MovieChat Forums > The Stand (1994) Discussion > A Modern Rendition of the Stand

A Modern Rendition of the Stand

posted 4 years ago by SassaFrassa (10)
10 replies | jump to latest

I think that in light of current events there is some chance the production of this story will not come out. However, let's set that aside for a moment and assume it does. I think some changes to the story will be warranted.

How do you think The Stand taking place in modern times would affect the story? Now we all have smart phones and the internet. The world is far more interconnected and cutting of a few small towns or entirely suppressing the news of the Superflu or media is not really practical. In fact, I'd argue that in our modern era many people believe the media doesn't even need to be suppressed because they think it is all lies anyway. I'm not endorsing or denouncing this view, just describing how large segments of the country (and world) feel. Thus, I feel a modern rendition of this story needs to take this into account. How the US Govt handles the press needs to be modernized. I don't think there is any way they could suppress knowledge of the Superflue, its lethality, or its implications for very long. Soon the whole world will know they are screwed and that life as they know it is over. W

What is the result?

Perhaps a flurry of brief but violent warfare in the last days of the plague?

We live in an even more automated society now than we did then. Would the power and internet last a little longer? Would people write about the strange dreams they're having about the Walkin' Dude and that old black woman in Nebraska? Post videos about it on Youtube? Form groups discussing it on Facebook, Reddit, and other sites? Would they try to find Abigail's little shack on Google Maps? What about Project Blue, or at least that section of California desert that is blocked off, giving it away anyway? Enough people might even find the base were the Superflue originated and attempt to storm it.

Who is Randal Flagg going to be? Who will he represent? Might his jacket have an Obama Pin on one pocket, a MAGA pin on the other? His backpack could have a patch of Pepe the Frog one one side and a PETA on the other. "No War for Oil" and "Build the Wall"

Would Harold Lauder be a disaffected young man who considers himself part of the Alt Right? Did Glen Bateman attend some Antifa rallies a couple of years ago? Maybe Fran and Harold were at odds not because he was fat or acne ridden, but because Franny knew about his views and considered them vile? I can't imagine Stu didn't vote for Donald Trump, even if he didn't like how the guy conducted himself. I can definitely see him arguing intensely with Glen Bateman about it... at least before the two break down into hysterical, crying, horrified laughter at the pointlessness of that debate in their current situation.

What sorts of people will arrive at either camp? Gold old fashioned conservative values from Mother Abigail. A society of peaceful people who can hold hands and sing along together. Everybody chip in and share what he has. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Everyone equal in a live and let live society.

On the other hand, you have order and convenience from Flagg. A rational society that is still modern, but now controlled for everyone's benefit. Speak your mind, but do not speak hate. Do as you will and indulge in any vice and sin, but if your vices hinder your ability to serve the group then the price may be your life. There will be order and no parasite tolerated.

The demographics of America are also very different from how they were in 1990. The ethnic makeup of the survivors will be different. How different? Would this affect anything?

[–] Gary O. (997) 4 years ago

For another look at a deadly pandemic and the aftermath you might try the novel "The Pale Horse". I wrote it and it's available on kindle. It's long but people who've read it seem to like it.

[–] SassaFrassa (10) 4 years ago

Yes, I read some of your posts discussing it from older discussions. I've actually got an old account here, "Langolieron", but I didn't remember the password or email I used for that old thing so I made this new one. I do believe I'll check out your novel sometime. Your writings about Harold, and in general, are insightful.

[–] Torniojaws (102) 4 years ago

I wouldn't mind a re-make, as long as it is done properly and without Stephen King in the crew :) Why? Check out The Mist, vs. your average King adaptation. It's much better, because King was not in the crew for that movie. He has a habit of ruining film adaptations of his stories, for some reason.

Something like a 6 - 10 episode miniseries, along the lines of Band of Brothers. Enough to have some breathing space, but not too long to become long-winded. The book has tons of good material, which needs time. It is impossible to make a Lord of the Rings style trilogy from it - it needs a longer and more contained format, especially since it deals with events spread across a long time period in-universe. If I remember, it was more than 1 year altogether?

The 1994 miniseries was a good 6,5 - 7 out of 10, but it can be done a lot better. I guess I also wouldn't mind it being again shifted forward to say the year 2010 - or even right on 2020 and maybe tie it to Corona.

[–] Gary O. (997) 4 years ago

Are you aware of the remake being filmed as we discuss this?

[–] Torniojaws (102) 4 years ago

Funnily, I just discovered it the next day. I think I had a faint memory of it being planned, but wasn't aware it was actually almost ready.

[–] whynotwriteme (7121) 4 years ago

I doubt it will come out this year or next. They'll probably sit on it for a while due to sensitivity issues.

[–] Checkman (29) 4 years ago

It will premier December 17, 2020. They will show it every Thursday on CBS All Access for eight weeks.

[–] Checkman (29) 4 years ago

Always remember that King wrote the novel in the early Seventies. He was in his twenties and he lived in a part of the county (Central Maine) that was predominately white and run by men. It is said that writers "write what they know" and I believe that is what you see in "The Stand". King has commented on this, but it was almost fifty years ago. Having addressed this I'll give it a go - at least for a few characters.

In 2020 I think that Harold would identify with the INCEL (Involuntarily Celibate) and MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) movements. At least after Frannie goes to Stu.

Glen Bateman (my favorite character) is retired, but I could see him having been very active in the anti-nuke movement in the Eighties as well as participating in the movement to get the Federal government to acknowledge that AIDS needed to be heavily researched and so on. I have no doubt that Glen enjoys the occasional toke as well. Before the pandemic he would probably have a blog of some sort as well with about fifty or sixty followers.

Stu could possibly be a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan. But as it is made clear in the novel he would not be a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I believe Stu would have been a part of the so-called "Gig Economy".

The pandemic itself would not be kept quiet. The flow of information is just massive in 2020. In addition there aren't enough personnel in the U.S. military to police a country the size of the United States - something that was equally true when the novel was first published in 1978. The word would get out very quickly. There is a possibility that such a cataclysmic event would see a settling of old grudges at the end. Possibly a few nukes would be touched off as a final act of vengeance, but maybe not.

[–] Gary O. (997) 3 years ago

"Gig Economy"

What do you mean by this? I'm curious.

[–] Checkman (29) 9 months ago

Hi Gary. Better late than never. A definition of a "Gig worker" from Wikipeida.

"Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers.Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients.

In many countries, the legal classification of gig workers is still being debated, with companies classifying their workers as "independent contractors", while organized labor advocates have been lobbying for them to be classified as "employees", which would legally require companies to provide the full suite of employee benefits like time-and-a-half for overtime, paid sick time, employer-provided health care, bargaining rights, and unemployment insurance, among others.

Gig workers have high levels of flexibility, autonomy, task variety, and complexity. The gig economy has also raised some concerns. First, these jobs generally confer few employer-provided benefits and workplace protections. Second, technological developments occurring in the workplace have come to blur the legal definitions of the term's "employee" and "employer" in ways that were unimaginable when employment regulations in the United States like the Wagner Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 were written. These mechanisms of control can result in low pay, social isolation, working unsocial and irregular hours, overwork, sleep deprivation and exhaustion."

Gig economy might not have been a word or a concept in the late Seventies, but it did exist, and I believe it is made pretty clear that Stu is part of it.