Racism in SK books

[~Ally~]

Hi guys.

Lencho i don't understand how you found A Very Tight Place homophobic...surely the fact that Curtis overcame and defeated Grunwald in this story must count for something. Yes Grunwald was clearly homophobic, but as in all walks of life, many people are. Again this doesn't make Uncle Steve homophobic...Grunwald and Curtis are characters, nothing more and nothing less. I think sometimes we can over analyse or try to simplify things instead of simply just enjoying it for what it is...a story.

[adrianmarley]

I haven't read A Very Tight Place so I can't comment on whether or not it's homophobic. However, I always did have a problem with King's portrayal of the gay characters in IT. They were so stereotypical (and not in a good way). However, he did redeem himself with the gay character in Cell (whose name I've forgotten).

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

Grunwald, yes, but... looking more deeply at the bones of the story, it seems like the internal logic of the whole thing was a bit like "I'm going to take this gay character and put him into a situation where he winds up covered in s*it". It all just reminded me of the way teenage boys (for example) focus on b*tts*x as being something inconceivably filthy and repulsive, like that whole cluster of slang terms that express that kind of "anal panic". Poo-pusher, hershey tunnel, stuff like that. (I think my favorite one is a brit phrase I saw once, somebody disparaging "uphill gardeners.")

Would the story have been different if Curtis had been heterosexual? Would it maybe have made less sense? I suspect that changing that one detail would have destroyed a big chunk of the significance of the story.

We all float down here...

[tcgob]

Is it really necessary to cover this tired old ground yet again?

[JRLauer]

If you’ve ever tried to write a story, you’ll find that after a little while the story will have a tendency to take on a life of it’s own. Sometimes it will lead you in a direction that you didn’t expect to go.

I once wrote a short story for a contest that I wanted to enter. The story was not to exceed 25 pages. I had an idea of what I wanted to write, I had the beginning and the ending and all I thought I needed to do was fill in the middle. When I was only 9 pages into the story it started going off in a direction I didn’t want it to go, I wasn’t going to get the ending I wanted with where it was taking me, so I tried to bring it back on track but that didn’t work. So I decided to let it go and see what would happen. By the time it was finished I was miles away from where I originally wanted to be and it was over 70 pages long.

So it isn’t so much the writer as it is the story that comes out that way. Try it sometime, you’ll understand what I mean.

[Bryan James]

1) Being a racist means that you have shut off your mind from other possibilities/sensibilities.

2) If you have shut off your mind from other possibilities/sensibilities you cannot be a good fiction writer.

3) Stephen King is a racist, and therefore he is not a good fiction writer.

What bullshit logic. King's an equal opportunity offender, and I'm glad for it.

BJS

[aneaglesangel]

Fiction does tend to try to portray real life. In real life there is prejudice and worse. When a writer portrays life it isn't always pretty, especially if he does it well. A good writer can make us cry, laugh, get angry. Racism is a tough subject and I wish it weren't out there in the world. If it wasn't there in the first place, writers wouldn't have to write about it and be accused of being racist. But it does exist.

I also think some good points have been made here. In most instances that I've seen the "n" word used in SK's books was usually done by the bad characters. Showing that side of man in the bad guy. Does sort of make a point in my eyes. But maybe it's lost on some.

I admit that I'm mostly Caucasian, with a little bit of Native American mixed in, but I am bothered by the 'n' word. I've got too many good friends of color that I think too highly on. I hope if I'm ever forced to use the 'n' word in any of my stories that I hope to write someday that they forgive me for it. That they understand, it's only a story.....

[dumakeykate]

I hate racism, or any "icsm!"

Life in general can be offensive if you choose to take it that way. Musicans use colourful langugae that can be taken offensively also, certain language like the "n" words is commonly used.

The context is always important, I dont always agree that such language needs to be used but take it in the artistic context it is used in, that is what I do. Some characters are bad and they use bad words - it's all relative not racism.

[Cognac]

im sorry about your friend, but that is completely ludacris. sai king models his stories from life, i believe, and in life, things of that nature exist.

[callen193]

racism is wrong