If you don't respect the Stranger Things cast, the Stark family will come for you. On Monday, Sophie Turner shut down Stranger Things viewers who feel entitled to invade the privacy of the show's young actors. The Game of Thrones star's impressive Twitter response to 14-year-old Finn Wolfhard being criticized by fans for not stopping for photos and autographs outside of his hotel will make you want to give her a round of applause. In 11 tweets, Turner laid out everything that's so wrong about the reaction some so-called fans of Stranger Things had when a video surfaced of Wolfhard choosing not to interact with the people gathered outside of his hotel room.
E! Online reports that the video has since been taken down, but this isn't the first time Wolfhard has had to deal with negativity simply for going about his day. At the Stranger Things Season 2 premiere, the 14-year-old told E! that he was once booed for not signing things for a group of fans. Thanks to Stranger Things and his role in It, 2017 has been a big year for Wolfhard, but it seems his growing fame is also bringing out a sense of entitlement among some of his fans that is just not OK.
Turner was happy to tell the Twitter-verse why waiting outside of a child's hotel and then getting upset because he didn't stop to interact with you reflects poorly on the fans, and not the actor. Turner tweeted,
"Damn... seeing fully grown adults wait outside the 'Stranger Things' kids' hotels etc, and then abuse them when they don't stop for them is super weird. A. What adult in their right mind waits for a CHILD outside their hotel and B is then is offended when the CHILD doesn’t stop. It doesn't matter if they are an actor... they are kids first. Give them the space they need in order to grow without feeling like they owe anyone anything for living their childhood dreams."
If you feel like making Turner your life hero now, go ahead.
While she's now 21, Turner was just 15 when the first season of Game of Thrones premiered. As a result, she has grown up onscreen, and likely faced many of the same issues the young cast of Stranger Things is dealing with now. Fame can be hard to navigate under the best of circumstances, but for children, it can be even more complicated as they try to maintain normalcy when they're so recognizable.
As Turner points out, adult fans should put themselves in the mindset of a parent before asking a child actor for a photo or autograph. Yes, Wolfhard is on a popular TV series, but that doesn't change the fact that he's 14, and no 14-year-old should have to take photos with strangers. Turner wrote on Twitter,
"Oh and ps. Imagine.. you, a parent, walking with your 13 year old son/daughter and seeing a fully grown adult pointing their camera phone at your kid. You would do anything you could to delete that person's photograph, and remove your child from that situation as soon as you could."
The 21-year-old also demolished the argument that actors consent to losing their privacy because of their job. "And how dare you shun and demean that child when they don’t pose for an adult strangers photograph or walk over and talk to them when they take that NOT CONSENTED FOR photo," Turner admonished those who were critical of Wolfhard. "Doesn’t that go against everything we teach our children anyway? Pshhhh. Some people man."
It's OK to be a fan of the Stranger Things kids, but it's important to remember that they are in fact kids. They deserve the same amount of privacy as any other teenager, and they don't owe anyone anything just because they're on TV. And if you mess with them, not only will you have Sansa Stark to deal with, but Barb will come for you too.
Shannon Purser, who played Barb in Season 1 of Stranger Things, also tweeted her support of Wolfhard. Purser's defense of Wolfhard started with her defending the actor's character — "Finn is an incredibly kind human being" — before taking the internet to task. She tweeted,
"So, from one big sister to the world, don't you DARE make young actors feel guilty or indebted to you because they couldn't say hi. They give you their art. They love their fans. Don't take advantage of that. And if you can't handle them needing space, stay away."
As frustrating as it is that Wolfhard experienced such a negative fan reaction, seeing actors like Turner and Purser call people out for not treating the Stranger Things kids with the respect they deserve is a reminder that the young actors have some amazing people in their corner. Now it's time for their fans to listen to Turner and Purser, because everyone has right to privacy, and yes, that includes your favorite actor.
