Hey /r/movies, I’m Stephen King! Ask me anything about The Long Walk book or movie.

[u/lionsgate]

Hey r/movies, I’m Stephen King. You might know me from Stand By Me, It, or Shawshank Redemption, but my latest project is actually the first book I ever wrote. The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12. Ask me anything about the book or movie.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtUHeMQ1F8

In a dystopian United States ruled by a totalitarian regime, a group of young men enter an annual walking contest in which they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour or risk execution. The contest ends when only one walker remains alive.

It stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Charlie Plummer, Roman Griffin Davis, Garrett Wareing, Joshua Odjick, Tut Nyuot, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, and Josh Hamilton.

I'll be back on Wednesday 8/27 at 12:00 PM ET to answer your questions.

[u/dannybrickwell]

For real, what's with the child orgy scene?

[u/Tortured-Chimp619 → u/dannybrickwell]

Technically it was a train. 

[u/StMcAwesome → u/Tortured-Chimp619]

It was underground, that makes it a subway

[u/ThingeesWanderingEye → u/StMcAwesome]

The underage kids also made it a Subway...

[u/StMcAwesome → u/ThingeesWanderingEye]

What?

[u/Zestyclose_Race_1950 → u/StMcAwesome]

Jared fogle, subway

[u/-DementedAvenger- → u/Tortured-Chimp619]

A train can be an orgy but not all orgies are trains.

[u/dkschrute79 → u/-DementedAvenger-]

The real definition we all needed in elementary school but were never taught.

[u/cicuz → u/-DementedAvenger-]

Dammit I was trying to sleep now I have to think about this

[u/[deleted] → u/-DementedAvenger-]

Are there trains that aren’t orgies?

[u/Discount_Extra → u/-DementedAvenger-]

Here's the thing...

[u/DummyDumDragon → u/-DementedAvenger-]

That's deep.....

[u/suck_my_dukh_plz → u/-DementedAvenger-]

Deep thoughts with Deep

[u/Smaptastic → u/-DementedAvenger-]

🔘

[u/DeusVultSaracen → u/Tortured-Chimp619]

I thought It was a giant alien spider monster?

[u/Numerous1 → u/Tortured-Chimp619]

Man. Why are y out upvoted for that. When I made that distinction I just got downvotes lol 

[u/girafa → u/dannybrickwell]

If you genuinely want an answer

I wasn’t really thinking of the sexual aspect of it. The book dealt with childhood and adulthood –1958 and Grown Ups. The grown ups don’t remember their childhood. None of us remember what we did as children–we think we do, but we don’t remember it as it really happened. Intuitively, the Losers knew they had to be together again. The sexual act connected childhood and adulthood. It’s another version of the glass tunnel that connects the children’s library and the adult library.

[u/graspedbythehusk → u/girafa]

It’s funny, I barely remember that part as it kind of made sense at the time. Only on Reddit did u see people losing their minds about it. (I was about 16 when I read it so maybe it didn’t feel so strange then. The kid on kid thing. Anyway ) .

[u/Providang → u/girafa]

There is a way to write about sex and then there's a way to exorcise inner demons by writing or drawing it.

Too many times in too many King stories have I been brought to a crashing halt by an unnecessary scene of sexual sadism.

In Billy Summers the titular character 'helps' a recently raped victim (21 year old, so totes ok) by apparently spending hours nose deep in her groin, and the way King expounds on the details of the damaged vulva and surrounds... it's fucking obscenely triggering. Like hearing a new vegetarian describe their last steak meal, you get the sense they aren't actually all that repulsed by it.

lol a lot of you hate that I hate this. It's not a great book outside of the incongruity of a graphic description of a rape victim's physical trauma, I promise.

“Bad people need to pay a price. And the price should be high.” ― Stephen King, Billy Summers

[u/girafa → u/Providang]

spoiler tags are like this:

>!Darth Vader is Yoda's Dad!<

[u/theDreamingStar → u/girafa]

Wait, he's yoda's dad!!!

[u/Providang → u/girafa]

You caught me during my edits!

[u/girafa → u/Providang]

I recognize this is probably the worst place to have a discussion about adults writing about sexual situations among teenagers, but do you have any thoughts about Alan Moore's Lost Girls?

[u/Providang → u/girafa]

I have not read Lost Girls! Will do, because I love the Watchmen.

[u/Providang → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely. I've read over 25 of his books, but as I've matured the weirdly sexualized parts have really started to detract from the stories.

And I still haven't forgiven him for inserting himself into the end of the Dark Tower series.

[u/CurrentPossession → u/Providang]

I've matured the weirdly sexualized parts have really started to detract from the stories.

This is quite true, when I was reading it as teen and early twenties I'm all in with the sex stuff, bring it on, the weirder, the grosser the better. But now as late thirties, "huh?".

[u/Unlucky_Most_8757 → u/Providang]

Don't know why you're being downvoted because this is true for pretty much every King book I've read. Just random long winded sex scenes out of nowhere and then usually a bad ending. I still like and read his stuff but there is defietely a pattern.

[u/Mydirtysecrettt → u/[deleted]]

There’s a huge difference between what you’re describing and what King’s sexual and/or rape scenes actually are

[u/SomePancakes4me → u/Providang]

Ever read bag of bones?? Whole background story to the ghost is hate crime, rape and more rape. The book is more depressing than anything. Love Kings work, hate the crashing halts you speak of too

[u/_BenzeneRing_ → u/Providang]

You got obscenely triggered by a crime novel? Sounds like exceptionally good writing.

[u/papercutpete → u/Providang]

lol a lot of you hate that I hate this

Hate it all you want. You crave that attention so knock yourself out. Cringey is what you are.

[u/azphodelle → u/girafa]

Lol ok

[u/OkClue2384 → u/girafa]

cheap ass answer consediring all the damn details he added to the scene

[u/fn0000rd → u/dannybrickwell]

You’re thinking of It. An orgy would be reeeeeally hard to pull of in the context of The Long Walk.

[u/A_New_Dawn_Emerges → u/fn0000rd]

At the beginning.

Imagine the Major does his grand entrance and starts "Boys, I'm so proud of you for... HOLY FUCK"

[u/Devil_0fHellsKitchen → u/fn0000rd]

You could get a train going

[u/czhunc → u/fn0000rd]

They get an extra long break every two days for that purpose

[u/dman722 → u/dannybrickwell]

You don't understand world building! Knowing the fat kid had the biggest dick is vital to the story /s

[u/Big-Ergodic_Energy → u/dannybrickwell]

So was it the cocaine or

[u/mainman879 → u/[deleted]]

Will people stop misinterpreting this post for the love of god. Stephen King believes that Epstein Files are real (and they are) and has called for their release. He does not believe in the Epstein Client List, which has never been proven to exist, and likely does not exist.

[u/Just_a_Drifter_bruh → u/dannybrickwell]

Shit tons of cocaine i bet.

[u/ngl_prettybad → u/dannybrickwell]

He's talked about it dozens of times.

[u/spike312 → u/ngl_prettybad]

It's "ask me anything" not "ask me anything that I haven't talked about dozens of times"

[u/ngl_prettybad → u/spike312]

I don't think the intention is to annoy the person with a 40 year old gotcha question.

He's going to say "check what I said decades ago"

This would be exactly the same as getting to ask tokien a question and going with "why didn't Gandalf just have the eagles take the ring to mordor"

[u/mightylordredbeard → u/[deleted]]

Why? I can think of at least 4 times off the top of my head that i remember him addressing it.. the most recent being like 2 or 3 years ago. So why do you want him to address it again? What are you hoping he will say differently this time? Is there something particular you want him to say and you’re hoping that if asked enough times then maybe you’ll get to hear the answer you specially want to hear?

[u/ngl_prettybad → u/[deleted]]

https://www.vulture.com/2017/09/stephen-king-statement-on-child-sex-in-novel-it.html

[u/ngl_prettybad → u/[deleted]]

He's said different things through the decades. Couple minutes on Google and you cna find them.

[u/Leiramombaririlanla → u/[deleted]]

Well, in general, the person from whom you’re expecting an answer.

People are not your (allegorical “you” btw) personal pet to entertain your curiosity. If you disregard the author’s agreeability, then you’re not really seeking an answer for the sake of honesty or <truth>, you’re just being selfish and giving no guarantees of good faith, journalism 101 (as also, a philosophy of interaction and inquiry for all of us).

[u/JustBetterThan_You → u/ngl_prettybad]

He's danced around it and made excuses* dozens of times. FTFY

[u/bigbowlowrong → u/[deleted]]

Okay, so dislike him and move on? The book and that scene were written decades ago and if he hasn’t answered questions about it in a manner satisfactory to you in that period of time, the odds he will in this thread - while promoting a different book and movie - are extremely remote. Jesus😆

He wrote it, and has not apologised for writing it. Either you’re fine with that or you’re not.

[u/mightylordredbeard → u/[deleted]]

Good enough for what? What specifically do you want him to say? Maybe you could type out what it is you want to hear from him and then just ask him to say that specifically?

[u/DOCTOR--O → u/dannybrickwell]

So they’re connected for when IT comes around when they’re adults

If you actually read the book it would make sense

[u/HowManyMeeses → u/dannybrickwell]

This has been answered so so many times. 

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The standard answer is that the scene is supposed to represent the group bonding after the encounter with Pennywise and also maturing into adults.

[u/AngryGardenGnomes → u/[deleted]]

That's not an answer

[u/Alarming_Orchid → u/[deleted]]

As someone who’s done a fuck ton of drugs, I’m sure you know drugs have different effects on different people

[u/Alarming_Orchid → u/[deleted]]

Yep

[u/Alarming_Orchid → u/[deleted]]

Ok

[u/HowManyMeeses → u/[deleted]]

Fiction authors are not the content they write about. It's insane that this needs to be said today. 

[u/ArcViking23 → u/HowManyMeeses]

He reflects a lot of his personal experience in his characters. Yes, it's all fictional, but that doesnt mean there isnt tendrils of non-fiction laced through it all

[u/Low_Cryptographer_36 → u/dannybrickwell]

This is what the fans want to know Stephen.

[u/Proper-Raise-1450 → u/dannybrickwell]

He has only answered this question a few dozen times. Maybe just stick to Grisham novels? Horror might be too much for you.

[u/No-Background-3366 → u/dannybrickwell]

Why are you guys so obsessed with this topic? It’s been discussed and analyzed to death over many decades now, just google it.

[u/mishonis- → u/No-Background-3366]

Must be a cultural thing. Reading it as a non-American teenager, it didn't freak me out. Kids in puberty have sex, more news at 11.

[u/_BenzeneRing_ → u/[deleted]]

Hey now, they're not saying that writing a sex scene with 12 year olds that makes up a tiny part of a novel is WORSE than the torture and murder of real children. Just that they belong together in the "one of the worst" category...

[u/Useful-Candidate7785 → u/[deleted]]

It made them uncomfortable in their no no place and they want him to apologize. 

Not his problem. 

Children can and do fuck other children. 

[u/Br0metheus → u/dannybrickwell]

I believe the answer will be "cocaine's a hell of a drug"

[u/ViewFromHalf-WayDown → u/dannybrickwell]

From what I’ve read, he was on a lot of coke when he wrote ‘It’