The premise of Stand by Me is bullshit.

[JVS]

The guy opens up saying that the first time he saw a dead human being was when he was 12 going on 13, and then he starts unraveling the story. Within 10 minutes we are informed of the death of the older brother which takes place four months before the quest to see the dead body.

[SacredCow]

1. Coulda been a closed-casket funeral....

IIRC, the older brother died in a jeep accident so that's plausible...

[Mad_Dem_X]

4. That's what I was thinking.

I can't remember if that was explained in the original story, "The Body."

Awesome story. Awesome movie.

[no name no slogan]

5. It was in the original

In the book, the older brother got squished by an out-of-control race car at the race track. That's usually not a situation where you want to have an open casket funeral.

[JVS]

6. That's way cooler than just a plain jeep accident!

[ElboRuum]

2. Factually Deconstructing Film Is Generally A Waste of Intellectual Effort. n/t

[mitchum]

3. Well, yeah...it's by a pulp writer

[nomorenomore08]

30. Well... he's not William Faulkner, but he's not Danielle Steele either, know what I'm saying?

:shrug:

[Shell Beau]

7. That is one of the best movies ever.

And not everyone does an open casket. And maybe his parents didn't want him to see him. So many reasons why he may not have seen his dead brother.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Yep, LostinVA doesn't want an open casket

Personally, I think unless the body is horribly disfigured, it's weird not to have one.

I'm Irish, we're supposed to stare at a dead body for awhile, say some Hail Mary's over it, and then get stinking drunk. It's just the way things are done.

[rcrush]

11. I think open casket is creepy

I've always been so uncomfortable at a funeral where there was an open casket. Closed casket seems much more "respectable?" to me I guess.

[Kali]

27. it's not the open casket

it's the creepy make up

dead body is ok to look at, why make it look like some kind of clown?

[tigereye]

13. yup. nothing like an Irish wake...

:thumbsup:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. My grandfather (Irish and a drunk) had his funeral on St. Patrick's Day

Best fucking funeral EVER.

Bagpipes, open bar, the whole nine yards.

[tigereye]

16. wow. I belong to a local Irish Center, and I always joke to them that I was

raised to think that being Irish meant arguing politics with a beer in my hand. :rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

20. Well, that's what often happens

[JVS]

14. You gotta look at the body just so everyone is sure that the person is dead.

[no name no slogan]

18. There ain't gonna be enough left of me to have an open casket

In fact, if I'm lucky, there won't be enough for a friggin' cat food can.

[Shell Beau]

19. My brother's was open casket for family only. I just closed my

eyes when I was supposed to look. Just couldn't bare to do it. I probably don't want open casket either. It is very common though, unless the body is disfigured. I am an organ donor anyway. Not sure if that will have anything to do with it.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. I'm an organ donor, because my dad had a kidney transplant (didn't help much)

But I don't think it prevents having an open casket.

[Shell Beau]

22. Sorry about your dad. Is he still living?

I wasn't sure if donating your organs prevented an open casket or not. I guess I don't see why it would though. Take what you need and cover me up!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

24. No, he died when I was 19

He had been sick since I was 7. He had strep throat that traveled and destroyed his kidneys. Totally freak thing.

[Shell Beau]

25. Wow!! Sorry about that. That is tough.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

26. Thanks -- I mean, it definitely influenced my life and the way I think a lot

But it's something I grew up with. He did amazingly well considering.

[keroro gunsou]

28. haruka-san

you are in error. we irish are supposed to get bloody piss-drunk and tell stories about the recently absent.

what's the difference between an irish wedding and and irish wake?
one less drunk at the wake.

[Glorfindel]

8. The film is a masterpiece, though

I was the same age as those boys were portrayed as being, and I did go around singing "Have Gun, Will Travel" and wondering what Goofy was. I made up stories and idolized my older brother (thank God, he didn't die young, though). On the other hand, I didn't give a hoot about Annette's tits. Tommy Kirk and Fabian were my fantasies. :D

I haven't watched it since River Phoenix died. What a tragic waste.

[Javaman]

9. I say you sue King for making up all kinds of wrong shit!!!

then sit alone for a while and pout.

Then when you are through, pick up the book "the stand" read from cover to cover and then you will understand that anything that has ever been portrayed in movie form of Kings work is only a mild to bad depiction at best of the written work.

There have been a few good "adaption's" of his work, but all are a far cry from the originals.

Biggest cop out ever? in the movie Misery, she breaks his ankles with s sledge hammer. Horrible yes, but nothing has horrible as to what happened in the book.

[kath]

23. Oh, man, "Misery" was INTENSE.

What a book!

And Kubrick's "The Shining" was an incredible disappointment after having read the book.
Haven't seen any of the adaptations of "The Stand", but maybe I should read that book again...

[tigereye]

12. oh, hush now, that's not the point.

You aren't supposed to over-analyze it, you know.

[jobycom]

17. Critic FAIL!

Maybe he was out of town, maybe it was a closed casket, maybe his parents didn't want him to see his brother's body.

In fact, the story bears out that he did not see his brother's body, and that was the motivating factor that drove him so hard in the end, as he tried to understand death and the randomness of life.

Go analyze Tom Sawyer (the song) and tell me if you find anything other than banal, pretentious nonsense in it. :P

[nomorenomore08]

29. I think "Tom Sawyer" is Neil Peart admitting he's a perpetual little boy at heart.

Sure would explain a lot of his lyrics, wouldn't it? :hide: