After years of playing a major role in the successful Netflix series, Stranger Things Caleb McLaughlin has opened up about how he’s been treated differently by the fandom.
He believes it all comes down to racism in the fandom.
Keep scrolling to find out more…
All things Stranger Things have been making headlines lately…
The 4th season has had everyone shook and the internet has become obsessed with each and every one of the cast members individually.
The newest season of the hit show has been exciting – to say the least.
In fact, even the show’s producer, Shawn Levy, announced that the new season was set to impress.
The team was even more “ambitious” with the script this time around…
“The Duffers and I want to share season 4 with the world as badly as the world wants it,” Levy told The Hollywood Reporter last year.
“Season 4 was built to be by far the most ambitious, cinematic, sprawling, and epic season that we’ve ever done.
“By not just a little — by a lot. So the complexity of Season 4, even before we had the obstacles, hurdles, and challenges of a pandemic, is taking a lot of time because it is super worth the wait.”
And worth the wait it was.
According to a leading tabloid, the final 2 episodes of the volume “feel more like a movie.”
But let’s take a deep dive into the cast, and how they’ve evolved from the start of the 1st season, which premiered back in 2016.
When the stars started out in the show, they were all just entering their teens, matching up pretty well with their characters’ ages. But now, they’re aged 17-20, while still playing fourteen-year-olds.
One Twitter user wrote: “Stranger Things is officially at the point where I cannot tell any of the kid characters’ ages. They all look 16 and/or 26, depending on the shot.”
Another wrote: “These kids in Stranger Things so old they got crows feet now.”
“Yo the Stranger Things kids be looking old lmao,” a third echoed.
Let’s start with Millie Bobby Brown.
Millie Bobby Brown plays Eleven. She was only twelve years old when the show started.
And here she is now!
She’s now eighteen years old, playing fourteen-year-old Eleven.
Now, the actor, who plays Will Byers in the show, is seventeen years old.
And he’s looking every bit the high-fashion model.
Finn Wolfhard was thirteen years old when the show began.
This little cutie plays Mike Wheeler in the show.
Now, Finn is nineteen years old.
His character, however, is just fifteen years old.
14-year-old Caleb McLaughlin joined the cast of Stranger Things back in 2016.
That smile is to die for!
She’s now an absolutely stunning 20-year-old woman.
Sadie plays sixteen-year-old Max Mayfield in season 4 of the show.
And, finally, we have Gaten Matarazzo.
He was just thirteen when the show kicked off in 2016.
Now, the star is nineteen years old.
He plays everyone’s favorite, Dustin Henderson in the show.
As for the older members of the group…
As for the older members of the group, Natalia Dyer is twenty-five, but Nancy Wheeler is eighteen.
Jonathan Byers, played by Charlie Heaton is roughly the same age as Nancy…
Despite being twenty-eight in real life.
Speaking about the characters’ age differences, the cast gave an interview with Today, Matarazzo (Dustin) said: “It’s something we’re always thinking about, but it’s something we work with pretty well I think.
“The characters are at transitional periods in their lives… it’s crazy to see what all of us looked like when we first started.”
Schnapp (Will Byers) added: “I remember in season two they told me you need to lower the pitch of your voice, you have to speak at a different level and stand shorter, I was like, ‘I can’t do that, I’m not like that anymore.'”
The second volume came out on July 1.
One character that has undoubtedly stolen the spotlight this season is Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn…
Joseph is thirty, playing a twenty-year-old.
His character, Eddie, is a nerdy metalhead that’s been kept back multiple times, failing to successfully graduate high school.
Throughout the show we see him develop from a D&D playing outcast or “freak,” as some call him, to one of the heroes of the series.
And one thing fans, understandably, can’t stop talking about is Eddie’s scene playing ‘Master of Puppets’ by Metallica.
In the finale, Eddie Munson whips out his beloved guitar and shreds the track in an attempt to distract the demobats so the gang can defeat Vecna.
It was an integral part of Eddie’s growth as a character, who played the iconic tune in tribute to Chrissy who succumbed to Vecna’s clutches.
And Metallica has since shared how “psyched” they were to learn that the Duffer Brothers incorporated their song.
Metallica’s bassist Robert Trujillo shared that it was his 17-year-old son Tye Trujillo we can hear play in the show.
“That’s my boy! Proud of ya Tye!,” Trujillo wrote on Instagram. “Stranger Things finale shredding it on ‘Master of Puppets’…”
You can see Metallica’s full post, as well as the incredible scene, here.
And while the majority of fans were excited that Metallica was once again entering the spotlight, others have tried to cancel the band online.
Some Stranger Things fans have taken it upon themselves to share some problematic moments from the band’s past.
The move began on TikTok when @serenatrueblood shared some unsavory details about the band members.
Particularly how their ex-bassist Jason Newsted allegedly gave a Nazi salute while performing onstage.
She also shared how the band mocked the death of Kurt Cobain shortly after he died.
James Hetfield has also been accused of racism after he allegedly referred to the rapper Ice-T using a racial slur.
Despite many TikTok users calling the band out, fans have rushed to their defense on Twitter.
Many have used the excuse that it was a “different time” back then.
Others hit back at Stranger Things fans, with one writing: “The fact Metallica welcomed and defended all the new fans that came from the stranger things fandom and they’ve gone and THROWN IT BACK IN THEIR FACES…”
Another wrote: “stranger things/Eddie stans trying to cancel Metallica now for their problematic past is funny to me idc.”
“The pipeline of TikTok teenagers discovering Metallica through Eddie Munson of Stranger Things and then a week later calling them out for being problematic is probably the funniest thing I have ever f****** seen,” a third wrote.
You can see the original TikTok that started the cancel train here.
In other news, Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Lucas Sinclair in the series, has opened up about the racism he’s faced while being part of the series.
Despite Lucas being one of the main roles throughout the series, Caleb feels he doesn’t get the same recognition as his peers.
Although he has been part of the OG gang from the start, it’s true that he has the least followers on social media compared to his co-stars.
He opened up about this during the Heroes Comic Con in Belgium, sharing that it had a big impact on him when he was starting out in the show.
Recalling a specific moment that stuck with him during a Q&A, Caleb said: “My very first Comic Com, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black.”
Adding: “Some people told me: ‘Oh, I didn’t want to be in line because you were mean to Eleven,’ even now some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black.”
“Sometimes overseas, you’ll feel the racism,” he went on.
“You’ll feel the bigotry, and sometimes it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand.”
He continued: “When I was younger, it definitely affected me a lot because — this is a deep conversation right now — you’re like: ‘Why am I the least favorite? The least amount of followers? I’m on the same show as everybody from Season 1,’” Caleb said.
“My parents had to be like: ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show,’” Caleb remembered. “Wow, that’s crazy. Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin I’m not loved?”
But he has the best response to those people…
He added: “That’s why, with my platform, I’m going to spread positivity and love because I’m not giving hate back to people who are giving hate to me.”
And it didn’t take long for social media users to back Caleb up after a video of his Q&A went viral.
One outraged fan wrote: “One of the reasons I kinda fell out of Stranger Things was how people continue to treat Caleb. It’s sickening. He’s a talented actor and people don’t give the same love as they do his white co-stars. It’s exhausting.”
You can watch the video here.
What do you think?