In ‘Stranger Things’ Friendship Still Means Showing Up Physically, Not Digitally

We all love the ’80s throwbacks in Stranger Things, but the show actually taps into something deeper: the way kids used to just be kids.

Netflix’s Stranger Things struck a nerve that goes deeper than monster scares or retro fashion. Sure, the show wallows in 1980s nostalgia, but what really hooks viewers is something else entirely: its vision of a childhood that’s basically extinct. These Hawkins kids live in a world where adventure happens without adult supervision, where real danger exists...