#the queercoding of mike wheeler

[kdkdnfuiahuag]

“i think there is someone he likes, because he has been acting… weird.”

i think about this quote a lot because, if you think about it, it doesn’t actually make that much sense in context to will. we all know that by this point it is a canonical fact that will is in love with mike, and since el is talking about will in this part of the letter, we automatically assume it must be about him, right?

except that doesn’t make sense. throughout season four, will really isn’t acting strange; he isn’t out of character, he’s not behaving differently, he’s not being “weird”. sure, he seems a bit more in his head and has a lot more longing glances and stuff, but that isn’t significant enough to be pointed out in the first line about him in the very beginning of the season.

if will isn’t acting significantly different i’m season four, why put that line in?

it’s because it’s not about him.

who do we see acting weird in season four? who’s being strange and distant? who’s “out of character”? who’s changed?

mike.

this line is in there because they want you to notice that mike is acting weird, they’re explaining why, too. “i think there is someone he likes…” is what el says to explain his behaviour, and as pointed out time and time again in hundreds of different ways, all of mike’s “weird” behaviour and change in character can be explained by his feelings for will.

[bylerpining]

no comment needed

[lunabug2004]

Oh how I love helping people see the light 🤩

[ell1039]

literally the most chalant nonchalant „cool“ i‘ve ever heard in my entire life. you can practically see mike internally screaming in this scene

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about how Mike wasn't just told to like El then he liked her. No. There's a third event that happens between them that we skip over so often but is vital and Mike's crush might not have even happened without it.

Mike is being teased about El, yes. But he actually doesn't even get the chance to respond, let alone have his following actions be influenced by only that. Because before he can even react, look who's here:

Stakes.

This scene isn't about El. This scene plays out in one, very simple way.

Lucas: you like El.

Mike: I don't.

Troy: Let me remind you what will happen if you don't.

Just like the ily speech, Lucas is Will, but that's not all it took. It didn't just take the suggestion of something. It took the STAKES. It took threat. He was told to do something then he turned to see just what would happen to him if he didn't do it. The romantic trope is feigned: realize your feelings once someone points out that someone could be romantic. Steve has the same with Robin in season 3. But one thing here is different.

Before he has a chance to respond (to ensure we don't know what would have happened), he is given incentive to lie.

It isn't just suggestibility. "Huh, maybe I should like her. I guess I will." It's fear. It's "you need to hide, like right fucking now, and there's a hiding spot right there." Yeah. You run to the hiding spot and you do not fucking come out ever.

[thewisewill80sbyers]

queercoding || byler + open closets

[theladyrebecca2]

Bylers: have you watched the movie Billy Elliot (2000)?

I watched it for the first time a few weeks ago, and oh my god... I was casually enjoying this queercoded coming-of-age story set in the 80s, following Billy (short for William, I happily noted with my Byler brainrot), only to have a mini heart attack when it was revealed Billy's best friend's name was Micheal.

Guys. I have to talk about this movie, and its possible inspiration for some aspects of Stranger Things.

Okay, so this movie came out when the Duffer Brothers were only 16 years old; it was such a hit that it was turned into one of the world's most famous musicals, which eventually came to the USA/Broadway in 2008 when the Duffers were 24 years old.

I can't help but wonder if, like Harry Potter and E.T. and all the other movies that the Duffers grew up with, this was another story that might have captured their hearts as they were growing up.

Plot

Here's a breakdown of the movie (or at least, the most relevant points I want to highlight), with some info taken directly from its Wiki page because that means I can finish this post quicker:

Billy Elliot is a British coming-of-age comedy-drama set in Northern England in the 1980's.  In 1984 Billy Elliot, 11 years old, lives with his maternal grandmother, his widowed father, and his older brother - the latter two working as coal miners during the 1984-1985 mining strikes under Margaret Thatcher. (For those who don't know UK politics, Thatcher was the Prime Minister when Reagan was President of the US. Both governments were right-wing/conservative).

Billy's father is heavily depressed, grieving his late wife and struggling to make ends meet for his family during the strikes. He sends Billy to the gym to learn boxing, but despite Billy's efforts to enjoy it, he's unwilling at heart.

We first meet Billy's best friend outside the gym. Michael watches intently as a boy walks by - I noticed this and immediately filed it away as potential queercoding...

Billy is unkindly pushed by the boy as he walks past, which indicated to me that Billy - and probably Michael too - are likely seen as outsiders or losers.

Billy wants Michael to join him in the boxing class, but he's quick to reject the idea. Hitting boys for sport isn't something Michael finds fun at all.

Boxing = acceptable masculinity and conformity, much like baseball is used as a metaphor in Stranger Things. Once inside the gym, Billy notices the ballet class using the gym after the boxing session, and despite it being an all-girls class, decides to join in. Even though he clearly enjoys it, Billy is nervous what other people will think of him.

He only opens up about it to Michael. They briefly ditch the other boys in their sports class, taking a different route so they can speak privately. Michael encourages Billy to continue dancing ballet, to just be himself and have fun. Michael is queercoded further by sheepishly admitting he thinks Billy would look good in a tutu.

Billy is taken aback at Michael's admission, but makes no comment. The scene continues with them in high spirits and laughing together.

Billy hides his ballet shoes under his bed mattress, keeping his lessons a secret from his dad and brother (+ I couldn't help but notice the blue-and-yellow:

The scene above flows directly into a scene of Michael and Billy at school, and we can see Michael's adoring gazes at his best friend (notice the lyrics 'don't look back and I love you' sort of lining up with the moment):

Soon it becomes clear that Billy truly has a rare talent for ballet: the class teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, believes that he's talented enough to study at the Royal Ballet School in London. She advises him to attend the upcoming auditions, and dance professionally instead of becoming a miner like his father and brother. Billy visits Michael at his house for advice. Michael answers the door wearing his sister's dress, startling Billy, who looks around quickly to check if anyone else can see them. Michael insists he's "just dressing up", and once inside, applies lipstick onto Billy so he can join in on the fun.

Michael likes that Billy is doing the thing he truly enjoys, but he doesn't like the idea of Billy having to move away to London. He expresses that he'd miss him. This scene makes it clear that Micheal and Billy can only truly express their true selves around the other.

When Billy's father discovers that Billy is taking the ballet classes instead of boxing, he forbids Billy to continue. He fears Billy will be considered gay. Billy doesn't seem to care too much now what other people think of him; he loves dancing, and that's all that matters.

(Bonus: Billy fires back at his dad with a comment about the kind of lads that like wrestling...)

Whilst things are tense with his Dad, Billy remains passionate about his dancing. He secretly continues his lessons with the help of Mrs. Wilkinson. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilkinson's daughter, Debbie, expresses romantic interest in Billy... but he seems unsure on how to proceed with her approaches. After pillow fighting, when given a clear opportunity to kiss her, he doesn't take it.

Eventually, Debbie asks Billy if he fancies her. He skirts around the question, making it clear that he's never considered Debbie romantically.

At the end of this scene, Debbie explicity asks Billy if he wants to "see her f*nny" (yikes)... Billy, uninterested and arguably uncomfortable, brushes her off with a firm "nah", and walks away. Whilst I'm sure many would argue that this doesn't necessarily mean Billy isn't straight, I think having him explicity reject her advances here, along with everything else in his narrative, is heavy queercoding.

Anyway. Moving on.

When Billy's older brother is arrested during a clash between police and striking miners, Billy misses his audition for the Royal Ballet School. Mrs. Wilkinson decides to tell Billy's family about the missed opportunity, but Billy's father and brother are outraged that Billy has continued with his ballet. Whilst his brother and father judge him, Micheal freely allows and even celebrates Billy.

At Christmas, after building a snowman together, Micheal wonders out loud if maybe Billy should just run away and join a dancing troupe somewhere else. When Billy tells him not to be stupid, Micheal concedes... he doesn't want Billy to go anywhere.

When Billy complains that his hands are cold, Micheal places them inside his own coat. The boys share a charged moment. Billy seems confused; Micheal shy (+ notice the rainbow Xmas lights framing Billy).

Billy learns that Michael is gay, and has feelings for him. Billy acknowledges that just because he likes ballet, it doesn't mean that he's gay too. This could be confirmation that Billy isn't gay - maybe he's ace, or unlabelled, or still questioning - and yes, it's absolutely true that his love of ballet is no indication either way of his sexuality.

But whilst this scene is, on a surface level, an unrequited love confession, it's also not explicit confirmation on Billy's sexuality (just like him turning down Debbie wasn't either). It's just very interesting when you compare the way Billy handles Debbie's feelings for him, to how he handles Micheal's feelings for him.

Note that Debbie is placed as Billy's female "love interest" in the same way that Micheal is his male "love interest" - both of them parallel the other in their feelings for Billy, and both of them express that they'll miss Billy if he goes to London.

Billy and Michael then sneak into the empty gym together. Billy gives Michael a tutu to wear, and they share a very sweet moment. Billy can dance, become his true self; meanwhile Micheal can wear something feminine, also feeling more like his true self (bear in mind he's just come out to Billy moments before this too).

They're both completely free together.

Unfortunately, on his way back from the pub, Michael's father notices that someone has broken into the gym. He fetches Billy's dad, who watches Billy from the sidelines, and realises his son is truly passionate, and truly talented, about his dancing craft.

Although stunned at first, he resolves to do whatever it takes to help Billy attain his dream. This is a huge turning point in the movie - Billy's family have come to accept him. They love him, no matter what.

There's another scene of Billy and Michael at school, which I think underlines how close the two of them still are. (This was also the scene where I heard Michael's name said for the first time, and practically fell out of my chair...)

With the help of his family and the community, Billy is finally able to attend his next audition in London. Sometime later, the Royal Ballet School sends him a letter of acceptance, coinciding with the end of the miners' strike, and Billy leaves home to study in London - but not before saying goodbye to Michael, reciprocating the kiss on his cheek.

In 1998, 25-year-old Billy performs as the Swan in Swan Lake whilst his father, brother, and Michael and his (assumed) current partner or friend watch with awe and pride from the audience.

Sexuality

Okay, so, disclaimer: it seems the mainstream reading of Billy and Michael's relationship is that Michael is gay but Billy is not. I can't help but disagree with this take! I don't condemn it, but I just don't think that's what this movie was telling us (and I don't understand why they included certain scenes otherwise, e.g. the ones with Billy rejecting Debbie, or Billy reciprocating Michael's kiss on the cheek).

Giving Michael an unrequited crush on his best friend is frustratingly a lot more palatable to a mainstream audience, so I'm wondering if the time it was produced/released (90s/early 00s) is the main factor here, or whether they expanded on Billy's sexuality in the musical version to make him more hetero?? (and the musical is definitely the most famous version of the story these days). However, in this movie, Billy already makes it very clear to Michael halfway through the movie that he accepts him as gay, and that their friendship is not ruined by Michael's romantic feelings for him - so why then would we end the movie with Billy echoing Michael's romantic sentiments by kissing him on the cheek at the moment of their parting? And a somewhat flirty "see you", promising they'll see each other again? It's a very bittersweet moment either way. The two best friends will likely be separated for many years whilst Billy attends the school in London, although I'm sure the audience can expect them to keep in touch via phone or letters. In fact, that's confirmed by the canon narrative, because how else would Michael have known that Billy was debuting as the Black Swan when they're 25 years old? Billy's father and brother act like they haven't seen Michael in many years, but recognise him from Billy's childhood. Maybe Billy and Michael have been in contact the whole time. Maybe Michael moved out of the small country town long ago, and found himself in the big city, just like Billy did? I'd like to think so. Michael is shown to have a partner or friend at the end when they're adults - perhaps this is another reason why the mainstream audience read Michael as gay, and Billy as not? There's no indication either way that Billy has a partner, man or woman - it's left completely open. The existence of Michael's potential partner suggests that Billy and Michael aren't currently together, but that's it! Personally, I just couldn't help but read Billy's kiss to Michael at the end as Billy coming to terms with his budding sexuality (or that he was, at the very least, now open to the idea he may not be heterosexual, and is no longer ashamed or afraid of it). I think that was a powerful character arc for its time.

To me, Billy is dealing with internalised homophobia throughout the entire movie. He fears being perceived as gay because of his interest in ballet, and denies it several times. The fact he loves to perform ballet is NOT relevant to his sexuality! This is a point made explicit in the movie, and I love that. But what is relevant is that he rebuffs the girl who has a crush on him, yet reciprocates a romantic gesture with the boy who has a crush on him. Like, hello?? The subtext is crying out.

Byler nation, I'm begging you to watch this movie so you can form your own opinion on this.

Themes

The themes of Billy Elliot echo many of the themes found in Stranger Things, including grief, family, love, self-acceptance, and most notably, the celebration of the non-conforming. Homosexuality and "queerness", a taboo subject in the 1980s, is also at the forefront of this story.

Billy is not Will, and Michael isn't Mike - rather, they're both a mixture of each. Will, Billy and Michael are all from poor, working class families. Mike and Billy share a position where two members of the opposite sex harbour romantic feelings for them. All four of them subvert gender norms in different ways, some more obvious than others. Michael's self expression and even gender exploration is found through trying on makeup, or crossdressing; Billy's self expression is found through the art of dance. Both of them reject the restrictive inhibitions (and forced conformity) of their community... just like Will, and hopefully Mike come S5. Like Will's escapism into art, fantasy and DnD in Stranger Things, dance is a metaphor for Billy's passion, as well as his escape and frustration.

"Billy's subversion of traditional masculine "gender performativity" is highlighted against the contrast of extreme masculine working-class society. With this focus, Billy Elliot has the position of being "the first mainstream British entertainment to directly interrogate homophobic prejudice as a function of patriarchal society.

The impact of its empowering message of acceptance entered public discourse and education campaigns thanks to the prominence and financial success of the show." - x

Bonus parallels

I just wanted to add this particular moment because... well, you know. I'm making this post for the threads it shares with Stranger Things.

(Context: Billy is answering a question about how it feels when he's dancing).

And then, here... a letter is read from, from Billy's deceased mother, addressed to him. Dear Billy.

And finally:

So what do you think, Byler nation?

[wqndertwins]

“you see, michael? you see what happens?” SHUT UUUUUP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP IM GONNA FUCKING END ITTTT

[autistic-katara]

But I’m a Cheerleader/Byler parallels part 1

hey guys, just finished that rewatch of BIAC where i wrote down all my Byler parallels and managed to find 14, 6 of which i’ll post now, and 8 later due to limited image numbers

would like to thank @desperatelousewife for pointing a few of these out to me (specifically 2, 3, & 6)

WARNING: long post

1

both scenes start out with the camera on unknown characters participating in a kind of erotic sport (wrestling involving lots of physical contact/cheerleading involving very little clothing and some physical contact, both involving a lot of movement that adds to the homoeroticism) before cutting to the queercoded character (Mike/Megan). with Mike it’s more heavily implied in the scene that he was looking with the camera, but in a later scene we see the same shots flash across Megan’s mind (specifically while being kissed by her boyfriend and seeming uninterested), proving that she was the one looking:

2

both scenes involve the queercoded character at dinner, with their father figures (who both happen to look pretty similar) saying something that could be interpreted as a homophobic microagression (canonically in BIAC’s case) and Mike/Megan getting suspicious and/or upset about it.

3

both scenes involve queer sexual imagery, Megan’s being more on the nose, her smiling right next to a vaginally-shaped pattern. Mike’s is a lot more subtle, with him holding the hose being framed in a certain way by the camera (important to note that Will was specifically the one that turned the hose he’s holding on) sorry to mention hosegate in the year 2025 but like it’s there and it’s a parallel.

4

there were honestly a billion Byler moments i could screenshot of Mike initiating close physical contact between them, or even just of them having no concept of personal space when it comes to each other lmao

but the point is, both characters are incredibly physically close with a/multiple friend(s) of the same gender, the major differences between Mike and Megan here being a) with Megan it seems to be with most, if not all her female friends, while with Mike it’s pretty exclusively with Will. and b) Megan’s friends don’t like the excessive physical contact/closeness, meanwhile Will enjoys it.

5

now this, this is what got me started thinking about the parallels.

both scenes involve the beard (El/Jared) kinda suddenly* kissing the queercoded character, who does not kiss back at all, touch their partner, or even close their eyes during it. afterwards both look confused and uncomfortable, with Mike continuing to stand in front of the closet El kissed him in front of and seeming to have a bit of a realisation, and Megan wiping her mouth before opening her locker (filled with pictures of scantily clad women) and asking her friend “Don’t you hate it when they do that?” speaking of which:

*both were at the end of moments where it made sense to kiss your significant other, but it still felt pretty sudden watching it

6

as stated above: Megan’s locker is covered in pictures of half-naked women, and Mike’s room with muscly, half-naked men. Mike’s room also has a “one way” sign pointed directly into his closet

would also like to mention that other characters in both of these have posters of the gender they’re attracted to on their walls. for Stranger Things, Steve and the jocks both have pictures similar to Megan’s, and Nancy has a Tom Cruise poster in her room. meanwhile in But I’m a Cheerleader Megan’s friend has a picture of a shirtless man (similar to Mike’s) in her locker.

part 2

[moonlight-froggy]

Mission: Act straight

(and that is only s4)

[bylerpining]

he got a little lost along the way but he'll find himself again in s5 🥺

[lunabug2004]

The double/hidden meaning of this:

still sends me.

🤨🤨🤨

Mike Wheeler we know what you are.

[ell1039]

whenever i have byler doubt i just have to think about the rink o mania fight with mike getting defensive after being asked „and us?“ and saying „we‘re friends. we‘re friends“ like no one. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE. would say this to their best friend after not contacting them for months and not even being able to hug them after seeing each other at the airport. like for me this is the ultimate proof. i don‘t even have to think about other scenes i mean why would mike say it THAT defensive if he hasn‘t thought about will romantically at least once ????? not even to mention that it‘s the typical „we‘re just friends“ trope depicted in several romantic relationships in so many different media

[kdkdnfuiahuag]

when el says in the beginning of szn four “i think there is someone he likes, because he has been acting… weird.” her words reflected mike’s character throughout the season, not will’s.

[gayofthefae]

Say what you will but just like season 1 actually queercoded both Will and Mike through bullying, 4x01 queercoded both Will and Mike too. In both of their establishing school experiences:

In History, a girl tries to play footsie with Will but he pulls away.

At lunch, Mike sits with his new D&D club which is described as "promoting sodomy".

(even the tones of queercoding shows which kid stayed in Hawkins😬)

[strange-anni]

When you don't know what you're looking for but also know exactly what you're looking for Steve Harrington in 3x03 and Mike Wheeler in 4x01