This article will contain spoilers for Stranger Things 4 in its entirety.
Stranger Things fans have been left feeling upset, as they claim that they have been “queerbaited” by the show, in regards to Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). They have every right to be. Before we go into that however, let’s go over what queerbaiting is and why it’s so harmful.
Queerbaiting is a term made popular on the internet, defined as: “A marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBT representation.” In media, queer representation shows that queer people can be a part of the narrative, more importantly, giving young queer people someone that they can relate to. When queerbaiting is used, queer people feel manipulated into having spent time watching something for there to be no representation at all. It tells queer audiences that people like them simply do not exist in media.
You might be saying, “there’s already a confirmed queer character in Stranger Things (Robin) so they aren’t queerbaiting!” Though this article will primarily address queerbaiting in relation to Will, let me address this briefly: Just because there is one confirmed LGBTQ+ character in a show, it does not mean that the writers and marketing team are not using queerbaiting to imply that other characters are LGBTQ+.
Will has been the target of homophobic bullying, and called several homophobic slurs, since the first season of the show. The straight characters use nearly every slur in the book (while Robin doesn’t even get to call herself a lesbian onscreen). In the third season, he also seems completely uninterested in girls, leaving him excluded from his friends and prompting Mike to tell him outright “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”.
A lot of fans have said that Will is “queer-coded”, which means that there is subtext in his character that implies he is not straight. The discussion of Will’s sexuality spread like wildfire online, leading to the writers of the show to confirm in several interviews that they will address Will’s sexuality in season four. Even the actors in pre-season interviews were heavily implying that Will was gay. One particular interview featured this exchange between David Harbour and Finn Wolfhard:
David: If you’ve been watching the show, you’d know Will isn’t interested in El, he’s interested in someone else in the group.
Finn: (laughs) Yeah, you’ll see soon.
This, in turn, led to several articles being published claiming that Will’s sexuality would be addressed in the upcoming fourth season. In the run up to part one of the season coming out, fans were excited to have their theories be confirmed, and to finally get the representation they had seen through subtext for so long. Then… crickets.
Other than an odd line or two about feeling different from his peers, nothing explicitly showed that Will was gay. The natural conclusion was that while fans were feeling kind of unfulfilled, perhaps this would lead on to a realisation that he is queer, or that he would come out in the two episodes which hadn’t been released.
Now the full season has been released, we know two things. Firstly, that the painting was for Mike. In a monologue, Will says that it was Eleven’s idea, substituting himself for her in the speech to communicate his feelings about how he’ll always need Mike and that Mike makes him feel better about being different. Secondly, we don’t get a queer realisation moment or a coming out scene. Let’s address the first point: Will wants Mike to be happy in his relationship with Eleven and lets Eleven take credit for the painting’s meaning. Later on, Mike tells Eleven almost verbatim Will’s speech: that she’s “the heart of the group” which prompts them to make up after falling out, all the while Will is clearly suffering.
The writers use queer suffering as not only a plot point for Will’s character arc this season but have also demoted Will to relationship counsellor for a heterosexual relationship. Rather than treat Will as a character, he’s become a plot device. What’s more insidious is that this lessening of his character only really started once rumours about his sexuality became mainstream. It shows young queer audiences that being queer is having to suffer; that if you are queer, you cannot be happy. All completely untrue, by the way.
Secondly, there is no realisation for Will that he might be gay nor is there a coming out scene. Despite all the subtext and being led on by the actors/writers/promotional team, there is no payoff. That’s textbook queerbaiting.
I asked online for people to send me their opinions about how the season handled queer characters, and @nightskiesdark on Tiktok had this to say:
“I’m a couple of years younger than the characters are supposed to be in ’86. Given the AIDS crisis and the general homophobia I absolutely would never have come out in the 80s. It makes perfect sense to me as that was basically my life. I could have said Will’s speech about being different word for word.”
@nightskiesdark on TikTok
This is a perfectly valid point! However, it still does not erase the fact that through promotion for the show, the audience were queerbaited. Will didn’t necessarily have to come out, the writers could have confirmed his queerness in different ways rather than him coming out to another character. Some other fans had this to say:
“Now that I think about it, it’s not the lack of coming out that pissed me off. It’s the fact that he, a queer character, was used to further a heterosexual relationship.”
@sh0uldicleanmyroom on TikTok
“I’m not even upset about the ships. I could care less at this point. I’m upset about the fact they’re using queer people as plot devices, that they’ve resorted to shitty writing for both Will and Mike, that they’ve practically admitted Robin was only there to better Steve. I’m upset that they can’t say the words “gay” and “lesbian” even though their characters canonically use these labels. I’m upset that their PR team baited the queer community with everything in them.”
@gayslutreaction on Tumblr
On 14th July, Noah Schnapp, Will Byers himself, had confirmed multiple theories in an interview with Variety: “Obviously, it was hinted at in season one: It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends? Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing. Now it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike.”
While it’s good that fan’s theories about Will have been confirmed, the problem is that they have done it offscreen, rather than actually showing representation onscreen. It’s not actually doing any of the work to fully flesh out a queer character, and because it’s never explicitly shown onscreen, it gets left up to audience interpretation. It’s all well and good saying something behind the scenes, but the majority of fans that don’t actively seek out cast interviews wouldn’t be made aware of the new update for Will’s character. It feels like a response to the queerbaiting backlash that came after season four ended, reminiscent of when JK Rowling said in a press statement that Dumbledore was gay, despite never showing it in the Harry Potter book or film series at that point in time.
In summary, Stranger Things fans were absolutely queerbaited, and have every right to be angry. I could sit here and say, “they might address Will’s sexuality fully in the next season since Schnapp confirmed it in an interview” however, I truly have no faith in these writers to write good queer characters, and I don’t want to give anyone false hope. To Netflix, the Duffer Brothers and Stranger Things’ marketing team: shame on you for leading the LGBTQ+ community on.
Words by Chloe Gardener
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