Stephen King’s The Stand has had such an impact on my life it’s hard to imagine a time without it. The post-apocalyptic ambiance and rich characters have always drawn me into thinking about larger questions about morality and theology. It’s one of King’s richest novels for sure, so how is it that we have now had two adaptations and neither have been able to give us a true representation of Randall Flagg’s Vegas?
One of the most interesting questions the book raises is, what makes someone go to Vegas and what makes someone go to Boulder? For me, two kinds of people end up in Vegas: those who need stability and order in their lives at any cost, and people who are lost or feel shunned from society, seeking purpose. All of these various groups are brought to Vegas seeking refuge, and the novel does a great job of illustrating that most of them are good people just wanting some semblance of normalcy. They are seduced by Flagg’s promises of order and stability, and by the time they realize what he really is, it’s too late. Flagg is the law: do what he says or be crucified. The key difference between Boulder and Vegas is community vs. individualism. Someone who makes it to Boulder is thinking about rebuilding society and working together for a better world. Whereas someone in Vegas is just concerned with survival, as long as they have what they need a sense of community isn’t needed.
Vegas is one of the most interesting sections of the novel for me. It makes you question your morality and what it is that makes someone good or evil. So how is it we’ve had two adaptations of this 1,000 page book and both have failed miserably in their depictions of Vegas? Mick Garris’s 1994 mini-series is laughably bad in it’s Vegas depiction: loaded with men in business suits carrying uzis, or bikers looking like they just came off the set of a cheap knockoff of Sons Of Anarchy. It’s a very simple and unoriginal depiction of evil in comparison to the novel. Meanwhile, Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell’s 2020 adaptation is just as bad and, surprisingly, even more problematic. Everyone in this Vegas is a caricature of what makes a cruel person — and stops short of any sense of authenticity. If a character isn’t snorting cocaine, they are having wild kinky sex, and the show seems to want to portray queer sex as somehow evil. It’s dated, it’s problematic, and it’s just lazy and unoriginal. The audience should be able to understand why someone would choose Flagg over Boulder’s more gracious leader, Mother Abigail. Flagg is manipulative, violent, and sociopathic, but his followers chose him because he offers comfort, and the joys of the old world as long as you follow him without question. Abigail is kind, just, and represents community and the giving nature in humanity. Her followers chose her because they believe that people can be better.
Probably the worst depiction of Vegas in the 1994 miniseries is when Larry and Ralph are brought out to be executed in front of Flagg’s followers. Almost everyone in the crowd is wearing all black with leather and wildly waving guns in the air while yelling for blood. There is no sense that anyone here is a good person who is only going along with this because they are petrified of Flagg’s wrath. That’s a huge problem, not just in it’s lazy connotation, but also in how unfaithful it is to the source material. What would be more effective is if we saw families in the crowd who came to Flagg simply because they were scared and he promised order and some sense of normalcy in their lives. The redeeming factor in this version, though, is Jaime Sheridan’s faithful performance as Flagg. He is a brutal dictator with charm and a rock n roll swagger to him, just like he is in the novel. His layered performance allows the viewer to understand why someone would be drawn to him and why they would stay even though his way is wrong.
When it comes to Boone’s 2020 version the problem starts from the very first shot of Vegas, everything is sex drugs and rock n roll. Everyone — and I mean everyone — is snorting cocaine, drunk, and having wild kinky sex. This is beyond lazy as characterizations go: it’s as if to say if you enjoy any of these things, that makes you a bad person or a degenerate. There is also a laser focus on queer characters having sex, which is problematic in its association with perversion or evildoing. By doing this, it can be read that the series is inherently demonizing queer people. Even if that wasn’t done with malicious intent, it doesn’t change the fact that it is lazy and unacceptable. By depicting these things as bad, the series also sours the role of the “Boulder Free Zone” in this series. Everyone in Boulder seems to hold a christian heterosexual value system, which ultimately makes the residents look like closed off small minded people who don’t accept anyone who’s different. While some things worked in Boone’s version, like the casting and performances, he failed completely in regards to personifying Vegas. The Flagg in Boone’s version, played by Alexander Skarsgård, is not bad by any means. Skarsgård is clearly a capable actor, but the writing simply did not fit with his character. He has Flagg’s swagger and charm, but he’s never scary enough. The exception, though, is in the final episode, where he is allowed to fully explore the nuances of his character and really shine.
The inherent problem with both adaptations of this story is that I never understand why any of these people would go to Vegas over Boulder. We never see normal people living there and working, only cartoon caricatures and problematic lazy depictions of what some people think is evil. Had we spent more time there, maybe these things could have been fleshed out, but unfortunately neither version seems to be very interested in exploring Vegas outside of Flagg and his inner circle, which does a disservice to one of the most interesting things about King’s novel.
What makes a person willingly put all of their trust and faith into one person to run it all? The point made in the novel is that most of the people who end up in Vegas are not evil, they’re just desperate people looking for order in their chaotic lives. History is full of events involving desperate people willing to give up their rights to people in power with easy answers. Maybe it’s as simple as that, and in many ways, Flagg’s way is simpler: do what I say, or I’ll torture you to death. And in the end, some people will do anything to survive.
