JonXMasterZZMan
Level: 23


POSTS: 82/152
POST EXP: 7134
LVL EXP: 65179
CP: 65.7
VIZ: 63825

I remember reading The Stand and some of Stephen King's works, sometimes if I ever read carefully enough I would notice some racism.

Is there any racism in Stephen King books?

Bee

Member
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Member
Since: 01-25-10
Last Post: 174 days
Last Active: 13 hours

JigSaw
Level: 136


POSTS: 5077/6998
POST EXP: 450785
LVL EXP: 29846495
CP: 265.3
VIZ: 13

If there is racism that does not make Stephen King the racist because he is simply creating characters who might be racist. Could call stanley kubrick racist for having Delbert Grady calling the cook a N' in the shining.

This is a recut of the bathroom scene from the shining but it gets to the point fastest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3zzgX6UUNQ&feature=related

Whether there is racism or not in it its entertainment and its fake so nothing to worry about

Shao Kahn

Vizzed Elite
Affected by 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome'

Position: Elite
Since: 04-06-06
Last Post: 6 hours
Last Active: 5 hours

Kryptic
Level: 40


POSTS: 349/541
POST EXP: 39620
LVL EXP: 435950
CP: 120.3
VIZ: 49694

Exactly what Jigsaw said. I usta read Stephen King books when i was younger and there's alot of characters that use racial slurs in his books. It doesn't make him racist, but yes, there is racism in the books. He's not the only one. I'm sure there's countless authors that use racism in their stories.

Trusted Member
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Trusted
Since: 02-04-10
From: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Last Post: 1 day
Last Active: 17 hours

KlawedFlaw
Level: 54


POSTS: 203/1087
POST EXP: 115340
LVL EXP: 1159977
CP: 5.0
VIZ: 35697

If someone creates a character that's a slave owner, does that make the author one? No. These books are fiction, and a good story can be offending. I read a book on kids in concentration camps and it had the most uses of the F word I'd seen by far. I should reread that book...

Seel
I am a woman of taste. I think.
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Trusted
Since: 07-06-10
From: Ohio
Last Post: 459 days
Last Active: 390 days

jmc1097
Level: 75


POSTS: 363/2426
POST EXP: 78003
LVL EXP: 3822846
CP: 9.0
VIZ: 6961

There is racism in Stepehn King novels, but Stephen King himself is not racist. Like in the book "It" Mike Hanlon gets constantly teased becasue he's black and whatnot.

Shao Kahn
D:
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position:
Since: 07-30-10
From: Hell
Last Post: 829 days
Last Active: 826 days

spectergaj
Level: 55


POSTS: 367/1216
POST EXP: 38531
LVL EXP: 1277356
CP: 19.4
VIZ: 10180

I'm actually a King reader. He himself is not racist, but some of his characters are.

Red Torosu
"Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now."-Vanille (Final Fantasy XIII)
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Trusted
Since: 11-23-10
Last Post: 26 days
Last Active: 26 days

NotJon
Level: 93


POSTS: 1281/3496
POST EXP: 183935
LVL EXP: 7802552
CP: 54.2
VIZ: 126099

To a certain extent pretty much everyone is racist. It's not so much an individual decision as it used to be, it's more of an institution. Years of the old racism has created problems that remain here in the present. That being said, I don't think that Stephen King the individual is an outwardly racist person.

---

(last edited by NotJon on 12-09-10 07:44 PM)

Sea Snake
More Not than the average Jon
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Elite
Since: 06-24-09
From: Paterson, NJ
Last Post: 135 days
Last Active: 101 days

Bobbynibbles
Level: 45


POSTS: 475/706
POST EXP: 33365
LVL EXP: 632687
CP: 0.0
VIZ: 69

The point of being an author is to make your stories, and by extension your characters, as believable as possible. Would it be believable to have some KKK loser talk to a black guy calling him sweetie and such? Characters can be racist if the author is not.

Who are you to wave your finger? So full of it Eye balls deep in muddy waters F**kin' hypocrite
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position:
Since: 04-07-10
From: Florida
Last Post: 657 days
Last Active: 656 days

warmaker
Level: 52


POSTS: 263/976
POST EXP: 88738
LVL EXP: 1016929
CP: 186.7
VIZ: 80315

The original question is: Is there racism?

Yeah, a ton. Stephen King uses it to show characters and their personalities. He uses it to advance plot lines and sometimes to illustrate certain points he's trying to make.

A ton of his characters are racist. He wrote a lot in the 60s and 70s and there were a ton of racial lines in society in the U.S. at the time. It was a big background for race wars and poverty and so forth. It is reflected in most of his early work. Nearly every story has racism.

Cacodemon

Trusted Member
Affected by 'Laziness'

Position: Trusted
Since: 05-02-10
From: Honolulu, HI
Last Post: 2 days
Last Active: 1 hour