Queerer Things: A Nancy And Barb Love Story

By Matilda Douglas-Henry

This article contains SPOILERS for the entire first season of Stranger Things. But if you haven’t watched it already, that makes me quite uncomfortable – please do so now.

Everybody is talking about Netflix’s latest original series, Stranger Things, and it is not difficult to see why. The show is an incredibly good example of a familiar narrative that – due to its eighties nostalgia, powerful character development and the sheer brilliance of Millie Bobby Brown – treads unique ground, and shapes one of the most poignant and captivating stories of recent memory.

The season finale left us with a slew of questions: is Hopper still rebelling against the government, or are his morals as questionable as we initially saw them to be? Is Brenner actually dead? Has the Upside Down embedded itself into Will’s soul? Did Nancy decide to be with Steve because his hair is full of secrets?

Needless to say, many loose ends remain untied. There was a certainty from early on, however, that left an irrevocable void amidst the lovable misfits of Hawkins, Indiana. Barb has definitely died.

Blessed Barb. She only lasted a few episodes, but her impact lived on. So influential was she that a memorial was erected in her memory in a Melbourne laneway. With her quick wit, impeccable wardrobe and sheer disdain for Nancy’s interest in Steve, Barb became a fan favourite. Being sucked into a pool of black ink and ultimately rotting away while slugs crawl out of her mouth was so damn unjust – especially since the monster was drawn to her bleeding hand, which occurred only because she tried to shotgun a can of beer to please Nancy.

The tragic plight of Barb symbolises the second most troubling element of Stranger Things, with its treatment of female characters being less than ideal. The character development of Nancy, Joyce and Eleven subvert those tropes successfully, but Barb simply doesn’t have the screen time to do the same. If Barb could have stuck around, she would have endured as the hero we all know her to be – more specifically, a queer angel who is in love with her best friend.

The most troubling element of Stranger Things is its total erasure of openly queer characters, so I’ve taken it upon myself to amend that. All signs point to Barb being the token queer character of the show. She chastises Nancy for being into guys. Her ‘bookish’ vibe and height make her stand out at school. These minor details sound trivial, but it is how filmmakers and creators choose to implicate a character into their queerness, rather than to just go ahead and say it.

The love story at the core of Stranger Things is not between Joyce and Hopper, Johnathan and Nancy, or Mike and Eleven – although, my god, what incredible chemistry between two literal children. Even still, the deepest love of all is between Nancy and Barb.

Nancy and Barb are lovers destined to fail. They have grown up in a small conservative town where kids like Will and Mike have been the victims of derogatory homophobic abuse, so they remain closeted and ashamed of their feelings. Nancy chooses to date Steve out of a need to assimilate, and Barb, unable to pretend to be straight, chooses to perpetuate the role of Nancy’s BFF – when really, she’s so much more than that. When Barb vents her frustrations to Nancy in the car for going to Steve’s house, it is a poignant reminder that Barb knows Nancy is bigger and better than the heteronormative trap Steve is luring her into.

Nancy’s reaction to Barb’s disappearance indicates the depth of their relationship. Typically, when a teenager vanishes in a horror or thriller, their best friend remains pretty relaxed (albeit determined to find them). But Nancy is a devastated wreck – not only because she feels guilty for never letting their relationship develop, but because she has lost the one person who truly understands her.

I think this answers why Nancy ends up with Steve. It wouldn’t matter either way – Johnathan’s got nothing on her and Barb’s love either. I like the fact that Stranger Things is a universe familiar with alternate dimensions. Maybe, in some gentler version of the Upside Down, Nancy and Barb are living out a stunning queer life together.