Under The Dome Has Me Depressed...................

Under The Dome Has Me Depressed...................

I have been watching the adaptation of Stephen King's book, Under the Dome, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it and hear yours as well.

Editorial Opinion
By inkslinger616 - Jul 26, 2013 04:07 PM EST
Filed Under: CBS
I once watched a television mini series called The Stand. I had watched it long before I had even began to read the work of Stephen King. After watching The Stand I was intrigued by this man Stephen King so I made my way to my local library and checked out a couple books I didn't get The Stand because I was young and even for a well read adult the length of that book can seem daunting. So I checked out some shorter ones three in all I believe they were Carrie, Cujo, and The Shining. After I read Cujo I was enthralled with his work I waltzed through those three books in a week and went back to the library for more.

That was twelve years ago, since then I have read every book the man has written and I have any new ones pre ordered a year before they come out. Even after I had dedicated myself to reading all of the Stephen King books I could find, I still avoided The Stand because it was so long. Finally I came to the point where I had to read it or at least try. I was utterly disgusted by the end of the Stand that the so-called adaptation that was made was such a travesty in comparison to the book itself. Later, I would read all of the books with movies or television shows based off of them and then watch the shows/movies themselves. To this day I have found few adaptations that were even worthy of their source material. The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Christine, Carrie, Misery, and The Shining are the only ones even worth watching in my opinion.

Which brings me to the point of this rant, Under The Dome. I am appalled by how much they have deviated from the book, and I will quote another favorite author of mine, Lee Child, he said, when speaking about Under The Dome, "The best yet from the best ever" I am inclined to agree with him about Under The Dome being his best work (outside of the Dark Tower series, that is). I still tune in and watch every week to see what they may actually get right. From the deviation of the characters and major plot lines destroyed in favor of something Brian K. Vaughn thought would be more suited to a television show.

For example the utter disrespect to the book's protagonist Barbie. In all of the books I've read I have found very few characters that I respect as much as Dale Barbara. Yet on this show he is made in to a criminal who is responsible for the death of his love interest's husband and the man that plays him does not come off as a battle hardened special forces member. In addition, Big Jim Rennie and his son Junior, from the beginning of the tale I absolutely despised them for their lack of humanity and in this television show they are given a sort of redeemable quality that is spitting in the face of the core and basis of the characters. Phil "Chef" Bushey is turned into some hipster radio DJ that is actually coming off as a positive force under the dome instead of the insane, delusional methamphetamine cook that he is in the original.

I guess in the long run, I am just being really vocal and whiny about the sheer disrespect that is shown to the work of Stephen King and I would just really like Hollywood to leave it as it is, because the only thing that Under the Dome show has in common with the book of the same name is the dome itself. As always this has been your angry neighborhood inkslinger saying, just because it can be made into live action... doesn't mean it should. Peace.
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ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 7/26/2013, 7:21 PM
Great Article! I actually just finished reading my first Stephen King book "The Shining", I loved it and since your clearly a big fan of the author do you have any suggestions on what King book I should read next?
ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 7/26/2013, 7:43 PM
Cool thanks for the recommendation Jokerfan! I actually heard that Stephen King was against Jack Nicholson being casted as Jack I think he wanted John Voight instead to play the lead role
ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 7/26/2013, 8:05 PM
Thanks I'll try to check all of those out! Who do you think should have played the role of Jack since your clearly a big fan?
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 7/26/2013, 8:38 PM
My brother bought me the hardcover not long after it was released. I think I got through the first chapter. I've been meaning to pick it back up and start all over, but there's just something about it. It's lacking the mystery that was so appealing in his other books - since you kind of already know there's a giant force-field around the town - speculation can only lead to so many options.

I don't watch tv, so I'll probably be waiting for Netflix.

@Joker
The 90s Shining was actually really good. It had an alternate ending that made sense in context. It kept the moving hedge animals, and even made Wendy into a likeable character. Jack isn't really menacing, but what can you do?

You know years ago, it was announced that SOME TIME in the future (seems like it might be dead, but who knows?) there would be a remake of IT.

"IT" is probably my favorite of the Stephen King books, and its tv miniseries was..... well..... at least it had Tim Curry.
Here's my fancast for the remake.

Richie (RDJ), Ben (Andrew Lincoln), Bev (Amy Adams), Bill (Michael C Hall), Mike (Phil Morris), Stan (Clive Owen), and Eddie (Ewan McGregor)

It's a work-in-progress for a poster.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 7/27/2013, 7:07 AM
Guy Pearce. He's known for his serious roles, but when he goes ham.... he GOES HAM.
RobGrizzly
RobGrizzly - 7/27/2013, 7:34 AM
I haven't read Under the Dome, but the show so far has been mildly entertaining. I don't know how much has changed, but from my casual view, Barbie still comes off as a badass. In fact, he's the best charcter on ths show, because everyone else is really annoying. The teenagers especially. But the doozie is junior. Not sure how he comes off on the page, but on screen, he's one of the worst TV characters I've seen in years.
JasonGrayson77
JasonGrayson77 - 7/27/2013, 8:09 AM
@RobGrizzly
Junior is insane. Didn't read the books, but the show is great for me.
Abary
Abary - 7/27/2013, 8:53 AM
My favorite King book is/always has been Misery.
inkslinger616
inkslinger616 - 7/27/2013, 10:19 AM
@moviemaster... I would recommend Cujo it is fairly short but it is an awesome read I also really dig on Four Past Midnight its a collection of four short stories...just about any of them will lead you to the next.
inkslinger616
inkslinger616 - 7/27/2013, 10:22 AM
I think the Under the Dome show has missed some seriously important plot lines and if you think Junior is insane on the show the book will make you afraid of him and afraid for barbie as well same goes for his dad. It is phil bushey that has changed so dramatically that I can not take the show seriously.
inkslinger616
inkslinger616 - 7/27/2013, 2:41 PM
@ABARY...Misery is one of the better movies based on his books but it is still missing a lot maybe the transfer of mediums is what makes King's work unfilmable idk but I was just bitching to bitch because it got under my skin after the fourth episode
JasonGrayson77
JasonGrayson77 - 7/27/2013, 4:57 PM
@inkslinger616
Thanks for the info. I'll go check out the book. If Junior was any more insane ,then he is in the show that he probably is terrifying. Lol
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 7/27/2013, 6:08 PM
Ummm....before you get too upset about the show disrespecting Stephen King, I'm pretty sure that he is helping with the show, at least as an executive producer or something like that. So evidently he's not too terribly upset at what they're doing, and may be actively supporting it.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/27/2013, 6:42 PM
I want to get back into reading books. After His Dark Materials ruined my life I've strayed away from them. Those books made me this weirdly romantically obsessed guy and I really don't know how that came about, but those books changed me. All I've read since then are Michael Morpurgo books.
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