Report: STRANGER THINGS Season 4 Increases Explicit Content by Over 700%
By Movieguide® Staff
STRANGER THINGS, one of the most-watched series in the Netflix catalog, recently completed its fourth season.
Season 4 managed to post record-setting numbers for Netflix, rivaling the 2021 performance of their hit show SQUID GAME.
“The series captures a 1980’s vibe with a nostalgic flare that is very appealing and harkens back to classic Spielberg movies,” Movieguide®’s review of the first season reads. “Having a primarily moral, redemptive worldview, STRANGER THINGS portrays good overcoming evil, and shows that friendship, love and loyalty are characteristics that will lead to success.”
But that was Season 1, and the Duffer Brothers who wrote and directed the show have veered from that redemptive message. Beneath the surface of ’80s nostalgia, Netflix managed to make Season 4 of STRANGER THINGS the most explicit yet.
The review of the first season, which launched on Netflix in July 2016, continues: “STRANGER THINGS has quite a few images that could be very disturbing or scary to a younger viewer, as well as some strong doses of foul language and violence from time to time.”
Even so, the absence of the f-word and its focus on the adventures of a group of middle schoolers earned the show a TV-14 rating.
However, after STRANGER THINGS wrapped Season 4, with the prospect for Season 5, the show went from toeing the line of appropriate television to diving into explicit content.
According to Parents Television and Media Council, research of all four seasons of the show revealed that foul language, violence, and sexual content all increased.
“The Parents Television and Media Council (PTC) analyzed the program content of each episode of all four seasons of Stranger Things utilizing content filtering data from the streaming video company VidAngel,” the report reads. “Comparing the program data from all four seasons of the hit Netflix series, PTC found significant increases in the frequency of adult and objectionable content in almost every category.”
From Season 1 to Season 4, the data showed a 217% increase in profanity, a 307% increase in overall violence, and a staggering 756% increase in graphic violence.
While the first three seasons of STRANGER THINGS maintained their TV-14—despite there being multiple f-words in season’s two and three—Netflix finally conceded and rated the latest season TV-MA.
Unfortunately, very few viewers were warned of the steep increase in explicit content after years of marketing to younger generations.
The PTC write:
Either Netflix intends the age-based content rating of Stranger Things to be a helpful resource for families, or it is just going through the motions, slapping a rating moniker onto the program without careful consideration. Based upon the exponential increase in explicit content between Season 1 and Season 4, all episodes of which are rated TV-14, we can only conclude Netflix chose the latter option.
Words like “f*ck” and “sh*t” were once unthinkable for dialogue on programs rated as appropriate for 13- and 14-year-old children; but on Netflix they are becoming ubiquitous. Either the content is being rated inaccurately, or there has been considerable “ratings creep” with the criteria used to determine an age-based rating. Neither option allows parents to do their job effectively.
According to the Movieguide® review of Season 4, there were also major worldview issues:
None of the episodes go by without flashing back to or elaborating on the bloody massacre of building full of children. Child murder is such a prevalent part of the story that the producers include a warning at the beginning of the season. The main plot revolves around the extremely graphic mutilation and prolonged anguish of teenage characters. Two of the main characters spend all of their screen time under physical duress and torment, and much of the show is devoted to portraying that. Bible verses are used as a weapon by villainous bullies to whip unreasonable townsfolk into an angry mob, and religion in general is treated as ridiculous by the heroes. Satanism is mentioned though not practiced in the show, and demonic imagery is drawn from to create a more scary mood throughout the events of the season. There are flashbacks to a sex scene from the first season, and partial nudity in three episodes.
Though STRANGER THINGS has been praised in the past by critics as a show celebrating familial loyalty, season 4 is too focused on delivering violent or sensual thrills to even recall those positive elements. Without strong adult role models, the spotlight is left to shine on cynical and immoral child characters. Without an uplifting story, horror and shock-value is the sticky web holding the penultimate season of STRANGER THINGS together. Though good triumphs over evil eventually, the show contains excessive sex, violence, immorality, and worldview problems. Therefore, MOVIEGUIDE finds this season to be unacceptable.
Much like Netflix’s SQUID GAME in 2021, marketing for STRANGER THINGS Season 4 did not line up with their TV-MA rating, as TikTok trends showed a vested interest in both shows from the younger generation.
Movieguide® previously reported:
SQUID GAME, which Netflix released in September, is a South Korean fiction series about a group of contestants who compete in children’s games for the chance to win money.
While the premise seems harmless enough on the surface, the penalty for the contestants in SQUID GAME is death. Unfortunately, the show does not hold back in its depictions of the contestants’ gory death scenes.
While graphic, immoral content on the streaming platform Netflix is no surprise, SQUID GAME’s popularity in the mainstream media outlets means that many children have seen the show, sometimes watching the show with their parents, despite its TV-MA rating.
“The level of violence is horrifying — more than most shows,” David Anderson, Head of School and Community Programs at the Child Mind Institute, said in a statement. “It’s a murder fest with the premise that out of over 400 participants, there can only be one survivor.”
Movieguide®’s review of STRANGER THINGS Season 4 reads:
Without an uplifting story, horror and shock-value is the sticky web holding the penultimate season of STRANGER THINGS together.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
