- Netflix's "Stranger Things" creators the Duffer Brothers said they have "George Lucas'd" things.
- Fans took that to mean that some scenes had been adjusted since the show first premiered.
Last week, several tweets and TikToks stirred up the "Stranger Things" fanbase over claims that scenes had been re-edited.
More specifically, viewers believed that a moment when Jonathan photographed Nancy with her shirt off had recently been cut from season one. Even this reporter, who has seen the first season of "Stranger Things" more than five times all the way through, fell prey to this strange Mandela Effect.
But it turns out that nothing in that first season scene had been re-edited. New TikTok videos show people comparing the streaming episode to the physical DVD copies of the show. Nothing had been changed in that scene.
Now the official "Stranger Things" writers' room account on Twitter made sure their fans knew Jonathan's spying scene wasn't changed.
"PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited," the account posted on Tuesday evening. "And they never will be."
"So that also counts for the Jonathan spying on Nancy scene in S01, as many people believe?" a fan replied.
The account gave a simple "yes" in response.
—ℜ (@rayZ0rcakes) July 26, 2022
How this incorrect memory spread around the internet after the Duffer Brothers said they had 'George Lucas-d' scenes
As Insider previously reported, this all started when the Duffer Brothers forgot that a season two scene included a reference to Will Byers' birthday being March 22. When the fourth season premiered, people noticed that the day Mike flew to California to visit Eleven and Will was March 22 — but every character in the episode failed to mention this celebratory day.
Fans were worried this meant Will was extra sad because of his forgotten birthday, but the Duffer Brothers admitted they had simply overlooked this detail.
"We were talking about it yesterday, and I think we're going to George Lucas that," Matt Duffer told Variety in June. "We have George Lucas'd things also that people don't know about."
The phrase "George Lucas'd" refers to the act of going back and altering the edit of the movie (or in this case, TV show) that people can see online and in new physical copies. Lucas famously changed some continuity in "Star Wars," like having Han Solo shoot Greedo first and vice versa. Other changes were simply CGI effects or coloring for scenes.
Once this statement to Variety made its way to the fandom, some viewers began trying to look for changed scenes.
That's when the Mandela Effect – a phenomenon where many people start to believe a false memory – took hold among viewers with Jonathan's camera scene.
Fans may have been looking for signs that Jonathan's worst moment was made less creepy
The moment when Jonathan lurks in the woods and takes pictures of Nancy through Steve's bedroom window is one of his most ethically dubious choices. Many fans feel conflicted about this violation of her privacy, and how forgiving we should be of this mistake in judgment.
This is heightened because the "Stranger Things" episode shows how Jonathan starts lowering his camera once it's clear Nancy is being intimate with Steve, but then raises it once more — demonstrating a conscious choice to continue taking pictures even though he feels that it's wrong.
People seem to have been more inclined to think that scene had been changed to make Jonathan seem less "pervy" (in the words of one TikToker) because the rest of his scenes present him as a likable, thoughtful guy. Eliminating footage of him taking a picture of Nancy with just her bra on would help his overall character arc.
But alas, we were wrong. Fans' eager hunt for changes and clues has yet to turn up anything concrete. The Jonathan scene has always cut to Barb sitting by the pool, leaving the shirtless photo reveal for episode three (when Nancy and Steve are shown the photos by a concerned classmate).