I love Stranger Things. If you’ve read my blog post about movie soundtracks or you follow me on Twitter, then you already know this. You may also know that Stranger Things was filmed in Georgia. I happen to live in Georgia.
Me and my dad standing in front of the building in Jackson that was used for exterior shots of the library.
Because of my love (and theirs, but mostly mine) for the show and our reasonably close distance to a lot of the locations, my amazing parents decided to spend this past weekend with me driving to and seeing some of the places where filming took place.
The building used for exterior shots of Hawkins National Laboratory.
We saw the school used for Hawkins Middle School; Downtown Jackson, which was used for Downtown Hawkins; the building used for exterior shots of Hawkins National Laboratory; the store where Eleven got Eggos; and the restaurant used for Benny’s Burgers.
Me doing my best impression of Eleven in the store where she got Eggos.
I’m not normally a fangirl, and I don’t usually get attached to shows like I have with Stranger Things. Sure, there are plenty of shows that I love and that have meaningful stories or characters. But I’ve never had a show stick with me the way Stranger Things has. I don’t really know what’s different. Maybe it’s because the plot was so epic. Maybe the throw-back to the 80’s was cool, despite the fact that I wasn’t alive then. Maybe it’s because the characters are so complex. I’m not sure. But it’s definitely different.
Part of the school used as Hawkins Middle School. (If you look closely, you can see remnants of the lettering for Hawkins Middle School.)
Part of it has to be the fact that I find the show to be very inspiring. If you’ve seen it, you might be a little confused. I don’t think Stranger Things is the first thing that pops into a lot of people’s heads as something that would inspire them. I’m not going to go into the details of why I feel this way, because it would take the length of a whole new post for me to explain all of my thoughts. Just know that, to me, it has more meaning than just being something interesting to watch.
Me and my Dad sitting in the restaurant used for Benny’s Burgers.
The whole point of me telling you all of this was to say that being in places where something that I find so sensational was created made me think about my own dreams. And it made them seem a little more possible.
Part of an alley in Downtown Jackson where two characters got into a fight.
So often, we think of the big goals that we have for ourselves in life as being these castles in the sky that we would love to reach but don’t truly think we will. That’s a really horrible mindset to have. Because if you can’t see your dreams being a reality, why bother in the first place?
Me in Jackson, GA. (Fun fact: Winona Ryder walked through those plants in the show.)
Standing in these places and being able to look around was meaningful to me, because it made it seem so much more real. Sometimes, to me at least, the concept of people doing these really cool things seems a little bit abstract and kind of distant from my reality, if that makes sense.
A couple of buildings in Jackson, GA. The building on the right was where Joyce worked and bought the Christmas lights.
Being able to see these places with my own eyes and not just through a TV screen really made it sink in that people, normal people just like you and me, were a part of making this great show that so many people love. Sure they’re probably very talented, but there’s nothing massively different about them and me. They have dreams and goals. And if they could do something that I find so amazing and accomplish at least some of their dreams and goals, then why can’t I?
Katherine Cole Writing 