Comments on: Stephen King Says Wendy In Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ Is “One Of The Most Misogynistic Characters Ever Put On Film”

By: Rafaela

Rafaela — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 19:18:36 +0000

In reply to Corey. Could you please kindly explain how that is? It just boggles my mind.

By: jan lastovica

jan lastovica — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

i HATED the casting..and the portrayals. i found nicholson menacing and too old from the start. and duvall just did not grab me. obviously these r tremendous actors..just miscast.

By: CR

CR — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Shelley Duvall is amazing in the film – it's her huge eyes, her trembling, her inability to speak from terrror – that makes the film moving and scary.

And she is proactive – defending herself with a knife; sending her son through a window to protect him when she can't fit through herself.

By: JJ

JJ — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

I saw the film before I read the book, so I was very surprised to learn that King's story is really nothing but an extremely corny haunted house story. Plus, all the best elements from the film are not even in the book.

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

"The Shining" (regardles if it can be considered a good adaptation of the book or not) is not only the best movie ever made from a Stephen King book but one of the few that are good and one of the best (if not the best) horror films ever made. Most movies adapted from his stories are actually bad in top of the fact that as a writer he has been repeating himself for a while now so I think he should better get over that and accept the fact that Kubrick did nothing but make him look better.

By: lenlenlen1

lenlenlen1 — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Too bad that he doesnt like the movie. Its his right to have a dissenting opinion. His book is a masterpiece, and Kubricks movie is a masterpiece. And both are FAR better than the TV Shining remake, so…

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Misogynistic? Nope sorry don't see any misogyny in a woman being scared to death by a guy like Jack Nicholson.

What is misogynistic is having a girl willingly allow herself to be gangbanged for no reason in the novel "It".

By: wackojacko

wackojacko — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

To a certain extent, I think King's criticism is valid; but I find King's own characters annoying because he tries too hard to make them likeable. That, fortunately, was all but shorn away in Kubrick's version.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

You have to read Jay Weidner's analysis of the movie to fully understand it and the real genius of Kubrick. There were so many misunderstood points that now make sense. bibliotecapleyades.net/luna/luna_apollomissions10.htm

By: Corey

Corey — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

It's actually King's novel which is sexist, misogynistic and trite (and which forgives Jack Torrance no less). Kubrick's film is ABOUT sexism, racism and misogyny under patriarchy, and cleanly dileneates how it's perpetuated and overlooked, constantly. His Overlook Hotel embodies the very Imperialist tendencies of America. It is not sexist at all.

By: CK

CK — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

As someone who has recently both read the book and seen the movie, I have to say I found King's original characterisation of Wendy problematic. She was an attractive blond (many mentions of her shapely legs and ass) wife and mother cowed by her abusive, alcoholic husband, contemplating divorce and afraid of becoming like her mother. Bear in mind that in the novel, Jack breaks Danny's arm in a drunken rage long before they ever arrived at the Overlook Hotel, so the whole 'he was corrupted to harm his family by the evil hotel' doesn't excuse his earlier violence, as unintentional as it was. Not to mention the 'magic negro' aspects of Dick's character…

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Kubrick's a genius; King less so

By: Nolan

Nolan — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

King is probably still just uncomfortable that Kubrick took something of his, made his own, and it surpassed anything that King has ever done.

By: Boone

Boone — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Perhaps this is really just self-reflection on Steve's part: he's admitting his own writing flaws as an author, admitting that Wendy was his own troubled creation, a projection of his opinion of women (and, in particular, his wife.)

Perhaps.

Or perhaps Steve's just an old fool who has unwittingly revealed through his body of work that the only topics he finds truly scary are women, minorities, and alzheimer's.

By: AW

AW — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

You guys need to shut up and quit complaining. Whether you like it or not, The Shining is Stephen King's story, and a damn good one at that. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have Jack Nicholson brilliant performance and Duvall's hammy but entertainimg performance. He has every right to judge, it's HIS character, HIS story, end of. Yes, "The Shining" is a brilliant horror movie, but as an adaption of the book, it's awful. Wendy in the book did a lot more than scream, cower in corners and swing baseball bats.

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

I read the book before seeing the film, and I loved it. Before the terrifying aspects kicked in, it was first a story about a deep love between a father and son. I remember being stunned and disappointed when I saw the movie, because there was absolutely none of that love portrayed. The father seemed to be barely tolerating his wife and child right from the very first scene. Those were not the characters that I loved from that book. The book worked so well because of that drastic contrast between the dad at the beginning and the person he became over the course of the story. However, as a separate work, I think the movie is excellent–just very different in its essence from the book.

By: MBC

MBC — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Another film of THE SHINING needs to be made with Stephen King consulting. If you agree, write back! Let others know!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Ive always said half of The Shining is just people chasing each other around.

By: Cloakey

Cloakey — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

This seems like some good old fashioned, George W Bush-style, revisionist-thinking, legacy cleaning. He's trying to blame Stanley Kubrick for paring down the Wendy character to her essence that SK himself created.

I read once, long ago, that SK's writing was the "McDonald's of Horror". That would be true.

By: Muzozavr

Muzozavr — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

I like both the book and the film equally, but for different reasons. They are very different in nature.

Kubrick is better as a director than King is as a writer. Unfortunately, Kubrick also believes that he's a better writer and that just wasn't true. Wendy in the book was so much more likable and Jack's alcoholism was pretty much glossed over in the movie. But then I remember the intense use of music, the tennis ball, the girl twins, Jack chasing after Danny in the snowy maze with the CREEPIEST camera angle possible and I realize that yes, I like both.

The film is very different from the book, "loosely based" is the best term. I've seen people who were calling the film a "strict" adaptation of the book, those people need to get their head checked.

It's pretty obvious why King dislikes Kubrick's movie. King wanted to see "The Shining", not "Stanley Kubrick's Great Movie Based on Hotel Overlook". The film completely disregards most of the book's themes and makes up its own.

By: LW

LW — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

A lot of you sit there at your computers and critique King as though you're experts. Put down his writing? Really? The movie of The Shining was a disappointment and changed so much of the book it was an entirely different work. You armchair critics seem to forget about The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile, both excellent films. And while even I have to agree that some of the short stories and books weren't of that caliber, I still have to ask all of you nay-sayers, how many millions have YOU made from short stories, books and movies?

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:53 +0000

Says the guy that has six different 10 year old males all have sex with a ten year old girl to prove their dedication to killing an alien in twenty years. I wonder if he is aware at what a joke he has become.

By: AT

AT — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:52 +0000

The book was far more in – depth and emotionally involved with the characters than the movie was. The character played by Jack was terrifying in the movie. That is all. In the book, he had many other facets, and terrifying only came later.

By: eli

eli — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:52 +0000

Nolan, you are nuts if you think the movie "surpassed anything that King has ever done". Stephen King is a legend in his own right in the literary world. Many famous movies now are from his books, and his books are themselves a legend. Just because you disagree with his opinion on the movie doesn\’t mean his works aren\’t a success.

By: Janet Cahoone

Janet Cahoone — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:59:52 +0000

Hmmm, this may explain why I just read Revival, which basically was and is the first SK book I’ve read that has pretty much sucked. Thinking the "Ants" analogy works. I have read and own every damned SK book ever written. I have never been so disappointed until this disaster. Yes, he finally published his friggin’ grocery list.