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“Our society is so comfortable with degradation of women’s bodies. I am expected to hear this and be a ‘good sport.’”
As you probably know, Stranger Things came to an end last month, when the divisive final episode finally hit Netflix — and it feels like discourse surrounding the show and its cast has dominated social media ever since.
©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
However, the conversation reached fever pitch over the weekend after 23-year-old Finn Wolfhard hosted Saturday Night Live, and was involved in a couple of tasteless jokes that have been branded "heinous" and “misogynistic.”
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In fact, Finn’s stint on the show has been met with fierce backlash across social media, with his Stranger Things castmate Caleb McLaughlin also coming under fire after he joined him for one of the skits.
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Finn’s first offense came during the show’s opening monologue, where he reflected on growing up in the public eye after joining Stranger Things at the age of 12.
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
“My voice changed on camera, my first kiss was on camera,” he quipped, before adding: “And, I can’t actually believe that I’m admitting this…but the first time that I learned what a woman looks like down there was on camera as well. We have another clip, I think…”
At this point, SNL cut to a shot of a Demogorgon, which is a monster in Stranger Things, clearly making a crude comparison between it and female genitalia. Needless to say, this "joke" did not go down well with viewers.
One viral tweet responding to the gag reads: “Jokes about the female body and female genitalia have been made for centuries and women still bring children into this misogynistic world, inflicting harm and pain on their organs for the sake of this society. The decline in birth rates is so deserved. You misogynistic pricks.”
“Our society is so comfortable with degradation of women’s bodies. I am expected to hear this and be a ‘good sport.’ I am supposed to feel a shame and disgust around my own body that allows me to laugh along. Instead I see this for the heinous misogyny it is,” somebody else wrote.
“the propaganda that women's natural bodies are disgusting and have to be fixed while men's are a gift to the world is so tiring,” one more added, while another explained: “It can’t be understated how much shame culture around female sexual organs contributes to the overall oppression of women globally.”
Then, later on in the show, Finn was joined by Caleb as well as Gaten Matarazzo for a Sex in the City-inspired skit where they performed as their Stranger Things characters. As they all sip on Cosmopolitans, Finn, as Mike, asks: “Let’s cut to the chase, how are your sex lives?”
Nbc / Getty Images
“Well, Max and I started off all hot and heavy, right?” Caleb says, referring to his character Lucas’s on-screen girlfriend, Max, played by Sadie Sink. “But then, a couple of years in, she just lies there like she’s back in that coma.”
“Lucas, you’re bad,” Finn teases in response. You can watch the clip here:
SNL joking about the sex lives of Stranger Things characters is beyond tasteless—how did Netflix let that happen??
"Well, Max & I started off hot & heavy right, but then a couple years in, she just lies there like she's back in that coma."
NBC / Via Twitter: @StrangerNews11
And, needless to say, this left another bad taste in people’s mouths, with one incredibly popular tweet pointing out: “the concept of girlfriends and wives hating the sex they have with men and doing it out of obligation as their role of a partner/spouse is rape culture.”
Netflix
Somebody else agreed: “the sex in a coma joke with max was gross btw.”
Nbc / Getty Images
Other scenes in the skit poked fun at other characters in the show, including Millie Bobby Brown’s portrayal of Eleven, and Will — played by Noah Schnapp, which has also fueled the backlash. You can watch the whole thing below:
English (US) ·