#but seriously the characters being such clearcut parallels is so wild

[bugsbenefit]

wait actually adding on to the long post i just made! (spoiler for Firestarter again obviously):

the girl's father really goes through it while she's imprisoned in the lab and he thinks she's gone forever. he's growing tired and sick of live, giving up, gaining weight, and becoming addicted to medication (how very Hopper s1 esque of you)... no but seriously the dad from Firestarter is literally just Hopper

actually it's really interesting how clearly you can assign character roles from Firestarter to Stranger Things. because there's no real gray areas or multiple character being needed to fill one role. it's a super straight forward 1:1

Charlie/the daughter is El: super obvious. get imprisoned in the lab, has psychic powers. only a father figure left as family. Super young when everything starts so she Struggles to adjust to things in normal society. often struggles to use her powers properly or at all and then has them unleash themselves in massive outburst over trauma she suffers

Andy/the dad is Hopper: parent figure (even though Hopper is her adoptive dad and not her biological one), doing Everything in his power to save his daughter. medication addiction, a cabin in the woods, general depression and fed-up-ness with life. lost a wife. dies to save his daughter (Hopper has a fake out, not Andy tho rip)

Victoria/the mother is Terry: she's only briefly in the story. Victoria died while Terry is just in a permanent catatonic state. both of them participated in government experiments for money during college, gained minor psychic powers from it, and birthed a daughter with even stronger powers that was then stolen by the same people who ran her prior experiment. that event is also what caused her death/incapacitation. they're Literally the same character

James Hollister, the head of the organization, is a reskin of Brenner: he's the man running the organization. also responsible for the drug tests that started it all. plays the part of scientific researcher and sleazy business guy at the same time as he's also coordinating with the government. both start with a prime motive of learning about and using the kids psychic powers but then grow obsessed with the one girl in their "care"

"Rainbird", the "janitor" is Henry: both enter the story as killers, Henry coming from a family massacre, and Rainbird being a hitman. both assume a fake identity (a lab worker and a janitor respectively). with this disguise they grow closer to the girl trapped in the lab. both ultimately manage to win her trust and convince her to use her powers in a way never seen before. they also both die by her hand at the end of the story (though Henry survives this gets sent to the UD instead)

...also i seriously think there's a parallel character to Benny in there. yes the Benny who dies in s1: while Charlie and Andy are on the run from the government and the organization they find refuge in a small farmer's house, Irv Manders. (he lives there with his wife who shows up Briefly) father and daughter are wanted by the police but Irv realizes that they're both good/genuine people and wants to understand them/what's going on before sending them to like, jail. he offers for them to stay with him for a bit. but then the organization shows up out of nowhere and opens fire. Irv gets shot during this. Charlie and her dad manage to flee, however, she burns the farm down as they leave. Irv doesn't show up in the story again and most likely died to the gunshot paired with the fire... poor guy