From À LA MODEST

There are just some light spoilers in this post. Nothing too bad. This analysis/review is for the character El in the first season of Stranger Things.

I find it rather interesting that El, short for “Eleven,” a character from the TV shows Stranger Things was named as such. The reason the number 11 was picked by the creators for her character seems quite significant—not at all by chance, especially for a show that is teeming with real-life references to knowledge hidden from the general public (i.e., MK Ultra, covert surveillance, CIA gaslighting). Though I’m not entirely sure of the creators’ intentions, here is my rookie esoteric analysis of the main character of Stranger Things—El.

To make things less confusing, I’m going to continually refer to the girl as Eleven or El. The actual number will be 11 or number 11, and a lower cased el will be to denote another divine entity.

Since Eleven is a girl, it would make sense for the creators to find a number that could be easily truncated by a young boy into a girl’s name. In the story, it also served the purpose of being a less suspicious name to throw around in front of the parents of the boys discretely harboring this mind-control refugee in their home. El sounds a lot like an actual girl’s name—like Elle. This was the first thing that came to mind.

Etched on her arm was the number 011, much like how the Jews were “named” during WWII. Going deeper, we see in Numerology, the number 11 is one of three “Master Numbers,” with 22 and 33 being the other two. These numbers are unique and treated differently than the rest of the numbers, because their individual digits do not really need to be added up together in order to read into their potential. All of the Master Numbers display great power, but 11 in Numerology specifically “symbolizes the potential to push the limitations of the human experience into the stratosphere of the highest spiritual perception; the link between the mortal and the immortal; between man and spirit; between darkness and light; ignorance and enlightenment.” El in this story is the link between the physical world and the “upside down,” as they refer to the parallel dimension in the show. She is able to come and go between both dimensions as she pleases, only requiring a sensory deprivation tank to help keep distractions away.

Going through the usual Numerology route, you’ll see that the number 11 consists of two ones whose sum is 2 (11 = 1 + 1 = 2).

This is a representation of the female gender. In the book of Genesis, Eve was taken from one of Adam’s ribs, meaning Eve came from and is made up of Adam. The number 1 by itself is God represented in numerical form, the Alpha, and the number from which all other numbers can be divided. Any number, multiplied by 1 comes back as a reflection of itself, and thus we are said to be made in God’s image. All, if not most of creation is numerical. Like Eve, El is female, and comes from man as well as God.

This leads me to my next observation. Her name stems from the Hebrew word for “god,” which is El. El is also the same word given to angels, including fallen angels or demons. It is not a proper noun. Essentially, the word encompasses all spirit beings—the Elims (plural for El)—not just the Creator. El is also both a masculine and feminine noun, and just like in Numerology, the number 11 represents both sexes. Christ came to earth in human form as a child, and El is a child herself.

The Role of Femininity and Feminism in Stranger Things

When El sees Mike’s long-haired sister’s picture upon venturing for the first time up to the main floor of his house, she breaks her character’s almost complete silence by remarking, “pretty.” She evaluates herself as the same while looking at the mirror after the boys dress her up in a pink dress and shoulder-length wig. El’s concept of pretty coincides with what the boys thought pretty girls should look like, made evident by their reaction to her having concealed the crew cut with a curly blonde wig, eschewing that frumpy, filthy hospital gown from her confinement. So I’ll just say, no, Claire Landsbaum, her crew cut was not the best part of the show.

Within some esoteric circles, the image of the hermaphrodite is the ultimate expression of the Self, which in my viewpoint is just diabolical. A child like El has not yet hit puberty and therefore easily can look like a boy,  given the right styling. However, we can see that El’s inner desire to be feminine manifests in her insecurities when she is dressed in what you could even call gender-neutral fashion.

Although we are indeed reflections of God, implying the image of God being reflective of both sexes, God is not in the same sense, a hermaphrodite. The original Greek Hermaphrodite was created by yolking Hermes and Aphrodite—separate created els that were distinctly masculine and feminine. God, the Alpha and the Omega, just is what God is. Not either/or—never yolked nor created—a reflection of God’s Self. To be a hermaphrodite by choice or to remain as one is to do the will of the Fallen. Creation, or the created, can only be one or the other. Homosexuality and even gender neutrality are works of the Fallen.

El’s insecurity doesn’t come from her disapproval of her natural features; they come from her disapproval of what was done to her. 

This is where it gets to the slippery slope, because people like to think and push the lie that a certain unhealthy disposition is not unhealthy at all but is completely natural, should be accepted, and is worthy of celebration. Lies, lies, lies. I feel this way particularly regarding tolerance for obesity, or simply being overweight. While I’m definitely against making fat people feel bad for the sake of making them miserable, without being constructive, I do believe that fat people, those who encourage fat people to stay fat, and those who skinny shame should be shamed for doing so. They are literally sending sick people closer to their graves when they refuse to encourage them to take steps to rectify this unhealthy affliction.

In reality, beauty shouldn’t be something we have to think about too deeply to convince ourselves of. 

Even though the actress who played El thought her buzz cut was “cool” and reminded her of the new MadMax (of course), her actual father cried backstage the first time he saw his daughter after her hair had been truncated for the role. You might think it’s odd that the mother wouldn’t have been more emotionally affected by this. No, it was her daddy who felt the greater sense of loss. In my personal experience, I’ve notices that fathers, all across the globe, have the same preference for their girls (unless of course they secretly wanted a boy instead). Dads who accept and even celebrate their offsprings’ being females delight in their little girls’ being girly. They delight in seeing their wives in their daughters.

You can watch the video clip below covering the part about the actress’ father’s reaction to his daughter’s lack of hair:

Besides wanting to preserve their innocence, fathers generally also want to preserve their daughters’ femininity. My husband loves and insists on seeing our baby girl all dressed up with her hair in barrettes. Instead of being annoyed, I am honestly happy that I have a husband who cares about that kind of thing. He has said that’s why he married me after all—because I am feminine, from the way I look to the way I act. He wouldn’t have it any other way—as with many men I’m sure.

This young actress’ pixie cut has also been covered all over the “E!” news. Way too much in fact for such a thing, as if it’s never been done by a child actress before. The surrounding tags around this buzz cut video include the words “inspiring” and “cool,” trying to get millennials and young girls to embrace this type of look for themselves. Oh, and guess what the name of the season 2 premiere episode will be? MadMax. Surprise, surprise.

The female degeneracy in this show doesn’t stop here. The perfect Natalia Wheeler, Mike’s sister reveals  that she holds the “nuclear family” living in a single home in a cul de sac in such low regard in a scene with Jonathan Byers, just because she saw that her mother marrying young was a poor choice and that she believed that he mother never even loved her father. This girl, who appears to have everything, including a loving mother who is clearly there for her even when she turns her back on her, implies that she is just so miserable. What a brat! Who was actually positively moved by that scene? That was definitely feminism crapping all over a good show. I think maybe Ms. Natalia deserves her own roast in a separate analysis.

So do I think all women should wear demure dresses and have long hair? Not necessarily. I do prefer women to be that way for reasons other than just health (like modesty and maintaining a higher frequency), but as long as you strive to at least look like a woman when you are female, you’re on the right path. Your Heavenly Father delights in this, and nature will be on your side.