Some of 2017’s most anticipated television shows and films have had strong young ensemble casts - very young. ‘It’ and ‘Stranger Things’ have been just two of countless examples. We can go back to the Harry Potter franchise or even back to the 80s with The Goonies.
What audiences have noted, loved and continue to find inspiring is the resilience of children when they’re placed in situations that aren’t all too accommodating.
Group dynamics
The cast of Stranger Things have impressed us all with their resourcefulness in dealing with the horrors that befall their families and their small town. In the true curious and accepting nature of children, when Millie Bobbie Brown’s character Eleven happens into their lives, Gaten Matarazzo and Finn Wolfhard’s characters are quick to welcome her into their group and help her find her place, thus fuelling a seriously enthralling plot line, reflective of an epoch brimming with curiosity for all things other-worldly. And frankly, it’s a major contrast to what a lot of adults would do to a strange newcomer.
In It, the group dynamics coupled with the terrifying prospect of being murdered by a shape-shifting clown. Stephen King, author of It, has portrayed his young protagonists as true individuals with flaws and insecurities. The result is a group of people who actively help and protect each other through the life-threatening gore. It’s a system from which older audiences can learn a lot.
Similar interactions can be seen in The Goonies and any Harry Potter film, where perserverance is promoted through moral and life-threatening means.
Naturally with these stories come a riveting unfolding of various characters’ development; at the start of Stranger Things, Eleven is merely an enigma but through the storyline, we see her as a figure of power and growth. Bill Denbrough in It, starts off as a lonely and grieving boy fervently searching for his brother but we see his disposition strengthen as he vows to protect himself and his town from any form of danger.
Of course, some youngsters just aren’t the picture of grace; Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things and Henry Bowers from It are the more human dangers that normalise the children’s lives, making the protagonists all the more relatable. And who wouldn’t run in the opposite direction of bullies at that age?
Unexpected circumstances
Ushering these kids to the fore often brings with it a heavy spotlight on the actors; and said spotlight brings plenty of attention for which they’re unprepared. Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobbie Brown in particular have been the subject of blatant sexualisation. And following the entertainment industry’s rebuttals of such troubles, other young actors are backing them up, reminding fans that while they show little defeat in the face of trouble on screen, they’re still privy to a childhood off-screen.
It obviously takes a good eye to cast such young and skilled actors, and equally good talent to write a script that brings out true essences of childhood— retaining tension while playing into moments of innocence and relief. That probably explains the audience’s applause comes in as the credits roll; younger generations on-screen inspire us to tackle our own problems with similar moxy.