In “Les Miserables,” Jean Valjean is known by his prisoner number, 24601, and in “Squid Game,” the participants in a sadistic murder game are identified by the numbers on their uniforms.īut most fictional worlds avoid tattooing those identifiers on the forearms of their characters, probably to avoid the overt Holocaust association “Stranger Things” has made no such effort. Changing the font or size of the numbers, or shifting their location by a matter of centimeters, is not sufficient to eradicate the relationship to concentration camps. And inmates have been assigned numbers to help track them for centuries, up to today.Īnd “Stranger Things” is not the first fictional work to recreate the practice. In antiquity, tattoos, often with the name of the Roman emperor, were inked onto prisoners’ foreheads as a sign of punishment and dehumanization. “Like what’s next, scream at a dude who has his granny’s death date on his arm because there are numbers in it?”Īdmittedly, while the Holocaust is the most famous example of prisoner tattoos and numbers, it is certainly not the only one. “There is no connection to the Holocaust in the show so there isn’t any hidden meaning that could give them an argument,” said another Redditor. I just think people are trying to connect dots that aren’t there,” wrote one commenter on the “Stranger Things” subreddit. “The tattoos look vastly different from the ones in the Holocaust, those were on top of the arm, with a different font, while the ones in ST are smaller, and go on the wrist. And fans seem confused by those who have criticized the choice numerous posts deny any similarity between the numbered wrist tattoos and the Auschwitz prisoner numbers tattooed on forearms.Ī shot of two of the children’s’ tattoos in “Stranger Things.” Fan tattoos usually look nearly identical, though some rotate the number. The show has even reposted these tattoos to its official Instagram account. While the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, haven’t directly mentioned the Holocaust, the references seem obvious enough - and the pair draws heavily from directors such as Steven Spielberg.īut, apparently, the fans only picked up on the shallowest of meanings behind the tattoos - that it’s a special marking for children with superpowers - and decided to prove their fandom mettle by marking themselves in the same way. “ Stranger Things” has always played with Nazi themes there are experiments performed on numbered children with shaved heads, held captive in a lab, evoking Dr. Sign up here to get the latest stories from the Forward delivered to you each morning. Perhaps there were ten other experimental attempts before Eleven.This story was originally published on June 10 by the Forward. Though the exact significance of the number isn't revealed in the show's early episodes, one could assume that it denotes her patient number. Eleven was being kept at Hawkins Lab where she was alternately experimented on and locked up before she was able to escape. Thanks to the hospital gown, the number, and some choice flashbacks, it becomes clear that she was subjected to some horrific abuse prior to her appearance in the story. While it's probably not her real name, Eleven is what she ends up being called and seems to be the only identity she is certain of. When asked about it, the girl gestures back at herself: the 11 refers to her. The only hint to her identity is a tattoo on her arm that reads "011." But what does the 11 tattoo mean on Stranger Things ? She's running from someone, but because she doesn't seem to speak (or at least not speak very much), it's impossible to know who is after her – at first. When she appears, dressed in a hospital gown and with a buzzed head, it's obvious something is going on but there's no telling just what it is yet. (Warning: This post contains spoilers from Episode 1 of Stranger Things.) There is a young girl at the heart of the mystery in Netflix's Stranger Things, though her role in the story isn't entirely clear at the start.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |