A certain kiss in the second season of Stranger Things is under fire because of the way it came about – and this is your warning now that this post contains spoilers.
In the final episode, Max (Sadie Sink) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) share a kiss at the Hawkins Middle School Snow Ball. It’s a cute, sweet little moment that cements their relationship as something ~more~ than friendship.
But Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers are now facing backlash after the behind-the-scenes story of that kiss came out.
In the after show, Beyond Stranger Things 2, Sadie revealed that the kiss was never in the script, and was only added in after the Duffer brothers realised how uncomfortable it made her.
“It was not written in the script. The kiss was not written in the script,” she said. “I get there the first day of filming the Snow Ball, me and Noah [Schnapp] are walking in, seeing the decorations and stuff. One of you – I think it was you, Ross – was like, ‘Oh Sadie, you ready for the kiss?’ I’m like, ‘What? Nope! That’s not in the script. That’s not happening.’ And so the whole day I was stressed out.”
“You reacted so strongly to this. I was just joking,” replied Ross Duffer. “And you were so freaked out I was like oh, well, I gotta make you do it now. That’s what happened. That’s why it’s your fault.”
Their exchange was utterly light-hearted, but the idea that the kiss was added purely because it made her so uncomfortable – and that the Duffer brothers found this amusing – is raising concerns.
There is something messed up in the 2nd ep of the #StrangerThings aftershow that I want to address.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
The young actress who plays Max, Sadie Sink, is talking about having a kiss with [redacted] in the last episode.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
Duffer bro: “You reacted so strongly to this – I was just joking…you were so freaked out that I was like, ‘I GOTTA make her do this now.'”
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
The director, an adult man, saw that a teen girl was uncomfortable with a situation, which made him MORE EAGER to put her in the situation.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
A director’s job is to get the best performances from their actors AND make sure they feel safe and comfortable.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
Even if the kiss ended up being a nice moment, that’s still not the way to get that moment on film.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
I just wish women’s completely reasonable fears weren’t a source of amusement for so many men.
— fulumptutious lady (@ajlobster) October 31, 2017
Anna Marquardt‘s post has been resonating with people.
Holy shit. Minor spoiler in the thread but it speaks to the current harassment conversation. I hope Duffer Brothers examine their behavior. https://t.co/s4f5GKnPte
— Jill Pantozzi (@JillPantozzi) November 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/AlexSzele/status/927269110077186049
https://twitter.com/your_local_goth/status/927263698468483077
:/ i truly hope hollywood does better. esp with the recent allegations these things are rly starting to come off as creepy https://t.co/ursCqsaRCH
— ˗ˏˋ korein (@koreinkorein) November 3, 2017
I love Stranger Things. There are MORE than a few problems with it. This thread perfectly highlights one: https://t.co/M5L36WwI8g
— Katelyn Rose (@AKatelynrose) November 2, 2017
Neither the Duffer brothers or Sadie Sink herself have commented on the backlash, but we’ll keep you updated as and when.
