A new season of Stranger Things is upon us, and unfortunately, that always brings some baggage with it. As someone who has watched the show since it premiered on Netflix in 2016, I have witnessed the highs, lows, and questionable moments in real time. I have also seen this show unwittingly bring out the worst in its fandom. While I have many thoughts about all the problematic noise that surrounds the series, I am here with a very specific gripe today. I am not going to hold your hand when I say Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) is a racist. However, I will unpack some of the reasons I think it’s interesting that this fanbase (and some of the actors in this ridiculously large cast that should have been trimmed seasons ago) refuse to state the obvious.
Billy Hargrove Never Hides It
I get it. Billy Hargrove is hot when we first meet him in season 2. He looks like the typical ’80s heartthrob made famous by hotties of that bygone era. He could’ve easily been another Brat Pack actor next to Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Judd Nelson. However, all of that goes out of the window when we see how he abuses his step-sister, Max (Sadie Sink). We soon discover the bad boy image is not an act but simply one layer of this sociopath. Things quickly escalate in this season of Stranger Things, and Billy becomes the racist that Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) will have to face this time out.
While the rest of his supposed friends are battling supernatural evils, Lucas always ends up the target of local racists. I have given up on his sidequests being something less targeted, or for anyone but his little sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) to ever stick up for him. The squad will battle Vecna, but Lucas will have to fend off some version of Mike Pence as a child.
Remember Script Analysis?
Anyways, the Duffer Brothers make it very obvious that Billy is an awful human. He even tells Max, “There are certain types of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid, Max, that kid is one of them. You stay away from him, you hear me? Stay away.” This is before he decides to start taking a more hands-on approach with Lucas, much like he does with Max. However, too many fans like to paint the narrative that Billy isn’t a racist sociopath. They need him to be misunderstood, even broken, and would like to blame his abusive dad for the trauma he inflicts on his sister and one of the very few Black kids in town. As if all abused kids go on to be MAGA, and that pipeline is to blame for where we are now.
This isn’t helped by the actor also trying to get his character off the hook. His co-star’s comments on his acting being purposely misinterpreted is also another issue with this conversation. You can complement the complexities of a performance without excusing the character’s behavior. After all, villains can make for compelling TV when utilized correctly. Many viewers who want to romanticize this monster might not realize what they are doing. However, I cannot help but see it because I live in a world that loves to rewrite the facts.
Have You Watched the News?
Billy is much like all the other white guys who do horrendous things. Isms beget isms. Which is why when we see him level up from abusing Max to saying all of the racist parts aloud, I was not surprised. I was also not surprised at how much of the Stranger Things fandom is okay with him beating up on children. Society hates women and will always find a reason to justify racism. So, people can forgive and downplay what Billy does. That’s why many fans were happy to see him make his guest appearance in season 4. Meanwhile, the rest of us are being reminded that the internet, and this fandom specifically, are overwhelmingly white places.
A Tale of Two Actors
To counter Stranger Things fans’ love of Billy the Racist, let us look at how Dacre Montgomery gets treated compared to Caleb McLaughlin. McLaughlin is a member of the main cast and has been with the show since day one. However, his lines at cons are considerably emptier than his white counterparts. In the beginning, people pretended it wasn’t anti-Blackness. White fans claimed they didn’t like him because his character was mean to Eleven in the first season. I could write another essay on how he wasn’t mean, and even if he was, actors are not their characters. However, it doesn’t matter because we all know racism is the reason.
Meanwhile, Montgomery does very well. All of the people yelling about his character being misunderstood make their way to his table like he’s giving away money. How many times did we watch Billy abuse Max in various ways? How many times did we watch him abuse Lucas and escalate it to the point that only the most dense among us could miss the obvious racism on display? Yet, people still want those pictures and autographs. Coincidence?
Why This Bugs Me
As someone who cannot quit this show, I have been very vocal about my issues with Stranger Things. The refusal to kill any of the way too large main cast remains one of my biggest pet peeves. The Duffer Brothers having a hard time understanding that writing a period piece doesn’t necessarily mean you are writing for the audience of that era is also a bone of contention. Specifically, when Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) took photos of Nancy (Natalia Dyer) undressing without her knowledge. In today’s context, we understand that it is assault and a severe invasion of privacy and no longer let that slide.
I am also salty about how every racist who is an aspiring Fox News reporter in Hawkins, Indiana, finds Lucas each season. Which is why it is so wild that I think the biggest issue with Billy Hargrove is how many fans of the show receive him.
What It Says About Society
I think Billy could’ve been written with a little more subtlety. I am also again very tired of Lucas’ storyline always being about racism and attempted hate crimes. Why can’t he have magical fights in The Upsidedown like everyone else? Yet, what really salts my tines is the internet’s willingness to overlook bigotry and excuse hatred. It’s extra triggering as I am trying to survive this second Trump term. I watched this country fail as fools tweeted, “all the candidates are the same.” White feminism allowed hateful relatives a seat at the holiday tables after voting away the few rights most of us had. Meanwhile, Judy wanted to wear a blue bracelet to let you know she cares. However, she doesn’t care enough to be serious about any actual activism. The Stranger Things fandom is unsurprisingly a mirror of society.
The same people who look at white male terrorists and blame the girls who wouldn’t go to prom with them. Or the ones who think the Black victims of police brutality might be to blame for the cop’s reaction. Those are the people who don’t understand that Billy is a raging racist. I think this is one Stranger Things character that the Duffers might have put the most thought behind. It’s a shame the toxic fandom surrounding the show swallowed him up and learned nothing.