Saturday Night Live’s latest episode, hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda, showed Stranger Things’ fans the whereabouts of Lucas Sinclair’s family. The comedy sketch gave viewers of Netflix’s web TV series the answer to one of the many unsolved mysteries in Season 1.
Sasheer Zamata played African-American character, Lucas Sinclair, while Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson portrayed Sinclair’s suspicious parents. In the sketch, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair finally find Lucas after endlessly looking for him throughout the show’s first season.
Lucas urges them to find the Upside-Down, an alternative dimension of the normal world but scarier and very dangerous. Tired of the search, they don’t seem as thrilled as his son about such a place. The Sinclairs tell Lucas that people who look like them already live in the Upside-Down.
Kate McKinnon then shows up as Eleven, the mysterious nose-bleeding girl who claims to know Will’s location (he’s at the Upside-Down). Eleven uses her telekinetic powers to freeze Mr. Sinclair, who doesn’t look all that scared until seeing Police Chief Jim Hopper.
Mr. Sinclair screams in terror when the cop enters the scene, calling him a monster. The Sinclairs then put their hands up in reference to police brutality and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Black Lives Matter protests against violence and systemic racism toward black people
Originating in the African-American community, BLM began in 2013 with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media. It was a way of protesting the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin.
However, the movement became nationally recognized in 2014 for its street demonstrations condemning the killings of African Americans Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The shooting of Brown resulted in the Ferguson unrest.
Ever since then, BLM partakers have protested against the deaths of several other African Americans due to police brutality. They also campaign against other types of abuses like racial profiling and ethnic inequality in the United States criminal justice system.
Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things is an homage to 1980s pop culture
Set in the 1980s, a time of turmoil for American minorities, and featuring a black lead, for many the strangest thing in Stranger Things is that the show doesn’t address any racial tension whatsoever. But whether SNL’s sketch wanted to tackle racism or criticize the show’s lack of racial-related issues (or both) is up to interpretation.
Racism aside, Stranger Things revolves around the disappearance of Will Byers, whom his friends are looking for with the help of Eleven and her telekinetic powers. Will’s older brother and mother, along with the town police chief, are also trying to find him.
Starring Winona Ryder as Will’s mom, Netflix released Stranger Things back in July. The entertainment company renewed the series for a second season of nine episodes (one more than Season 1) in August. Season 2 will premiere in 2017.
Source: Entertainment Weekly