The other night, Michele and I watched "The Green Mile" on DVD. It's not among my favorite films. But she had never seen it before, was intrigued, and had picked it up along with some other movies at the library.
Just as it got rolling, I warned Michele about the three execution scenes, the second one being especially graphic and ugly and painfully-long. We hid our eyes and fast-forwarded through some of it. I've seen some rougher movies and documentaries. But for some reason, the depictions of hyper sadism in this one just really get to me.
Anyway, this time around I was remembering that, like "The Shawshank Redemption," this movie originates with Stephen King. And, again like Shawshank, "The Green Mile" is loaded with spiritual themes like redemption, retribution, the innocent suffering for the guilty, and on and on it goes. These story lines seem to take "principalities and powers" a lot more seriously than do most other contemporary films. And, in the Green Mile you even have a messiah figure whose initials are J.C.
So my off-handed question is, Why do we always hear about Stephen King as a writer of horror? Or is that merely his pop-culture and surface persona, the most obvious facet of his fiction obscuring the other facets? I also wonder, Are there any writers or discussions out there that deal with the "spirituality" of Stephen King? Also, what about his own religion, formative and current? It seems to be fairly rich and nuanced.
Any help? Thoughts?
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6 comments:
Hi Frank,
I read your blog on Stephen King and sent an email to my son-in-law who lives in Bangor, ME where Mr. King also lives. He doesn't know much about him other than "he lives down the street, is a Democrat,and knows how to write a story that effects people". But he did send me a couple of websites I thought I would send along to you.
http://www.adherents.com/people/pk/Stephen_King.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/003/31.82.html
I am enjoying your blogs. We sure do miss you.
Susan,
Thanks so much for your note. I'll be sure to check out the sites you passed along. We miss you too. Many blessings and much love to you and yours.
Frank
Dee,
I can relate to a lot of what you say about "Slingblade." Ever since I saw it, I thought it should become a favorite in the Church of Christ. I mean, the movie depicts a man who reads the Bible and concludes that he needs to be baptized ASAP. Sounds familiar, yes?
And speaking of "Slingblad," anybody, what's the connection of Dwight Yoakam to the Church of Christ? Didn't he give about $50K to Ohio Valley College a few years ago?
Dwight Yoakum at OVC
Frank,
I just recently posted an essay on my blog titled "Stephen King's Religious Stories." (http://caritas2.blogspot.com) I teach a course on popular culture and religion at Rochester College in Michigan and have addressed the spirituality of Stephen King's stories in there.
Greg
King fans know he's much more than horror. I read his stuff for the laughs. He's hilarious.
I had noticed the same themes as you did, especially in Shawshank. Unfortunately, King has a tendency to write lots of characters like the warden. Anyone who reads the Bible or attends church in a Stephen King book is usually an insufferable moron if not flat out insane.
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