Netflixin – Stranger Things

Here’s the thing. Kemarin gw udah bikin postingan panjang lebar tentang topik ini, udah 1000 kata lebih~ But then ternyata lupa di-save~ Bayangkan betapa upset-nya gw tadi pagi pas mau posting di blog~ T.T

So yeah, hai again! Liburan gw udah berjalan kurang lebih 3 minggu, and here’s what I’ve been doing: NETFLIXIN!

LOL~

Yeaaa~~~ Akhirnya gw berlangganan Netflix setelah bersabar sekian lama. Rencana awal adalah langganan Netflix sesampainya di Osi, tapi kenyataannya tugas2 kuliah langsung menggila, so I thought langganan Netflix akan mendistraksi gw dari belajar, so yeah, pending deh.

Sekarang since udah mulai liburan 3 bulan, jadi bisa nonton Netflix dengan bebas. Yang pertama kali ditonton tentu saja Stranger Things, yang sudah jadi bahan omongan sejak dirilis bulan Juli lalu. Stranger Things dirilis tepat ketika gw sampai di Melbourne. Gw inget banget waktu itu demam Stranger Things di mana-mana. Di tram, train, mall, poster2 di jalanan, dll. di internet pun orang2 rame ngomongin betapa awesome-nya series ini. So yeah, ketika akhirnya langganan Netflix, Stranger Things tentu jadi pilihan pertama buat ditonton.

Stranger Things on tram

To be honest with you, gw bukan penggemar sci-fi. Jadi gw ga mau fokus sama sci-fi-nya waktu nonton ini. I don’t care about the monster, the experiment, the science logic/fact, etc.

That being said, I think Stranger Things sangat ramah ditonton even untuk non-pecinta-sci-fi. In my case, it touched every part of my fragile heart, that for sure, and it has nothing to do with the sci-fi! It’s the story about friendship, about teenagers and teenage life, about growing up, about parenting and parenthood, about motherhood, about community, about love, about honesty, about sacrifice, about nostalgia, about reflection, dan masih banyak lagi gw ga bisa sebutin semua di sini saking banyaknya~

Kalo diminta nge-rank elemen2 Stranger Things dari yang paling keren sampai ke yang keren-juga-cuma-beda-tipis-sama-yang-paling-keren, ini urutannya:

1. The Screenplay

Screenplay-nya sumpah keren mampus~ I’m not talking about the pop culture references here, kalo itu mah butuh satu postingan sendiri buat bahas karena BANYAK BANGET! What I mean is the first thing that came to my mind when I watch it was: “ya ampun, SMP-banget~~” Seriously, semua elemen script writing-nya tuh on point bikin throwback ke zaman2 SMP yang penuh spontanitas dan intrik! LOL~ I mean the way Mike and his gang behave and respond to something, is exactly how I was when I was in Jr. high~ The line, dialogue and humor are also awesome! Sangat quotable, sangat punchy, sangat lucu, sangat emosional, sangat jujur. Ah kerenlah~

2. The Characters

Semua karakternya kuat dan real banget, like you can actually see those kind of people in real life. They are true reflection of people in a society/community. And when they talk, it’s like they are talking to you! Like you were actually part of their conversation. You can feel their emotion.

Character building-nya juga natural dan ga awkward. Progresi tiap karakter di setiap episodenya tuh kerasa deh. Like seriously, ada ga sih karakter ga penting di Stranger Things? I don’t think so~ Bahkan karakter yang cuma muncul sekali dua kali, kayak si Benny, chef restoran hamburger yang nyelametin Eleven dan akhirnya dibunuh sama orang2 Hawker’s Lab, itu aja penting. Gw suka sih tipe series yang dikit karakternya gini, jadi nontonnya bisa fokus.

Terus siapa karakter favorit gw di Stranger Things? Simply put, kalo Winona Ryder ga menang at least satu award Best Actress di award season, gw either nangis, atau nge-rant gila2an di Twitter. Not a big fan of her, barely even know her, but her rendition of Joyce Byers is simply iconic. Seriously, gw liat Joyce Byers tiap dia on-screen tuh capek banget. Ibu2 stres, frustasi, ketakutan, desperate, marah, histeris tiap hari, disangka gila, semua orang ga ada yang percaya sama omongannya.. Like.. how did she do that? So awesome I can’t even.

3. The Scoring & Soundtrack

These are so LIT! Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL PIECES! Like seriously, kalo abis denger 3 soundtrack/scoring ini lo ga bergetar/degdegan/mengeluarkan emotional response dalam bentuk apapun, gw ga ngerti apa yang salah sama sistem pendengaran lo~

By the way, the last one is my absolute favorite!

Listen to the whole piece:

4. The Casting & Acting

The kid actors to be specific. Seriously, ini mereka nemu dimana sih anak2 berbakat yang acting-nya ga ada celah sama sekali ini?? Sangat natural, which I give props to the casting director and the reading process. Itu pasti bener2 digodok banget sampai berasa itu ga acting~ Cakep2 lagi anak2nya. Visual on point!

5. The Universe

NOT The Upside Down--I already told you, I don't give shit about the sci-fi~ I'm talking about Indiana suburb in 1983. I don’t know a single thing about Indiana suburb in 1983, but I really like The Duffer Brother’s representation of it. Real banget, like I would actually believe that it is an actual condition of 1983 Indiana suburb. No question, I’d just believe it. Seem to me that everything is perfectly captured. Neat.

**

So yeah, itu sebagian dari my Stranger Things addiction yang bisa gw ceritain. Mungkin postingan ini akan di-update kalo gw memutuskan untuk menonton ulang dan menemukan ide2 baru sambil jalan.

Tips dari gw kalo lo mau mulai nonton Stranger Things tapi lo bukan penggemar sci-fi/horor seperti gw: pertama kali nonton, tonton semua, jangan di-skip2. Emang horor, emang banyak adegan ngagetin, emang scoring-nya rada kampret di beberapa adegan serem, emang banyak visual/graphic/adegan yang menyeramkan, tapi plis jangan di-skip. Nanti kalo udah selesai nonton semua episode, kan ketagihan tuh, nah nonton ulang deh. Kali ini adegan2 seremnya boleh di-skip. Don’t worry, akan tetep asyik ditonton, tapi lebih peaceful. :)

Laters!