A Guide to Kids’ Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: Do You Own Choppelganger?
In this weekly journey through the landscape of teen pop culture, we travel from the chaos of Stranger Things fandom, where many fans refuse to accept the series’ ending, to the childhood Wild West of Roblox , where age verification changes things dramatically, and all the way to Africa, where online megastar IShowSpeed is livestreaming a captivating journey that people around the world are watching.
What is the “gate of conformity”?
The final episode of Netflix’s sci-fi series Stranger Things aired on December 31st, and it seems many fans are unhappy (surprising, right?). Some believe the ending left too many loose ends, others felt it was too easy, rushed, sloppy, and just plain awful. Some fans were so dissatisfied with the series’ ending that they concluded it could n’t be the end; there had to be more. Thus was born the “Conformist Conspiracy Theory,” which posits that there’s a secret, real ending to Stranger Things that Netflix hasn’t yet revealed.
In a nutshell, “Gates of Conformity” presents the events depicted in the final episode as if they never actually happened. The series’ antagonist, Vecna, controls the plot, and the apparent ending is an illusion fed to the characters (and the audience). There’s little evidence to support this—props vary slightly from season to season or episode to episode, characters make minor dialogue errors, and other insignificant differences. I’m certain this is the result of editing and production errors, mixed with fan overanalysis.
I suspect the main problem with Stranger Things’ ending is the same as with other ambitious TV shows —Lost, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and so on. When a show is pitched, there’s no fully thought-out ending, and the creators are forced to “make something up” for the finale instead of knowing exactly how it’s going to end. This is why the first seasons of good shows are almost always better than their later seasons: the creators have the first season’s plot fully mapped out, but future events are left more vague, making the story feel sloppy rather than inevitable.
In any case, Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan Byers on Stranger Things, called the “Gate of Conformity” theory ” insane ,” and the Stranger Things X account description was changed to “ALL EPISODES OF Stranger Things ARE GOING NOW” (in all caps). However, that doesn’t put an end to Stranger Things . There’s still money to be made in the franchise, so I’d bet we’ll see new content at some point; it just probably won’t be a new ending.
Roblox has launched age verification.
The new year brings a world-shaking event to the video game Roblox : mandatory facial identification, or verification. It works like this: if unverified users attempt to chat on Roblox , they are asked to grant the game permission to use their camera and then follow a series of online instructions so the verification algorithm can determine their age group based on their appearance. Users over 13 can instead provide a photo of their ID . Roblox promises that any images or videos taken during the verification process will be deleted after its completion. Players who choose not to undergo verification can continue playing Roblox but will not be able to use in-game communication features. Once Roblox knows a user’s age, it only allows them to chat with other users of a similar age. Here’s how the company determines who can chat with whom:
The move comes in response to long-standing concerns about child safety on Roblox , including organized online predator groups like 764 using the game to recruit victims, Roblox minigames with questionable content that were/are accessible to younger players, and at least 24 reports of arrests of sexual predators using Roblox to solicit victims .
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Age verification on Roblox accounts is a positive step, but it’s still far from perfect. TikTok videos like this are popping up , where users appear to be sharing ways to bypass the filtering system. I don’t know if this will work, but if it does, it will not only allow children to have more “mature” accounts but could also lead to adults getting “younger” accounts. Online scammers often mimic the age group they’re targeting, and a verified account seems to make this process significantly easier. Another worrying point: last week, users on X posted links to eBay accounts specifically advertised as ” 13-15 year old accounts.” These auctions appear to have been removed by eBay, but in the dark corners of the internet, I have no doubt, the trade in verified Roblox accounts is brisk.
What is Choppelganger?
This week’s slang combines the words “chopped” and “doppelgänger” (double), a crude insult. “Chopped” (as seen in Lifehacker’s Gen Z and Gen A slang glossary ) describes someone who is ugly, while “doppelgänger” means “a ghostly copy of a living person,” so a “choppelganger” is someone who looks like you, but worse. The term was coined in this post on X:
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And soon, TikTok users picked up on the idea, posting videos like this:
It might not be the most common slang—there aren’t many places where such an idea would actually originate—but it’s certainly witty.
Viral Video of the Week: Speed Conquers Africa
Humanity faces dark times, but rays of light are shining through. This week’s post by YouTube legend IShowSpeed , who is currently hosting an epic series of livestreams documenting his trip to Africa, is a testament to the genuine kindness of people. The internet has responded in both America and Africa, garnering tens of millions of views.
So far, Speed has visited Rwanda , Zambia , Kenya (where he and his team went on safari and visited the Masai Mara, where Speed, among other adventures, got a traditional tattoo), and other places. Many more stops are planned in the coming days, including Liberia, Morocco, and Botswana. Speed is like an unofficial ambassador for the American people, and his open, honest, and funny videos act as a cultural exchange program or a bridge between two worlds. The comments are amazing: Africans write things like, “No words can convey the depth of what we feel as Africans. Simply by showing your humanity, you made the world see the true magnificence of our continent—its beauty, its dignity, its spirit,” while Americans say things like, “I didn’t know Zimbabwe was so cool,” and post emotional reaction videos like this one:
If you need a dose of optimism, be sure to check out IShowSpeed’s YouTube channel and follow his adventures, even if you’re an old fart like me.