I've recently read "The Stand" by Stephen King. And now watching both adaptations, what the fuck with Harold?
First of all as for (1994), Corin Nemec was way too attractive for the role, but nailed the mannerisms. and then we have yet again (2020) Owen Teague way too attractive for the role but nailed the mannerisms.
In the novel, It's understood harold is an overweight, very unattractive person that Frannie despises. None of this was addressed in either adaptation.
I commend the actors for the roles (they both nailed it) but, it was a critical role, and it wasn't written well.
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He was overweight and unattractive at the start but that’s not why Frannie despised him. It was attitude. He lost weight and his complexion cleared up but by that point Frannie was already with someone but I assume his attitude never changed. I can’t remember if the book ever remarked whether Frannie found new Harold attractive.
I understand that with the constraints of a made for tv series, it was hard to portray everything and things were cut for flow. Because really, just the Trash Can Man arc would ruin any rating ever.
Wait, its been a long time since I've seen the 90s version, and I've never seen the newer one, but how can they cut out Trashcan Man? He's hugely integral to the story in the book.
They didn’t cut him. But everyone knows you have to censor his arc.
Yeah, fair. You're right, its Stephen King, lots of stuff thats not going to play on network TV. Glad they didnt cut him entirely and give his final action to another character.
I agree. I would think that because it’s from the mind of Stephen King that a tremendous amount of his work would be problematic for tv; as it should be.
Happy Cake Day, giskard!🙂
As someone who has never finished the book, I'm curious. Why would his arc need to be censored?
SPOILERS FOR A ~50 YEAR OLD BOOK
In the unabridged version, Trash meets up with a weird motherfucker called "The Kid" who sexually assaults Trashcan and then is torn to shreds by wolves.
This is putting it quite mildly, but the entire arc with Trash and The Kid is just unsettling, unnerving and would be incredibly difficult to adapt to screen
No, he wasn't. He's in like one passage.
I don't believe frannie initially "despised" harold. She babysat him when he was younger and never saw him in any way other than like a kid brother. His attraction to her and his attitude made her uncomfortable, but she was too nice to say anything to his face. Instead, she chose to write about her discomfort and ridicule his feelings and behavior in her diary. So I don't think she hated him. She pittied him.
But to OP. I agree they miscast him both times. But it's Hollywood, so oftentimes, even the "ugly" characters are unrealistically attractive.
Not overweight, but they still got the point across, he was not Mr Supermodel. Franny did not despise him initially and had nothing to do with how he looked. It was who he became because of Flagg, and jealousy.
Did you read the version that was released later, and was full length?
I got halfway through last year and I'm still taking a break. It is a lot.
Harold has a glow-up in the middle of the book, including but not limited to losing weight.
A faithful depiction would mean asking an actor to gain and then lose weight, or wear a fat suit. It's more practical to cast a thinner actor and focus on the other aspects.