by James Pate

Created on: May 25, 2008   Last Updated: May 26, 2008

I watched Stephen King's The Stand over the last few days. This is probably the fifth time that I've seen it.

My mom asked me if I notice something new each time that I watch it. I'm not sure if that's the case, but my reaction to certain scenes is not always the same.

The first few times that I watched The Stand, I loved Parts I and II, while Parts III and IV struck me as boring and lame. Now, I appreciate Parts III and IV a lot more.

When I first saw the miniseries, what went through my mind was Calvinism. At the time, I was absorbing the Calvinist doctrine of predestination through John MacArthur and Charles Spurgeon, and The Stand evoked that doctrine for me. Basically, the movie is about a plague that wipes out most of North America. God spares a few people, however, and those who survive are not necessarily better than those who die. Fran Goldsmith's father is a good man, yet he dies. Larry Underwood, by contrast, is a near-do-well who owes drug pushers money and only sees his mom when he wants something. Still, he lives. The people God spares are not necessarily better, but they become better because they're saved by God's grace.

Every time that I watch the miniseries, I identify with Harold Lauder. Harold is a nerd who loves the beautiful Fran Goldsmith, but Fran doesn't love him back. When they are the only two people in their town who survive, Harold thinks he stands a chance with her, until she falls for Stu Redman, who's played by Gary Sinise, before he became Lieutenant Dan. (You see a lot of this on The Stand. There's Rob Lowe, before he became Sam Seaborn; Laura San Giacomo, before she became Maya on Just Shoot Me; and Shawnee Smith, before she played on Becker. But there were also people on the miniseries who were big at the time. Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a role as a street preacher, for example). Harold tries to project a positive attitude, yet he remains bitter and broods throughout the movie. He gets even angrier when he proposes a committee to get society moving again, only for Mother Abigail to reject him from being on it. At the end of Part III, he gets his revenge on the committee by blowing up its meeting house, killing and wounding many people.

I've never read The Stand from cover to cover, but the wikipedia article's discussion of Harold is rather illuminating: "Harold quickly becomes a respected and well thought of member of the Boulder Community. Often, his ideas are used to better the community. In a moment of clarity,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>