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A young, horrified girl walks down a small-town street wearing a dress, inexplicably covered in blood. This is how we are introduced to Sydney Novak, the main character in the Netflix series I Am Not Okay With This. If this scene feels familiar, it’s because Stephen King’s Carrie heavily inspires it.
What Is The Stephen King Universe?
The show, based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel of the same name, doesn’t have a clear time period, but the aesthetics and wardrobe evidently take inspiration from the 70s and 80s, which places the characters right into the Stephen King universe.
This seems to be the popular theme of Netflix series since Stranger Things premiered in 2016. The show takes place in the early to mid-80s and follows a group of three boys and one girl, Eleven, who also has a form of telekinesis, as they fight off an evil monster called the Demogorgon and search for their missing friend, Will. Though there are differences in plot, the storyline is nearly identical to Stephen King’s IT. IT features 6 boys and one girl who spend their summer fighting off an evil clown who is responsible for the death of the leader of the group, Bill’s younger brother, Georgie.
The creators of the show, The Duffer Brothers, haven’t been shy about Stephen King’s inspiration. In a 2017 interview (( with The Hollywood Reporter )) they admitted growing up, King was a huge inspiration for them.
Why So Much Stephen King?
Why are these shows taking so much inspiration from Stephen King? Simple. For starters, King knows horror, and he does it well. If you want to create memorable horror, it’s a good idea to look at those who succeeded before you.
Unlike the slasher films of the 90s and early 2000s, King’s horror doesn’t follow a group of high school’s most popular seniors getting sliced in half one by one while running around aimlessly screaming, seemingly worsening their already detrimental situation. King favors the unexpected and the unpredictable. Like a group of children juggling fighting off school bullies as well as an evil shape-shifting clown. And for a generation that seems to have seen it all, the unexpected and unpredictable thrills us.
In Influence Of Carrie (Past & Present)
At the end of I Am Not Okay With This, we learn, at a school dance, high school Jock, Brad threatens to expose Sydney’s secret kiss with her best friend and his girlfriend, Dina. As a result, Sydney’s anger-induced telekinetic powers blow his head off. The blood from Brad’s exploding head covers Sydney and her fellow classmates.
Telekinetic murder and a blood-drenched dress are not the only things Sydney and Carrie have in common. Like Carrie, Sydney is a high school misfit being raised by her single mother, with whom she has a strained relationship.
Stand By Me
Each show also takes place in a small town resembling the fictional Maine towns described by King in his novels–small storefronts, isolated roads, homes surrounded by forests, and young teens riding around on their bikes.
Besides the similar horror themes, there is a prominent theme of friendship portrayed. In Stranger Things, the boys are willing to do whatever it takes to get their friend back; in I Am Not Okay With This, Sydney finds company in her outcast neighbor, Stanley. He becomes the only person she can trust with her secret.
This theme is taken straight from one of King’s non-horror works titled The Body, which was later turned into a film called Stand By Me. The coming of age story follows the friendship of four pre-teen boys on their way to find the dead body of a man who was accidentally killed near their rural town.
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
Along the way, they learn more about each other, strengthening their bond. King might be notorious for his horror work, but he also favors a story of a group of misfits coming together to fight off evil, and in the end, succeeding by sticking together and always having each other’s backs.
Were the 70s & 80s The Unpolished Years?
The 70s-80s inspiration comes from a desire to see the world through a lens that isn’t so polished. The old cars with broken radios and the characters in beat-up converse feel closer to us than the designer dresses and bright red lipstick displayed in shows like Riverdale or the once-popular Gossip Girl. Plus, it’s a comfortable escape from the Instagram obsessed culture we live in.
Television and cinema are supposed to remove us from our lives when things get overwhelming, so to dive into something free from social media and iPhones is inspiring. It’s nice to fantasize about a time when children could spend all day away from home without having to text their parents to keep them updated on their whereabouts. It’s especially comforting to see a group of kids having fun without the need for validation via Instagram or Snapchat.
Does Stephen King Do Horror Best?
This isn’t to say Stephen King is the blueprint. Horror films like Psycho or Nightmare on Elm Street are equally as influential. And the theme of friendship could easily be taken out of works like The Outsider and The Goonies; however, King’s influence is incredibly apparent, and though it’s been 46 years since his first novel Carrie was released, still no one is doing horror quite like him.
“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud. “
The Future Of Stephen King In Television
Stephen King is such a popular influence because his horror terrifies and disturbs audiences and keeps them coming back for more. His work is timeless making it the perfect template from other writers to create from. These Netflix series are surely not the last time we will see King’s work being referenced.
Most importantly, through his work, he has taught us that even in the most horrifying of circumstances, the underdog can always take down the bad guy and come out on top. That is a lesson to hold onto and to continue to spread throughout television.