Stranger Things S4: Stress explained!

The world is growing by leaps and bounds and with that, while old problems are on the verge of extinction, novice creations of modern-day problems emerge, thanks to the environment created by cutting-edge instruments. Solving this unprecedented and now ubiquitous problem is a big deal and the latest season of Stranger Things is beautifully trying its way to tell the tale of this concept as well as showing us paths to come out from this colossal web of dark and imagined thoughts. Let me paint a picture here of how this season is connected to the “stress” and its solutions!

Vecna is the Stress!

The scariest villain in vogue is undoubtedly none other than Vecna, right!? I mean how ironic it is that the origin of Vecna is due to troubled childhood and stress from the laboratory testing. As the name suggests - Dark wizard and The undead creature with great power, it exactly works like that, manipulating and compelling people into its own thoughts and in its web of illusions. Vecna here is depicted as the modern-day stress and anxiety which destroys our lives by kidnapping us into another magical world full of negativity.

Victims of Vecna!

In Stranger Things season 4, there are 4 individuals who later one by one became the victims of Vecna for different reasons. Let me clarify and elaborate on how and why? First of all, Chrissy, Chrissy is already surviving the body dysmorphic disorder, starts to have complex and scary thoughts and to prevent that eventually, she ends up with the drugs. These thoughts worked like a charm for Vecna since they broke Chrissy and Vecna succeeded in the task. And do notice here that when Chrissy goes for the drugs which is obviously the wrong way to deal with this stressed life but at that point Vecna attacks Chrissy.

The next victim is Fred, a teenage boy with guilt and stressed thoughts about his involvement in a fatal car accident. Another one was Patrick and likely reasons to qualify in the list of Vecna were familial abuses. The major and interesting arc of choosing Max as a contender for Vecna’s play is because she was having negative, guilty, and regretful thoughts about his brother’s unlikely death. So are you getting the sequence here or common ground on which bases Vecna aka Stress works!? Of course, it’s the basic overthinking about past bad memories which makes a person so exhausted that it becomes easy for Vecna to make people from this background play-toys, and in the end, when it gets bored Vecna destroys the toys.

Beautiful Depiction of Solutions!

Despite becoming the new member of Vecna’s team, Max brilliantly escapes in the first trial with the crucial help of Music and especially her favorite “Running up that Hill” by Kate Bush. This proves that music plays a vital part in removing or escaping the stress in our real-life since it gives us the joyful beats on which we can move our bodies matching with the rhythms as well as we can escape from the bombardment of stressed thoughts by concentrating on the articulation of music and its lyrics. Moreover, music takes us back to those happy memories we spent with special people on special occasions and that helps us to live in a positive aura.

The most important thing while depressed or stressed is the touch and support of friends and family which are showcased here in a fantastic way. While Max was under the spell of Vecna, her friends were supporting her with a full-fledged plan and acting in the perfect synergy, her best friend Eleven was helping her through the piggyback method by fighting Vecna in her mind, and her guardians like Jim and Joyce were fighting connected demogorgons in Russia. Not only does this show that kith and kins are there to give you a soldier and mental support but also they’ll help you from wherever they are and whenever they can. So one should not dwell in the deep sea of depression at least for a longer period of time.

Lastly, it is without a doubt the bravest act when Max, even though having fear, goes full front to face and eradicate Vecna once and for all, again after the fortunate and rare escape the first time. That moment is an inspiration for a whole bunch of people, mostly the younger generation, that one should not give up and be the victim of stress but face it and fight it with your full potential.

In a nutshell, present-day shows are thankfully directing audiences to the influential factors and vital problems, trending in our societies which should be taken care of on an individual level to move forward with the happiest and widest smile on our faces. Grasp the positives as much as you can!