something you don't like

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EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
I don't have one but Richard, friend of my family (for over 20 years) thought of one.
He doesn't like how in the earlier books the only characters he made be Vietnam Veterans were also "antagonists, uneducated or otherwise not-nice people."
He did it with a character named Ace in the Hearts In Atlantis book and one earlier novel. Richard said he was "ungodly tempted to write the man and tell him about himself and how I've never been even remotely like that character." He stopped himself at the last minute and let it go.
While he admits to having limited education none of the bullying, nasty, angry Rambo-type veteran is true of him, nor does it ring authentically for any of his veteran friends, one of whom is a psychologist and worked at the VA Hospital.
Richard has a view of Vietnam that I never hear from any but other veterans. He said people refused to give them work if they found out they were about to hire a war veteran. That's why his friend worked for the VA Hospital; he could find work nowhere else. But other than being a bit fanatic about religion, in Richard's opinion, the guy is a good man. And who can really blame a man for being grateful he was given a life after the war when 55,000 people didn't get that chance?
He says SK doesn't do that now in his books, but he did then. He's grown in a different way since Hearts In Atlantis, for which Richard is really glad to see it.
 

BeverleyMarsh

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2010
862
5,374
The Twilight Zone
I seriously can't think of much, but as for the movies, ahhh that is where my bickering starts, LOL.
I don't like how so many of the movies come off as cheesy.. Almost embarrassing to be seen watching, lol. Two prime examples of this for me, are The Langoilers and Riding The Bullet, although there are many for me. The newer version of The Shining as well... I never could get past the kid they casted as Danny... I don't want to sound like a meanie but I just couldn't stand looking at that kid! That was worse then Shelley in the original for me, LOL!
Then you have the big name hits, like Christine, Pet Semetary, etc.. Seems like so many great things could have been done over the years with some of the movies, but they just turned out cheesy and awkward, in my opinion. I realize budget has to do with it and some were made for TV, but come on now...
I know what you mean about the cheesy and awkward "second class" adaptations. But weirdly I've grown to enjoy them. I now think of it as a style in itself, with its own demands: Bad acting (number one), studio like settings, funny monsters etc... I think I've seen the best in the genre not so long ago: An 80s adaptation of The Mangler. Oh My, that was something.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
Well, I don't mean to seem correcting. I guess I'm just defending the idea that sK isn't necessarily responsible for the movies, which seems to be a misconception sometimes.
Correct. In publishing, the movie rights are hardly are ever kept by the author. They are usually controlled by the author's agent and obviously licensed to the highest bidder. For the not so popular titles, such as early short stories and the like, the demand by major studios is not high, therefore the rights are sold to lesser film companies and the results are the "cheesy" adaptations with poor production qualities and c-list actors.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Correct. In publishing, the movie rights are hardly are ever kept by the author. They are usually controlled by the author's agent and obviously licensed to the highest bidder. For the not so popular titles, such as early short stories and the like, the demand by major studios is not high, therefore the rights are sold to lesser film companies and the results are the "cheesy" adaptations with poor production qualities and c-list actors.
...and maybe it's just me, but some of these "cheeseball" products that end up on one's TV or in a local cinema are some of the best efforts BECAUSE they are so bad...well done bad, is entertaining to me....
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
Absolutely! Like the William Castle movies of the 1950s, such as The Tingler.
....Oh yeah!...bad with a capital "Gack!"...but you just HAD to love it!....another one I lump in there, that was so excruciatingly awful that I've loved it ever since-Them!...

Them.jpg
 

VultureLvr45

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2012
2,650
13,707
Maryland
...the only thing that King has done that ever really grated on me, and this may harken back to an earlier post-is what I felt was the over the top "nasty" 'Detta Holmes....way to much stereotyped slanguage and carrying on...the point could have been made without so much vileness...
I respectfully disagree about 'Detta Holmes. Having worked in a really bad neighborhood, I think he actually 'channeled' an 'Detta-like spirit and caught her essence perfectly. There is still massive amounts of anger and distrust between cultures for history.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I respectfully disagree about 'Detta Holmes. Having worked in a really bad neighborhood, I think he actually 'channeled' an 'Detta-like spirit and caught her essence perfectly. There is still massive amounts of anger and distrust between cultures for history.
...agreed and understood, I just thought it was pushed to hard...
 

notebookgirl

Well-Known Member
Oct 8, 2013
858
4,940
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Do you have a link to the segment?

And is alcohol at a range really such a bad thing? A shooting range is not a public place. What's wrong with putting some personal responsibility on the owner? We don’t prohibit car keys in bars, and if you think about it the only reason for having your car keys in a bar is to drive home after drinking alcohol. You can kill someone just as easily driving drunk, probably more so because as many of us know drunks are notoriously bad shots. ;)

On another note, like your Avatar!
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Well, I don't mean to seem correcting. I guess I'm just defending the idea that sK isn't necessarily responsible for the movies, which seems to be a misconception sometimes.
Especially with Under the Dome - while not an actual movie, it is based on his book.

We watched this together recently (the opening episode of the second season) and when I told him (Andy, my husband that is) Stephen King wrote this episode he said:

"I thought he wrote them all!" which I imagine is the way most people think.

[I had to go back and edit to indicate who the mysterious "him" was :biggrin2:]

p.s. He keeps thinking that I am going to know what will happen next so I had to tell him it is very unlike the original book.
 
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