I haven’t watched “Stranger Things,” but I’m aware of the premise, and the era. Recently there was a study that blasted the show for the amount of smoking that is portrayed. Really, people? Y’all don’t have anything better to complain about than the amount of instances of smoking shown in a TV show? To reference another post, the show is based in the 80s where public tobacco use was RAMPANT. This is the era where smoking was still allowed in public establishments, even before it was banned on airlines.

I also come from an era where your parents smoked right in front of you, and it was totally normal. For “Stranger Things” to not portray that wouldn’t be true to the era. Of course, no one gives a shit about historical accuracy when kids are involved, which begs the question: why the hell are your kids watching “Stranger Things?”

“Stranger Things” ain’t a kids show even though it looks like it. “Stranger Things” is for all the adults who were teens in the 80s and weren’t raised by technology like today’s kids.

The people who are bitching about this are the same generation of people who want to leave little Timmy or Janice unattended with an iPad because they can’t bother to find other means of keeping kids engaged. Then they get angry when the very technology they hoped would raise their kids for them gets them into trouble. You really can’t expect media to teach children right from wrong. It is on us to teach our children right from wrong. If you don’t want your children to smoke, maybe you should sit them down and have that discussion with them yourself instead of relying on TV and cinema to teach them that.

Good values begin in the home. I grew up with a bunch of shows and movies that wouldn’t be politically correct by today’s standards. My parents were always around the corner to remind me what was right and what was wrong. With that wisdom, I was always able to watch whatever knowing it was FICTION! A lot of fiction is representative of whatever era it’s based on, but none the less, FICTION.

The hypocrisy however couldn’t be any more obvious. Y’all are freaking about people smoking cigarettes in TV shows, but are perfectly fine with your child, or teen playing Call of Duty online with random strangers using far more graphic language. These are the same kids whose parent’s buy them GTA even after the Game Stop store clerk explains said parent in graphic detail all the crazy shit you can do in that game (I was there….). People are freaking out about tobacco use in a TV show, yet a lot of smut slips under the radar because we’re fighting the wrong battles.

Can we PLEASE find an more effective use of our time? This kind of behavior is why boomers call us snowflakes, and I can hardly blame them some days. Now Netflix is cutting down smoking instances in some of its shows because some company known for scare tactics put out a study that has sent the internet into a frenzy. I can’t wait to see what the outrage machine will pump out next. Most certainly something minuscule compared to some of the graver issues out there. But hey, let’s keep complaining that there is too much smoking in a TV show.

Stay classy…

 

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.