When the fourth season of Stranger Issues premiered on Netflix earlier this yr in Might, nobody might anticipate the fan response to newcomer Eddie Munson.
New characters have been launched on the hit sci-fi collection earlier than with a level of fanfare, just like the arrival of Sadie Sink’s Max and her brother Billy performed by Dacre Montgomery in season 2, or Maya Hawke’s Robin in season 3. Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington even discovered a brand new surge of fan love after changing into a pseudo-mom to Hawkins’ children within the second season. However there hasn’t been a response to a Stranger Issues character — or arguably any TV character over the previous few years, for that matter — that has seen the quantity of affection and dedication that Eddie Munson, performed by breakout star Joseph Quinn, has. The hashtag #EddieMunson on TikTok has reached 16.4 billion views, as an example — which is 4 billion greater than #SteveHarrington, who’s been part of the Stranger Issues-verse since 2016. Even Metallica honored the “cult of Eddie Munson.”
For a personality who was solely in a single season, his impression has been substantial — and his heroic moments all through the season are why.
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Teenagers of the early aughts fell in love with dorky outcasts like Seth Cohen in The O.C. and Jess Mariano in Gilmore Ladies, however common teen dramas now don’t precisely fulfill that want. Though exhibits just like the Gossip Woman reboot and Euphoria are very watchable, they do not essentially all the time depict common experiences to the typical viewers. Though Stranger Issues is rooted deeply inside the paranormal style, it manages to craft characters who seem to be somebody you may know.
Eddie Munson embodies the identical traits that many younger viewers gravitate in the direction of, simply as they did with Seth Cohen and Jess Mariano. His on-screen introduction is loud — stomping on tables in the highschool cafeteria, calling out the hypocrisy of his Dungeons & Dragons group being known as “freaks” for enjoying a fantasy sport, when the label does not apply to those that conform to mainstream actions, like taking part in sports activities or partying. Nevertheless it’s within the quieter moments once we see Eddie’s delicate and self-effacing qualities, like when he meets struggling cheerleader Chrissy (Grace Van Dien) within the woods to supply her one thing to ease the terrors she’s been experiencing, and lightens the temper by taking part in lifeless.
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“I feel lots of people see themselves in him,” explains Kei, a 28-year-old who runs a Twitter account dedicated to Munson. “You don’t essentially have to be a metallic head to have the ability to try this. The way in which he’s himself is sufficient for individuals to essentially join with him as an individual. He’s an advocate for all issues seen as ‘bizarre’ and ‘completely different.’ He makes it okay to be that means — the way in which he takes on ‘little sheep’ who want a spot to really feel accepted. He makes everybody really feel welcome and is a large consolation to many individuals.”
There’s truly psychology behind why some fictional characters resonate so deeply with audiences — and it’s all due to empathy. It’s how we join with each other and the way we course of and higher perceive somebody’s expertise. It’s by that connection the place we reply with real feelings in the direction of a personality and create a parasocial relationship.
Whether or not it was on function or not, the means Eddie’s character was written has supplied followers a secure house to challenge their feelings as a result of he encourages everybody to embrace their quirkiness, slightly than shrink back from it. It’s been 5 months since season 4 half 2 of Stranger Issues hit Netflix, and but, TikToks devoted to the character — whether or not that’s “girlfriend POV“ movies or step-by-step guides on tips on how to costume like him — nonetheless make their means onto For You Pages on a regular basis. For Kei, the sudden obsession with Eddie speaks to the dearth of accessible and delicate outcasts in popular culture proper now. “I feel he’s a personality lots of people had been lacking of their lives,” says Kei. “[Eddie is] a personality we don’t see that always who opened a number of eyes to what it’s prefer to not match the stereotypical ‘norms’ of society.”
Probably the most highly effective relationships in season 4 is Eddie’s brotherly relationship with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). Very like Eddie, Dustin has felt misplaced at occasions and leans on fellow outcasts for help and steering. Once they head off to battle creatures within the Upside Down and Dustin tells a dorky joke, Eddie makes Dustin promise him to by no means change. Regardless of Hawkins making enjoyable of him for being completely different, wrongly accusing him of murdering Chrissy, and ostracizing him for it, Eddie refuses to again down from who he’s — and emboldens different individuals to do the identical.
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The character has influenced and impressed his followers a lot, they’ve created a myriad of accounts in his honor. Camila, age 20, runs Best of Joseph Quinn on Twitter, a fan account devoted to the actor that portrays Eddie. “I’m positive many others can relate to this, however I’ve had my fair proportion of experiences of being an outcast,” they are saying. “To see a personality like Eddie Munson, who goes by an analogous scrutiny expertise, haven’t any concern and keep true to himself is inspiring. I’m positive these with an analogous background would say that he resonates with many as a result of he stays grounded and wholeheartedly himself regardless of being completely different from everybody else.”
Exterior of Eddie Munson’s heroic acts all through Stranger Issues season 4 — whether or not it was sacrificing himself to ensure that his associates to stay or just selecting to assist, even when all he used to do was run — there’s a greater cause why he’s the unsung hero of 2022. He created a complete collective of misunderstood outcasts, underdogs, weirdos, nerds, and everybody in between that felt seen.
Years from now, when the ache of his fictional loss of life wears off, followers will look again and bear in mind the significance of being unapologetically your self — one thing Eddie inspired the Hellfire Membership to do. It’s secure to say that, regardless of dying, it actually was his yr. He has the fanbase to show it.
