“I watched MAGA rallies as a reference,” said director Vincenzo Natali explaining inspiration he drew from for a mass death scene in the finale of his version of Stephen King’s The Stand from Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. In the CBS streaming version of King’s often serialized book, villain Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) presides over brainwashed followers and their debauchery inside a Las Vegas casino-hotel complex converted into a hedonistic cathedral for him and his acolytes.
The scene (which aired in February) begins with hundreds of Flagg’s followers screaming in joy at the Dark Man’s display of power as he stands on a balcony high above them. But soon, the whole party begins to fall apart for Flagg as his followers start to lose faith in him. The scene rises to a deadly conclusion as bolts of lightning strike down from the sky, killing followers, destroying the hotel’s interior, and even striking Flagg, revealing just how evil he really is.
Eventually, one of the bolts of lightning hits the nuclear bomb that Flagg directed to be brought to his enclave, and the entirety of the Vegas Strip goes up in a mushroom cloud.
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Series director Vincenzo Natali now says he saw some similarities between the show’s deadly scene and former President Donald Trump’s MAGA rallies, according to what Natali told Variety.
“When I read the script, my first thought was that I wanted to be sure that all the characters are given their due before they die. So, I put a lot of thought into how to kill them. I wanted it to feel terrifying but also poetic and also real. For instance, when bodies are hit by lightning, they break apart in horrible, gruesome ways,” Natali said.
Natali told Variety he got his idea of portraying the brainwashed supporters as they danced and screeched during the Dark Man’s many balcony performances during the series.
“I watched MAGA rallies as a reference [for Flagg’s position] — that really helped me understand the psychological dynamic between the crowd and Flagg,” Natali confided. “And, of course, a dictator on a balcony was not a stretch and fit comfortably into the overall space we were working with, which was a converted hotel atrium. Putting Mr. Flagg above everyone else gave a nice sightline to all the activity below and a chance for him to interact with all the players. Also, it allowed me to isolate him from the action and make him the center of attention.”
Flagg is, of course, the embodiment of evil in King’s book. His goal is evil, murderous, and he employs fear and mind control to gain the devotion of his subjects.
The Stand also stars Whoopi Goldberg and James Marsden. But the CBS series has been dead on arrival for both TV critics and live audiences. It currently holds a Rotten scores for both groups on Rotten Tomatoes, the reviewer site’s “Critics Consensus” saying “Despite an A-list ensemble and a smattering of poignant moments, The Stand‘s extended runtime doesn’t make for better storytelling, leaving its expansive cast stranded in a cluttered apocalypse.”
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