The TV movie beginning with the bio warfare lab getting infected while Don't Fear The Reaper is playing has really stayed with me all these years later.
Holy eff. Yeah, my own twelve year olds would have reacted the same way. Actually, my older probably would have gotten up and walked out of class to sit on the bench outside the room and completely shut down in an out-of-body experience in full panic attack, for 2-3 hours.
This literally happened to them once in seventh grade, when they were watching a movie about racism and how messed up skinheads are/were, and a black man who was crippled by am attack was literally describing how he was floating above the whole scene, seeing a young black man in the ground wing stomped to death, and thought, "Wow, that guy isn't going to make it. That looks painful." He was watching himself die. Our oldest literally got up with tears streaming down their face, walked into the hallway ("without getting a pass or asking to be excused!" Duh. Gee.... Do you think?) and sank onto a bench to stare silently across the hall for over an hour (through class changes, and everything).
We had a warning in their file - that all the teachers were supposed to know about - to tell us first if they were going to show something pte really upsetting to a social justice and caring-oriented empathetic pre-teen with crippling anxiety. Apparently, it never occurred to this social studies teacher that this movie and scene could be that upsetting to a child with autism and severe anxiety. WtaF? What the heck would be that upsetting then, Mr Professional? Wow. They couldn't go back to that class for days, without starting to shake.
I remember talking about that book with my friends who were also fans in our early 20s back in the 80s. We decided they could never make it into a movie because it would have to be something like six hours long. Then they made a miniseries for TV, and it was perfect! Very well cast, also.
I watched it on TV when it was first created. It was a huge deal, and popular! It was a miniseries, and awesome. Cool that it was also on VHS though. I'll bet you can get it on DVD nowadays.
Gary Sinese is one of the most frightening actors I've ever watched "trying to be scary". He regularly puts me on edge when he's not playing a sociopathic serial killer! That eerie, knowing, smirky smile? Yikes.
Among The Living is a really fun song when I figured out that it was is about The Stand. “I am the walkin’ dude”
13 YO me;wonder what the fuck they’re talking about.
16 YO ME; Oh….neat.
Yeah, I agree that “the stand“ was one of Stephen King’s finest works. What’s ironic is that he wrote it early in his career, and later when he was being interviewed, people would come up to him and say it was the best thing he had ever written. That made him feel rather upset, because, what author wants to hear that their best work was written 25 years ago?
I listened to the unabridged audiobook version and it was something like 45+ hours. Absolutely incredible, however this was in September of 2019. Didn’t age too well. It’s a masterpiece nonetheless.
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u/aidanathome 6h ago
Incredible book.