Social aspects of 80s East Germany: People learnt what they can and can’t say in public, as they were always being watched with wide surveillance. People lived double lives, sticking to strict guidelines while outside in public, putting on a façade, only being able to be themselves within the conform of their own home, with this sometimes even being comprised with spies and tapping conversations with hidden mics. Selection in shops was very limited. If there was any ‘desirable goods’ shipped to local shops, huge lines would form. If a passer-by saw a line forming, people would instinctively join it, without even knowing what the product was. Equality was rife and good for the time, with most women working and good affordable childcare available. In a recent report on the perception of East Germans to their former country over 50% said "there were problems, but life was still good" .. somewhere around 10% said "life was better". Life wasn’t awful in east Germany; it was just like people breathing down your neck more times than often. No one lived in fear of the Statsi, you just saw more uniforms than normal. You hear about all the awful tales of 80s east Germany, however no one wants to listen to a boring story about normal life.
“There was punks, hip-hop, hippies and blues. There were even fascists (some deriving from the fact that this is the strongest mean of protest against a regime who rejects the existence of fascism as one of its state pillars, some because they believed in it). The church also played a big role as an underground movement. Stasi was of course aware of those things, but if you read the books about those subcultures, you will see that they were pretty much able to fool around with them and drive them insane. Just think of the impact of youth culture on western societies and multiply that, but with less people involved” …” a lot of those young people went into considerable risks for their activities. Some of them were even "hired" by the Stasi to infiltrate the scene. Some of them went to "re-education camps/prisons".
School was also different. Instead of learning English which had by then become a world language and was being taught in Western Germany many East German students learned Russian.
Economic aspects of 80s east Germany: Salaries and pay was very low, but the essentials, like bread and rent, were very cheap and affordable. However, if you needed to buy anything at world market prices, it was insanely expensive. People in East Germany knew how life was much better in Western Germany but couldn't experience it themselves. East Germany had its own version of most essential food products. It created its own industry for nearly everything.
Historical aspects of 80s east Germany: East Germany was controlled by the Stasi from 1950 to 1990, when the berlin wall was finally destroyed. The Stasi (the state security service) was the official security of the Germany Democratic Republic, who owned East Germany at the time while the allies divided the rest of Germany between the rest of them (England, France and America). They have been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies ever to have existed. The Stasi motto was “Shield and Sword of the party” (Schild und Schwert der Partei) referring to the ruling of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. One of the main tasks of the Stasi was to spy on the population, through a huge and vast network of ‘informants’ (spies) and fighting any opposition by overt and covert measures, including ‘psychological destruction of dissidents (interrogating). No one lived in fear of the Statsi, you just saw more uniforms than normal. You hear about all the awful tales of 80s east Germany, however no one wants to listen to a boring story about normal life.
The Stasi and nowadays NSA aren’t too different with their views on surveillance, the NSA just make it seem like they can’t see your personal and private information, rather than the Stasi who were known for gathering people’s private info in fear of an uprising / revolt.
How are different social groups represented in the sequence you have analysed? What role does the use of media language, signs and signifies have in constructing and presenting these representations as real?
In stranger things, social groups are represented through choice of editing, camera angles and media language. In episode 1, age is the main group represented. In the scene I analysed, Age is represented through the media language of Mikes basement. As the scene is introduced, the camera pans across the Dungeons and Dragons board, from the boys last game. This shows the childlike innocence and playful attitude of the boys, juxtaposing the serious tone and implications of Will’s disappearance. The music adds to the feeling of childlike wonder with the light minor keys evoking thoughts of fantasy games, such as the Dungeons and Dragons board seen. From this, we can see the boys represent Age and children through the media language of Mike’s basement.
Age and maturity are also shown through the use of the walkie talkies from Mike and Lucas. The walkie talkies symbolise childhood and a playful attitude, like everything is a big game to them. This sense of a big game is also shown with the insistent use of the word ‘over’ when using the walkie talkies from Mike, like they’re playing a game and want to stay in character. This also plays up the stereotype of nerds from the boys, however a countertype of teenagers, with the boys being 13 at the time. The context of the conversation also evokes childhood and games, with the boys comparing the evens of Will’s disappearance with the failed attempt to kill the Demogorgon in D&D the night prior. However, this is juxtaposed with the maturity of the boys, eventually taking the law into their own hands and actively going to search for Will, seen after authority’s figures such as Chief Hopper and their parents have told them not to.
Gender and powerful women are represented in the diner scene when Benny is killed. Benny is a stereotypical man, a large, bearded, rough looking however also being a countertype of men with his attitude to Eleven, showing he has a heart of gold. When the female ‘social worker’ arrives, she is the controlling force of the scene, with all the power over Benny, becoming a more powerful and stronger character than Benny, killing him, showing a countertype of women being daintier and weaker than men. She is also shown the have power over Benny as he leans down to speak to the woman, making himself seem smaller and the woman seem bigger, evoking power and control. Power is also evoked through the use of the music. As soon as the she kills Benny, the music become significantly louder, setting the pace for the ensuing chase, as well as showing how she is now in power and has control over the diner and, she hopes, Eleven. From this, we can see the female ‘social worker’ epitomises power and strength, showing a countertype to the womanly maternal image of woman we have seen up to this point in the episode.
