The most important part is that Chrissy isn't forgotten after she dies. She doesn't kick the bucket and is subsequently ignored for the rest of the series. She is important to every party, the Hellfire club looks for justice for her, the football kids start hunting Hellfire for revenge, and she's important to Vecna for his plan to bridge the gap between the Upside Down and our world. She receives this interesting and compelling character development, and even after she's gone, she continues to impact the story due to her relationships with other living characters.
@@loco_logic Patrick isn’t talked about enough but he served a big purpose. His death helped Lucas grow and become more empathetic in his arc with Max, and Jason witnessing his death is the reason he went from the somewhat sane “I don’t believe in magic” guy to the crazed satanic panic guy that gets the town in a frenzy and pulls a gun on Lucas
@@NerdEnthusiast Yeah, we're basically conditioned at this point to spot those flags a mile away. So a guess creating a balance in not making it obvious that a character will die. It could just as easily have been Eddie who died if we'd gotten a few more scenes with him that established trauma and him being cursed.
It's very good advice as long as you don't make it obvious. Like the "man hugs his wife and children in the beginning of the story promising them that he will be back soon and then he dies" cliché. Or any character going elsewhere and promising the rest of the group that they will return soon.
Another thing I liked about Chrissy is how accepting she was of someone like Eddie. Despite him being a traditional "freak" architype, she didn't judge him for selling drugs or being weird and trusted him enough to go to him for help. Truly a kind hearted sweetheart that died too young.
As soon as she liked Eddie I knew I would too. Now I can’t get through the fact he’s death…I got to care about a heavy metal D&D master drug seller…and he’s freakin death.
I also love how subtle they were with telling Chrissy’s story. Like if you look at her nightmares, without directly telling you, they’re able to create a succinct picture, that Chrissy suffered from an eating disorder that made her overweight to some extent, and her mother was like tyrannically obsessed with Chrissy’s image, loosening up dresses for her to wear, talking about how she’s GOING to look so pretty and a father who’s in a manner of speaking blind and mute to these issues (literally in the nightmare with his eyes and mouth sewn shut), so likely that he was much nicer to her than her mother was but that he was afraid to stand up to her about it or perhaps couldn’t. Edit: someone pointed out that her eating disorder may more likely be a product of her mother gaslighting and is in fact under-eating, which is even better imo. Contextualized with how they depict her high social status at school, which again, contextually is shown to be the only thing holding her self esteem together in the fact that her toxic home life is being wielded as a weapon against her by Vecna. Like it is aggressively telling you all this with ZERO exposition all contained within the first episode of the season as one of like 5 different main points of view. It is incredibly well done and then in building all this care and sympathy for her, slowly backing her into this corner before she’s like killed in the most graphic, horrifying way is just so impactful.
Point of clarification: Chrissy was NEVER overweight. She was cultivated by her mother to be neurotic over being slim - loosening her dress was her mom gaslighting her into thinking she's fat and will only be getting fatter. That's the source of her eating disorder. And yep - it's very subtle. Very well-defined character for such a small role!
This is an amazing example of show not tell, which is a fantastic writing tool that people forget to use, even in films. Stranger Things used it and they used it well.
@@GainsTuesday are we sure about that? I’m only sort of working off her nightmare mom’s comments and the banquet table full of fly infested rotten food, interpreting those things. Like whether that imagery was communicating that Vecna is like guilting her for overeating or if the fly-ridden food is a representation of her aversion to eating food because of her mother’s gaslighting. I do like your interpretation though since the eating disorder is not a contributing factor to the cause of her trauma, but that her eating disorder is the opposite, a symptom of her trauma that came about from her demon mom, so like she was undereating and not overeating.
@@The_Story_Of_Us I interpreted the rotten food as the visualisation of her relationship with food because of her ED - she sees food as something bad that she doesn't want to eat because it'll make her gain weight.
i think they also are able to make us feel attached to chrissy by making her story mirror nancy in season 1. where we have a beautiful girl who is with the popular guy, confronted with an evil she does not understand and with which she can't get help from her boyfriend, since he wouldn't understand. then she has to get help from the social outcast whom she learns is not as bad a guy. and then the popular guy, the outcast and the girl work together to stop the monster so by making her story mirror nancy's story it makes us get attached quicker, and then it rips the rug out from under us by the evil being to strong, which results in chrissy dying, eddie becoming a bigger social outcast, and Jason being unable to see the other side of the story.
Nice observation! I had already started to hope that all 3 of them would join the group that knows all the weird shit going on in Hawkins (including Jason, I'd hoped he'd eventually get along with Eddie since there seemed to be some antagonism from the get go.
@@joyc.e.7511 Truth is all three could’ve made good additions to the group - and might have been added if it was earlier in the series - hence the sense of loss. Chrissy would’ve been a great addition, and Eddie basically became a great addition. Jason’s fondness for tone deaf speechifying and self aggrandizement aside, we do see good qualities in him as well. There is the making for him to have matured into either a decent guy - or a cult leader - depending on circumstances. In a way, he and Eddie were both victims of what was a real “Satanic Panic” national narrative surrounding D&D in the 80s.
@@Pathfinder197 yeah I mean the fact is, jason is always acting from the goodness of his heart. and when patrick dies he starts with the satan bullshit because he's genuinely terrified. from his perspective, there's no rational explanation for why patrick died like that, except demonic posession. unfortunately he ends up doing only harm and no good.
They honestly had me feeling like Chrissy was going to be a main character that season who’d stick around to the end. Such a well written character considering that she died within the first episode.
"I personally at this moment want to see a whole season about the freak and the cheerleader's budding relationship" Welp. That's what fanfiction is for I guess.
To me there's also pregnancy imagery evoked in the bathroom scene. Countless films had the pretty girl in school sobbing in the school bathroom after learning she is pregnant and, on first watch, my mind immediately thought 'ok she just found out she's pregnant'. Pregnancy is something growing inside of them, that they are scared of, whether it's scared for themselves, scared for the future or scared of telling their parents or boyfriend. Whereas in Chrissy's situation, she probably feels like insanity is growing inside of her, with her visions and nightmares worsening and she is also scared of telling others. So she turns to an outsider for help, someone who won't judge her, Eddie.
I feel like her innocence and how sweet she was also played a huge part for me, and how genuine her and Eddie's interactions were Gutted they died, even if we only saw Chrissy at the start
I love how with the tragedy of Chrissy's death, we are also informed of how threatening Vecna's inescapability is as a villain. It makes us hate the villain too for killing and scarring characters we empathize with. The attribute of a hateful villain is a great villain archetype, and honestly one we haven't seen for a while in film/TV. Great analysis!
I think this is a good way to use a cliché character or character trope because then you have to do less to make the audience understand them. All they needed to actually confirm was that Chrissy wasn't a "mean girl" type of popular, just that she's actually well liked.
the duffers said that's why they cast grace. she was the only one in auditions who played the character as sweet. everyone else played her as a mean girl
I think the main thing that was wrong about that side plot was because it wasn’t as important as it should’ve been. We saw the main threat coming closer and we were left with a cliffhanger just to move onto a completely different setting and characters. It’s difficult to grab interest when the main characters are fighting monsters for Hawkins, while Eleven is just discovering who she wants to be and where she came from.
I've been thinking about that episode because it is so odd. I think the point of El hooking up with the side plot comes down again to 3 points. 1.She learns that anger can increase her power (she didn't remember Henry at this point.) 2.She chooses compassion with the very man who hurt her mother. This is important because of her inner struggles with her concerns that she may be a monster. She only kills when in danger. And 3. Most importantly, every fight she has been in she has sort of no choice but to be the protector. She's been put in the position of people expecting her to use her powers however THEY want/need. She was given the opportunity to walk away to forge her own life with a group that actually accepted her with someone who shares a past ans the weirdness of having powers (vs being alone) and for the first time, El CHOOSES to fight, chooses her Hawkins family. Up until this point, she is reacting to the incidents around her, but the moment she decides the she has to go back because "can save them" she has actual agency in her own life - really for the first time. From then on, she's an equal to everyone else and more -a SELF APPOINTED protector. So however weird that episode was, I think it was important for her to have the opportunity to chose another life and to choose Hawkins instead. Just my thoughts.
I JUST FOUND OUT SOMETHING Chrissy was supposed to see Eddie’s band performance but she died before it happened so it felt like we could of have more Chrissy screen time AND THE SANE THING HAPPENED TO MAX… she was supposed to see a movie on Friday with Lucas but she’s in a coma now!!!!!!
I loved this analysis! Chrissy was with Heather and Alexei one of those super tertiary but cute characters that I couldn't stop thinking of. Could you do an analysis about Billy? I find fascinating how this 80s bully cliche storm ended being one of the most complex antagonists of the show and had such an impact plot and character wise (and how his abuse was so handwaved)
I feel like Chrissy had so much potential as a character. Ik her death basically started off the series but I would have loved for her to stay longer 😭
Something interesting I noticed is that the mum was making Chrissy's Cheerleading outfit in her vision showing how Chrissy is literally wearing her trauma associated with her mother.
I agree with everything you said. Chrissy was such a interesting character. Het conversation with Eddie, her nightmares it all made me like her. I was shocked when she died even though I kind of knew it was going to happen. The actress did such a fantastic job making Chrissy likeable. At first you think she's just a typical high school cheerleader but instead they show both through her conversation with Eddie and her nightmares that she has layers. Awesome video man👍 Hope you do more Stranger Things analysing videos 👏
Great analysis. I was fully invested in the Chrissy/Eddie relationship. The writing of course was a huge part of this, but both actors did such a good job with their characters and had really great chemistry together. Honestly until her jaw and eyes went i was still holding out hope that maaaybe she would live, but instead it was just the most horrifying thing shown on Stranger Things so far!
I'm glad you're covering a wider variety of topics! I LOVE your insights on Arcane, especially since I wasn't familiar with the games until Netflix. But I also know only talking about one thing on RU-vid can be pretty limiting, especially considering all the work that goes into it. Thanks for not letting yourself fall into that rut! Taking that risk to expand despite what made you popular! PLEASE keep talking about whatever you're passionate about because it bleeds into your work and gives me a new appreciation for the things I also enjoy!
7:35, I feel like this future scene kind-of happens when Eddie plays his guitar in the last episode. Before he started playing he dedicated the song to Chrissy who never did get to see him play. I'm not nitpicking I just wanted to share this connection I saw.
Ngl my heart really broke and I was so sad when she died. Not only because of her great chemistry with Eddie but also because she was such a sweet and kind person.
what i find interesting about the cutting a story short thing is that the duffer brothers have said that they might have not killed chrissy off if they had seen the chemistry between her and eddie. i think it shows a weakness of the show that i think you’ve maybe talked about which is what characters they’ve chosen (or not chosen) to kill
The Eddie and chrissy scene in the woods is like 5 min long and has had such a big impact on the whole story, on how to write good character, or chemistry, oh how much he cared about this 2 over one scene, just a beautiful scene, both actors doing their best work imo. They have more chemistry even just as friends in that one scene than other couples do in full seasons. It was just beautiful to see and then heartbreaking to see her die.
This video is basically everything I have been screaming from the rooftops about Chrissy since day one and then some, amazingly done really well thought out video. It has been over a month since I've watched the season and I am *still* so upset by Chrissy being taken from us so soon when her storyline had such promise and intrigue. The way I was able to feel such an emotional attachment to a character in such a short time is miraculous, and is something the show has never pulled off quite like this before. I did want to add that a level of subversion was very much at play too. Stranger Things has always leaned into horror/sci-fi tropes, and with the big bad being, essentially, a slasher killer, Chrissy embodied the "final girl" archetype, she is the type of character that is terrorized by the horror but ultimately survives and is (usually) the sole survivor. Beyond that, we as an audience have (presumably) seen the previous 3 seasons of Stanger Things, we are very familiar with its structure and we can presume s4 will bring new principal characters. Chrissy's scenes were giving her the "new main character" setup, she has just as many scenes as Eddie does in ep1. So we're primed to watch this with the expectation Chrissy will survive the horror, or at least live til the end of the season, and so we're invested. But then... she doesn't, and it sets the tone for the rest of the season, that nobody is safe and the stakes are high
I got so deeply invested in Chrissy's and Eddie's relationship, I thought it was the cutest scene ever and I imediately wanted to see more scenes with them and for them to potentially get together. I was in love with chrissy. And then they just took her away. I was so sad.
I loved how they wrote her despite the fact that I was angry that they killed her, I wanted her to last so she and Eddie could be the best of friends. When they interacted and Chrissy says she thought Eddie would be mean and scary, and Eddie responded with “I thought you would be mean and scary”, and her little gasp and look of astonishment as she quietly goes “me?”, just solidified that they would’ve been best friends forever.
I really appreciate your videos; the way you break down concepts to be quick and easy to understand is helpful for my easily-distracted brain, haha. Your analyses have helped me see my own writing from a different perspective, which has improved my stories a lot!
I just want to say how much I appreciated this video. It came up on my feed again today and I wanted you to know that two years later I still think about this vid all the time. It was really well put together and makes such good points. Bravo!🥰
I did get attached to the new characters/ones we haven’t seen in a while. Henry Creel/One/Vecna, Argyle, Eddie Munson, Jason Carver, Dmitri “Enzo” Antonov, Yuri Ismaylov, Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, & Wayne Munson.
She isn't just a supporting character for Vecna. She is fundamental to Eddie and Eddie definitely is in the Upside Down. So is Chrissy. So is Max. Everyone Vecna captures becomes part of his world
Eddie and Chrissy are the only two characters in Stranger Things I've truly loved so far! Eddie Munson has earned a place among the 3 characters I find most relatable, which is no easy task, but he did it! I haven't related to a character like I have Eddie Munson in years! There were even some traits about Chrissy I found relatable. It was no where near Eddie's levels of relatability for me, but still WAY more than the any other Stranger Things characters! As a nerd, I have found it weird how little I've related to any of the Stranger Things characters, but that changed with Eddie and Chrissy. It made me extra sad both are dead. I found the previous seasons of the show just ok, but season 4 was phenomenal for me, mainly because of Eddie Munson and Chrissy Cunningham! Without them, I think season 5 will just go back to being maybe ok, but not special like season 4 was for me. Season 4 will forever hold a special place in my fangirl heart!
It's interesting that you mention visually mention Earthbound when talking about the breaks Chrissy receives considering Earthbound is also about psychic powers and also the weird unnatural damage Vecna's victims experience mirrors that of films mimicking Ringu/The Ring, which is also about demented psychic power. Makes me wonder where the original "body crumpled like paper by psychic power" imagery came from.
I just hope that after Stranger things is done, the Duffer brothers keep making movies and tv shows for us. These 10 minutes of Chrissy and Eddie, like you said, I would have loved a whole season just about them. The horror, the emotion, the impact of her. This season honestly was so great
I feel like the inner conflict part is supported by the setting. In the '80s, it was uncommon for people to feel like they can actually open up to others about trauma and mental health.
It's really similar to the way big hero six establishes their characters, the connections between them and the bright futures we want for them before the story really begins.
I'll Never forget the first Time watching this scene and being so disarmed by it...then when Eddie acts like he got shot and falls and Chrissy's reaction are just iconic. This scene didn't have to be this good. but it was.
7:30 this tip just made me realise that a character in my story has their life cut short but i haven't actually written any meaning into their life for people to actually cry over... i gotta rework my story so they actually have a meaningful death
The insult “mouth breather” has always bugged me as someone with biological breathing problems. I’ve never told anyone that the line bothers me until this RU-vid comment right here. But as someone who physically cannot breathe through their nose, that term being used as an insult always hurt
It's not an insult towards people who can't do it due to health problems, that can't help its more to people who can help it. Like these people can be better and smarter but they chose to be ignorant and rude meaning they could breath through their nose but they chose not too because its easier. I think that's what they mean when they use it as an insult. towards people who chose to be
I couldn't believe they wrote an interesting character whom they killed in literally the 1st episode. Kinda reminded me of Barb who also was killed in the 1st episode but man...
I have no idea why chrissy's possible eating disorder never passed through my mind! Especially since a lot of people around me have struggled with them. My mind went to her being pregnant which would also explain the shame and the fatshaming from the super controlling mom, going to the counselor for help with it and what to do about it. The drugs could've also been not only a way to escape vecna, but also compromise the pregnancy. That's what i thought initially at least, great video!
This does not pertain to this video too much (even though it was a great video!) but to the entirety of your channel. I have gotten used to essays about media being long and not really saying much in their runtime, except for some obvious observation. Maybe it's on me for chosing to watch those videos, or maybe it's on youtube for chosing to promote those kind of creators, but to say your channel is a breath of fresh air is an understatement. Like, I'm watching a video and with each sentence my understanding of discussed piece of media grows? That's an amazing feeling! You can deliver so much actual important info in such a short time and do it in a way that's incredibly entertaining. And this is not to say that there are no creators who also create amazing essays about stuff. It's just that I think I'm not the only person who can say that they've encountered popular chanels entirely dedicated to the craft of dissecting media, that produce videos discussing nothing in particular stretched over a 40 minute runtime. I'm really happy that I found you're chanel, is what Im saying. And yeah, I am aware that what I've written sound a bit pretentious and Im only slightly sorry for it.
"Write a future that will not happen", well in Game of thrones this was what made Ned starks death way more shocking and heavy for me. He promised Jon snow that he would tell him about his mother when they will meet again. And when his head was cut and credits were rolling the only thing I couldn't get out of my mind was, Jon snow won't be able to see Ned again and won't be able to learn about his mother.
reminds me of sarah j maas. she killed off a whole friend group in the first part of the book after setting up their relationships and history and future together 😭😭😭 met these characters once and it absolutely broke me. it was devastating.
Of course the gruesome nature of Chrissy's death means that when Max starts seeing visions, we're naturally *very* concerned about her as the inescapability element has been set up. In a lesser work it's "How is she going to get out of that?" but the way "Dear Billy" is put together (on multiple levels) puts things into the "Will she get out of that?" category that is much more tense.
So I'm planning a novel and the protagonist's brother is killed off at the catalyst which sets up the rest of the story and, even though he's dead for 75% of the story I need him to be a compelling character for anything to make sense lol so this was helpful
Yoo dope theory!! Your videos always feel too short even tho they can be up to 30 mins lol. I’m like nooooo it’s over!! Really good stuff bro! I loved season 4 so much!!
Great Essay. Chrissy is a great character. I knew she was fodder, but I still loved her and felt her loss keenly. Not just in the context of story, but also in that too many kids like her don’t get the help they need in time.
Quick side note: Chrissy probably had already been using ketamine because k makes someone throw up and have low appetite. Also, it is a relaxing drug, which could also calm down her anxieties. I honestly loved Chrissy and her body image issues, anxieties, and isolation is very relatable and I’m sad that she died.
I disagree that often when people have eating disorders they force themselves to eat very little and also force themselves to throw up. I think it was that.
Did anyone else think she was pregnant? The boyfriend, the time setting (teen pregnancy was a big issue), her mom loosening skirts, the nausea, the shame
i got really attached to this character and couldn’t really understand why but this video perfectly breaks it down. “write a future that will not happen” 😭
Thanks for your info, I'm writing my X-Men fanfiction so this helps me a lot to make someone care about a character even though he or she is a minor character in one Episode and this is good writing in general!
i think something kinda funny but actually pretty neat about vecna is that he uses spiders and that old clock which are very creepy things by themselves. but he just uses them cuz he likes them. he had a fascination with spiders, he liked the clock and the house because he found his power there, he essentially began there. all of his spooky elements are actually sentimental, but to us its just "creepy trope"
As I watched that scene, the following questions filled my mind: 1) Did they shoot this on location or on a stage? 2) If it was on location, how clean could the art department really get the floor and toilet? 3) oh, god, she's sitting on the floor and her sleeve is touching the toilet bowl! (Okay, that's not a question, but, ewww! I hope it was a set).
I remember getting excited during the scene where we learn she has bulimia, cause let's be honest, this is not something that the media represents correctly. I was like, finally a character I can resonate with! And then they killed her. End:D I really think they could have gave her more time before killing her, but also I understand why it had to happen like this. But still, it would have been great to see her more on the screen cause she was so well written plus had so much more potential.
The original Last of Us opening hit me real hard. Same with the ending of the recent Plague Tail. There's something about making the viewer actually play through the story. I think you get a bit more invested in the characters so when anything actually happens to them it hits harder.
