While Stranger Things character Will Byers was trying to figure out how to make it out of the Upside Down, many fans were attempting to solve a mystery of their own: Will's sexual orientation. Following the ongoing conversation concerning his character's sexual identity, child actor Noah Scnapp finally broke his silence and explained what many fans may have been "missing."
"I’ve been reading stuff for a while. I think everyone here is missing the point," Schnapp wrote in a long winded post on Instagram on Oct. 16. The note was attached to a screenshot from Twitter, in which fans were questioning whether Will was gay in the series. "An author called Gary Schmidt came to speak at our school this week and he said that good stories aren’t supposed to leave you with answers because then you never question yourself and you forget about it," he continued. "A good book, or a good show leaves a lot of unanswered questions but makes you think. Which is what you are all doing. For me, Will being gay or not is besides the point. "
Schnapp also questioned what attributes or mannerisms made fans believe his character was gay. "Stranger Things is a show about a bunch of kids who are outsiders and find each other because they have been bullied in some way or are different," he added. "Does being sensitive, or a loner, or a teenager who likes photography, or a girl with red hair and big glasses, make you gay? I'm only 12 but I do know we all relate to being different. And that's why I think the Duffers wrote the show the way they did. So you can ask all these questions." As for the answer to everyone's question, Schnapp says he hopes "the real answer never comes out!"
Since the series premiere in July, popular threads on Reddit and other message boards began discussing a theme of sexuality explored throughout the series. Daniel Reynolds, a writer for The Advocatepenned a lengthy essay that examined homophobia in the show, citing Will and Barb as examples of "queer" characters. Netflix has ordered a second season of Stranger Things that is set to air some time in 2017. So fans will just have to wait until then to see if the next season sheds any more light on the subject.
