Revisiting an old friend

So, Steve and I had a discussion last night about our feelings regarding movies made from Stephen King's novels. I told him my apprehension about watching "The Stand" mini series because The Stand is a book that you don't really read, you dive into and live. It's so long, it's really an investment. Then I had to explain why I like "Misery" and "Carrie", and even "IT". I had a HUGE crush on Jonathan Brandis when I was younger, and have always loved Tim Curry. And, when it first came out, I think I saw the movie before I read the book, or at least shortly after. Both Carrie and Misery were books that didn't require the commitment that The Stand required, and in fact, I read Carrie in a day when I was in 7th grade. It was my first King novel, and the start of an amazing love affair with the man's work.

Now, the movie that pisses me off the most is "Dolores Claiborne". The entire point of the entire book was completely lost in the movie. Selena, Dolores' daughter, doesn't come in and save the day as she does in the movie.....the whole damn point of the book is that it is a narration coming directly from Dolores' mouth. There are quotes that she says from other people, but she is the only voice in the entire book. Her voice gives life to the other characters, and that is part of what makes it such a wonderful book, in my opinion. Because even though she gives life to the people around her, it's still her voice. You can hear her imitating those around her, but it's still her words. She goes in to confess murdering her husband and clearing her name from Vera Donovan's death. The whole damn book is a confession and why she did the things she did.

The movie, on the other hand, has her daughter coming in from New York and being told things that happened to her, not caring about her mother, and finally saving the day. That takes all the strength from Dolores. She is nothing but an old woman who made a mistake and who raised a daughter who grew to hate her, focusing on the daughter's problems almost as much if not more than Dolores'.

That pisses me off to no end.

Many people have claimed that King couldn't write a realistic female character to save his life, and there are moments where his women come off as not quite right. But then again, this coming from a writer who convinces you that there are evil clowns living in sewers and a shop can give you all you have ever dreamed of getting. And hitting your head on ice gives you the power to see the future. For all of that, I have always forgiven him for not always creating very realistic women. Hell, he takes things that have no chance in hell of being realistic and makes them creep under your skin until you're checking under the bed for boogie men and making sure you bury your loved ones in a proper place, to ensure they don't come back. Because we all know, "sometimes dead is better."

Now, why the sudden anger at this god-awful movie? I just saw it the other day, the same day I watched "The Butterfly Effect" to be exact, and knew that there were things that just weren't right about it. But it had been years since I read it. So, I decided to hop on a brain flight and head on over to an island in Maine and revisit that old friend who, for whatever reason, causes a reaction in me unlike many other characters.

I finished the book in two days, and that is a long time, considering I usually start and finish it within an afternoon. I love books that you are able to do that with. And the more I read and realized just what kind of woman Dolores was, the more angry I got that she was bastardized on the big screen.

This woman has power. She has strength. She has an amazing ability to put things into words that many women feel, or know women who have felt that way, and she makes them understandable to those of us who may not have had similar experiences.

She is a damn solid character, and you love her throughout it all. You love her more and more, as a good character will let you, and you want her to be happy. All the while she is describing how she killed her husband, you want her to walk away from it all. You want her to be happy and live a wonderful life. She deserves it.

In the movie, you want her to have a great life because, well, she's really Kathy Bates. She is played out to be the victim, the one who had no choice in her life and had no other way out.

And, let's not forget that there are a total of four children, SO important to the story, that are non-existent. Dolores didn't just have one daughter....she had two boys as well. And Vera had two children who are never mentioned at all. And all four of those children would have added to the movie in wonderful ways, instead of focusing on fucking Jennifer Jason Leigh and her mental anguish and denial turned self abuse. Not seeing, or being told, the exact way her guilt manifested itself led to a much more powerful image in the book than watching her cut herself or rely on pills to get through the day. That angers me. And, the things she had to feel guilty about, which of COURSE were not her fault, happened to her at a much younger age in the movie, and Selena blocked it out and had no memory of it. That's simply not true either. She remembered every moment of it, and was older.

There are just so many things in the movie that make me sad. And I am one of the few, the proud, that believe remakes of movies is a cop out and destroys the intention of the original. However, this is a movie that NEEDS to be remade, and remade with the integrity of the characters in place. Barring a few details and quotes straight from the book, I have no idea how they could even use her name in the movie it was so off base.

So for all of you who never read the book but saw the movie, take heart: Dolores Claiborne is one of those women who gets into your soul and doesn't really let go. She is not the woman on the screen, having her daughter take over everything. She IS strength, she IS power. She is what we all want to be, deep down, even though none of us would want to live in her situation.

That is all.