the other being able to confess and i am scared

i feel like their promo of posting byler so often and the writers tweeting stuff and having the “byler won’t write itself” thing on the sign could very easily be queerbaiting for mikes pov. there’s a lot of subtext throughout the show for mike as well and i love it and want it to work out!! like one that i like is the same song that played when robin came out is the same song that played when el told mike she loves him for the first time and he was visibly uncomfortable. and the background work, the lighting, shots, outfits, etc.

i feel like it would be so cool to have someone so deep in the internalized homophobia and see how that gets portrayed and how he grows from it

[MoRPho]

I loved all about Will in S4, I loved all about his journey discovery and is a very realistic one. What I didn´t like so much is the handling they did with the love triangle with Mike, and how some people have being (maybe unintentionally) leaded to think that Mike could be interested into reciprocate him. What I hope is that after coming out, they give Will a love interested after the time skip.

[PumpkinReid]

I really love this video and have now subscribed, I totally agree with all of your points! This was well put together <3
I do hope Will has a romance next season, we've had some straight couples already and it would be nice to have a LGBTQ+ couple, even if they're only out to family or friends.
I also have a theory and hope for the next season.

Potential future spoilers, since it's a theory, just like mentioned in the video, please read ahead only if you're okay with a potential important plot and characters being spoiled.
I don't wanna spoil Stranger Things and/or these amazing, intriguing characters for anyone.

Thanks to another channel, I now believe there's a closeted character that could (not sure but hoping) be with Will, or at least would give us another LGBTQ+ perspective and story. There's quite a bit of evidence for it and once I saw it I couldn't unsee it.
There's a perspective within the LGBTQ+ community which can be and is difficult to talk about and that would be inner homophobia (hugs to anyone uncomfortable by this).

All I'm going to say is...
Mike.
There's a specific scene within season 4 that has a song play which has an interesting name.
"In the closet" and there are so many things but I don't wish to go on forever.
Thanks for reading if you got this far!

I love Will and hope he gets more plot next season!! Whether its romantic, his own personal journey or being more involved with upside down villains. Seriously the dude has got get some kinda payback.

[kristenhoward]

I love your perspective and I love your idea for Will’s coming out scene. From a cis straight perspective, I love when stories take a nuanced, contextualized approach to a characters journey of self-discovery and how they share that with others because it allows me to better understand and empathize and connect with real life people who have similar lived experiences. And it deepens my understanding of the broader context like you were talking about in terms of how hard it was for people to come out in the 80s in a society that was demonizing and condemning the gay community.

[erinokay]

Just wanted to add that the cast implied from before the release of season 4 that will was going to be “very interested” in another member of the group. Like it was heavily implied that he had a romantic interest. So we know that the claim that they were being reactive in claiming Will is gay is debunked! This isn’t a black Hermione situation!