Hamad said:

https://www.fantasy-magaz...-the-fats/ A friend shared this on twitter earlier. This is a challenging but an interesting to me, as a SK fan I’ve always found some issues in his literature, but this was an uncomfortable eye opener for me as somebody who struggled with his weight all his life. Long read but worth the time. Enjoy

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I have read a lot of Stephen King over the years and have not noticed this (which does not mean it is not there.

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However, I don't know. With so many novels and short stories and, therefore, characters are there really that many fat people as a proportion of his world's population compared to the real Maine or US population? There are many more teachers, ex teachers and stuggling writers. As his characterisation concentrates on flaws to make them feel more real, a complete analysis would probably reveal other and perhaps more commonly focused on flaws. I would thnk that alcohol / drug abuse or reliance could be one (Note the skinny Eddy from IT has an inhaler addiction and does not even need an inhaler).

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A key reason for King's success is compared to many other horror writers, his characterisations are more realistic and the flaws from the beginning are key to the story and how each develops, succeeds or fails eg The Shining as his third book and first hardback best seller is primarily about alcholosim and domestic violence. This means that all readers will find something about one or more of the common character flaws uncomfortably close to their own flaws.

I have read many Stephen King novels in my life but never noticed any fatshaming or fatphobia, or any thinly veiled attacks against fat people.

However, this topic was picked up by a rightwing publication last year, too.

https://dailystormer.su/s...and-women/

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Stephen King looks very skinny these days but he used to be a bit chubby a few decades ago, so I don´t think he´s really against heavier people.

I think this quote could be interpreted as a sign of solidarity with overweight or poor people, too.

I´ve watched Thinner but barely remember the storyline. Wasn´t that about a heavy guy getting skinnier and skinnier ? That´s one example of fat people being shown in a negative light in his novels but I can´t come up with more off the top of my head, other than the usual adolescent teens who have their usual problems, whether it´s bad skin, being skinny and weak or fat.

edit; This quote was said by SK but he was quoting Peter Straub.

[Edited 12/29/21 14:55pm]

Is it that King using the N-word has now become a non-issue, since he's a writer, and now folks are picking at him using fatness and obesity is the latest? Is fat the new n-word for these folks? (Don't jump on me, you know what I mean.)

What's next? How he picks on animals? That poor Cujo! Dogs deserve better representa....

XxAxX said:

Empress said:

XxAxX said:

This was my reaction too. Just a bunch of right-wingers wanting to make him look bad. He's been very vocal about his dislike of Trump and Trump supporters, so this is just them trying to plant a seed. We all know the world is full of fat people, so why shouldn't he have fat characters? We all know they get teased and are ostracized. I'm not saying that's right, but it's what happens. This is just a bunch of yada, yada, yada to me.

many (not all, some recent work was included in the review) of the works referenced by Ms. Elison were written back before the normalization of obesity.

[Edited 12/30/21 16:05pm]

Hamad said:

Those are not right-wingers though, but ok.

True, but check the link I posted above. The rightwingers are interpreting his tweets that way.

onlyforaminute said:

I had no idea this was becoming a thing. I guess with Stephen King being one of if not the biggest most well-known in the genre is why he's being held up. I don't see it as an cancel culture kind of thing, the "movement" is too small and he's too large, like a mosquito attacking an elephant. I am curious how he'll respond if he responds because he will pivot sometimes when he cares, it'll show up in his writing.

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Based on his intro's and articles he does study his art and processes. He almost certainly has received criticism for portraying virtually form of character trait and flaw. It is hard to see what he could change without just removing a description of body shapes

Kinda off subject here but did anyone hear they are taking another stab at a Salem's Lot remake to be released next year? The last attempt about 20 years ago was a disaster. Salem's Lot is one of my favorite films and scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I think they should just leave it alone.

All these people trawling through the back lives of anyone remotely famous to find some "dirt" ... like they've all led perfect lives from day one and have never put a foot wrong.

Fuck me ... stop the world, I wanna get off ...