Thread:Shanethefilmmaker/@comment-397235-20140801024539/@comment-6052796-20140810095528

I was actually lucky to find a pickaxe for that one. I might just make more just to scare you.

As for the characters in The Stand. I get what your saying but I would like to put things in perspective for you based on what I read as well as seen in the miniseries.

Yes Harold is well developed but the idea with him, was that King wanted to take his usual character traits of the lovable nerd/outcast like character turned bad and give him no chance whatsoever just to see how it rode out. At least Arnie Cunningham and Carrie White had some chance before their respective tragedies befell them. Whereas this guy had no chance with Frannie before the Superflu hit and no chance after it hit. What made it worse wasn't just that he had no chance to begin with, many of the chances he was offered got rejected by him simply because it wasn't his idea. Still gotta hand it to him, he faced death with diginity and even asked for forgiveness. If it's one thing King is good at is making us feel sorry for the people he's killed off.

Larry is the Hero of the story, Stu was more or less his Obiwan, only the reverse happened, the student died and the teacher lived. I'll get to Stu when I get to him, but even though I liked Lary he started off as an arrogant Dick and a coward. Which Harold started to become as well. Only growing a pair when he blew up that poor deaf guy. Which made Larry more of the hero, because unlike Harold who rejceted ideas that weren't his, Larry accepted all the help he could get and was grateful for it.

Yeah Lloyd is sympathetic and one of the more sane people of Flagg's group. (Still can't comprehend how they got Bob Morton playing him.) However what makes him vanish is that he's got an inner conflict that Flagg likes to play with. In most situations of that conflict, the guy in question would turn on his percieved master and savior. But Lloyd even though it was clear he didn't want to, shoots an innocent old man unarmed in a jail cell very similar to the one he was found in. And what really slides the knife in is that old man forgives him none the less, pretty much taunting Flagg before his death.

Stuart personally is one of my favorite characters of the Boulder group. Despite pretty much having bad things happening to him he makes it through it all and this guy's been through a lot. He was unlucky enough to be the first to meet the Captain Trips infectee that spread all over. Which led him to be detained due to being one of the many that are naturally immune, because of it he has had to watch many people, no matter how well protected they are die a slow and painful death. Ya on the surface I'd wonder why he'd be head of Boulder, but he's really good at coming up with plans that pretty much succeed for the most part. Ever read the part about God's Tom? He did that one to Tom by accident and despite that Tom still made it out of Vegas alive and Saved Stu when he broke his leg. M-O-O-N spells holy crap. But he doesn't become Boulder's leader for long though, since the thing with Flagg is settled he goes on to another town to head. Presumably his role in life was to help restore civiliation all over the states. That's at least what I read about.

Frannie you could blame king himself for this. This was written about a year after he wrote The Shining and he admited back then he didn't know how to write adult female characters properly so he wouldn't have been able to let Frannie in The Stand and Wendy in the Shining do much when the guys are around. Though he does rectify that mistake in his later books. But I guess you could say she spent most of her time under Abigail's wing trying to be mother of the world. Whilst Stuart was being father.

The Kid I guess was meant to be the final Trigger for Trash. I mean when Trash finally reaches Vegas and meets Flagg and the gang, the former which he worships like a god. He thought he'd be at peace after a long life of suffering due to his own impulses and the way people reacted to him. The Kid of course took that chance away from Trash.

As for the Trashcan Man himself. I like how Matt Frewer played him, because it sorta softens the blow and makes him more entertaining to watch. But unlike most people who only see it as that. I see more too it. As mentioned before what I like about Trash is that despite his destructive tendancies you get a sense that he doesn't mean to do what he does, but loves fire and wants to find his place in the new world. When he meets Flagg he finally is at peace with himself in his own demented way, but people like The Kid and Flagg's other thugs, pretty much take that from him causing him to fuck up on an assignment, he was actually getting good at. To redeem himself he brings what he calls the ultimate fire, The A-Bomb. Bonus points for being the man who unknowingly takes down Flagg without even meaning to.

Abigail prety much is a victim of the Big Good stereotype, she can only influence, but not directly interfere.

Nadine was under the impression that the person she was saving herself for, was a god. Which is not uncommon as Flagg had time and again made himself a god like figure in many stories he was in such as Children of the Corn and Dark Tower. However as time goes on and the visions get worse, she realizes she's about to screw someone who is literally the Devil incarnate. She tries to get out of it, but the person she had interest in fell out of love with her. Her sole redeeming factor was that after the deed was done with Flagg she goaded him into killing her and their kid, pretty much making him thwart his potential antichrist.

As for the kid, Joe, or Leo Rockway. He starts out as a feral kid one of the few kids that survived, but is feral. His role while small did have some major points though. He was only loyal to Nadine because Nadine saved her life which made him sort of the counterpart to Lloyd as Lloyd was loyal to Flagg for the same thing, however unlike Lloyd, Leo when he was well enough realized that Nadine isn't a very good person and decided to be loyal to Larry Underwood and be the surrogate son of him and Lucy. And despite the fact that he pretty much stabbed Nadine in the back and is one of the people well aware of Flagg, he gets no comupence save for losing his father figure to the A-Bomb. As for why he was written in, King wanted to show that at least one kid survived the Superflu. Same with Kojak being one of the few Dogs immune to it.

Speaking of Kojak I'm surprised you didn't mention him. He pretty much has his own Chapter. A rare thing in books in general that revolve around humans is that the animals get their own story arc. Kinda brings me back to Another and makes me wonder what Rei's like when he's not spouting exposistion.

Judge Farris on the other hand I guess I could call him a living Prop. As that's what Flagg intended him to be had his sentries not fucked up. But I like his personality should there ever be an apocolypse I survive I would like to meet the guy one day. Though it's kinda funny you call him a Sue since he's a judge. Though if you want to know a real self insert sue look up Teddy Weizak. He shows up only a few times, but many times he's there to point out certain plot points, such as Frannie's kid having the flu and Nadine having nightmares about Flagg.

Now here's the funny thing about it that leads to more Sue talk. In the miniseries Teddy is played by none other than Stephen King himself.