The star Caleb McLaughlin, one of the protagonists of stranger thingshas left us stunned, because he has just denounced the intolerance and racism that he experienced on the part of the fans of the successful Netflix series for the simple fact of having a different skin color.
stranger things premiered its first season in 2016, becoming one of the platform’s biggest hits worldwide. Caleb made his debut as part of the youth cast when he was 14 years old, playing the character of Lucas Sinclair.
During the years that the Show Created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer has been trending, the cast has attended Comic Cons around the world. In addition, they take advantage of their social networks to interact with their millions of fans.
However, despite having one of the main roles in the series, during a question and answer session with the attendees of Belgium’s Heroes Comic Con, the 20-year-old actor revealed that he has not received the same support from viewers than the rest of his co-stars, as he has the least number of social media followers than they do. In addition, Caleb admitted that the treatment he received compared to Noah, Finn, Gaten and Millie “affected him a lot” when he was younger.
When I was younger, it definitely affected me a lot because at a young age this is a deep conversation. You’re like, ‘Why am I the underdog? The fewest followers? I’m on the same show as everyone from the first season.
Later, McLaughlin narrated that the lines at the Comic Cons to meet him are usually shorter than those of the rest of the cast of Stranger Things.
At my first Comic Com some people didn’t stand in my line because I was black. Some people said to me, ‘Oh, I didn’t want to be in line because you were mean to Eleven.’ Even now some people don’t follow me on social media or support me because I’m black.
My parents had to say, ‘It’s a sad truth, but that’s because you’re the black kid on the show.’ Wow, that’s crazy. Am I not loved just because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin? […] That’s why, with my platform, I’m going to spread positivity and love because I’m not returning hate to people who hate me.
Following Caleb’s remarks, the Comic Con crowd has shown its support for the young actor. Meanwhile, the fans of stranger things They have commented that they are very distressed to learn of the way in which the star has been treated in all these years. Apparently, the boy’s history of discrimination is not an isolated case, because these situations also occur in the world of music.
here’s caleb talking about how he had to deal with racism just because he was “the black kid who was mean to eleven in season 1” and felt like it was important to share his thoughts on that 🙂 #StrangerThings #TUDUM #CalebMcLaughlin @HComicConBE pic.twitter.com/JZoXS9aaBW
— L ☾ met timothée (@spideychaIamet) September 25, 2022
Here’s Caleb talking about how he had to deal with racism just because he was ‘the black kid who was mean to Eleven in season one.’ He felt it was important to share his thoughts on it 🙂 #StrangerThings #TUDUM #CalebMcLaughlin