The Running Man is a novella written by Stephen King under the name of Richard Bachman. It was published in 1985 as a book of four stories called The Bachman Books, after King’s pseudonym was revealed. As King explains in an introduction, they are dark in a way his horror books are not, relying much more on the violence of humans in dystopian futures, rather than monsters.
Written in 1982, The Running Man is set in the 2020s, which makes it appropriate that the movie was redone this year. The 1987 movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and retained only the basic concepts of the book, in which a desperate young man signs up for a reality show where he’ll be hunted and killed. The 2025 movie, starring Glen Powell, is VERY close to the book. Mr. CG and I watched both movies recently, which made me want to revisit the novel.
In the story, Ben Richards is living in a totalitarian future where the gap between rich and poor is extreme. The only jobs for lower class workers are ones that put your health at risk, and the health care that exists is expensive and unregulated. Ben’s daughter is dying and needs medication, his wife is forced to earn money through prostitution, and Ben’s been blackballed from employment. Ben isn’t strong, but he’s tough, clever, and angry. These characteristics land him a role on the most lucrative – but deadliest – reality show, The Running Man. He’ll be hunted down like a criminal, on national TV, with big rewards issued for citizens who turn him in. When he’s caught, he’ll be murdered, but the longer he survives, the more payout his family will receive.
It’s not my favorite King story, and it’s quite violent, but it’s an interesting look at what King thought the 2020s might look like, and it’s unsettling in more than a few ways. One, reality television can be exploitive and dangerous (sometimes psychologically harmful more than physically), yet people are desperate to be on these shows to gain fame and money. Two, today’s technology means there are eyes everywhere. And three, as the income gap keeps growing in this country, especially relating to access to health care, there will increasingly be times when people take desperate measures to save their family members. Ben’s anger towards the upper class is relatable. In the story, Ben carjacks a young woman, and even as he starts to sympathize with her, he realizes that the cost of the clothes she’s wearing could pay for his child’s health care. He sees a woman throwing around money that could save his daughter, and she sees a violent criminal. The gulf between them is just too wide to be crossed.
There’s a lot of racist and homophobic language in the book, which I’m glad was not in the movie. It made me uncomfortable, but I also recognize that King is talented at writing how people really talk, and this is a window into the views of the 1980s (which sadly aren’t all that different today).
My husband was nostalgic about the 80s version of the movie, but it was basically all flash, no substance. The 2025 movie is much better although it’s not exactly a fun time. If you like dystopian fiction, and you’re interested in a book/movie that looks at the very dark side of reality television and government control, give it a try. Glen Powell seems to be in everything these days, but he’s got surprising range. Apparently he had to be approved by King himself, and King has said that he liked this movie a lot (he’s known to have disliked the 80s version).
The 2025 movie only diverges from the book in the ending. I won’t discuss either, but I’ll just say that the way the book ends wouldn’t play well to audiences today.
Readers, what is your favorite Stephen King book/movie combo? So many to choose from! I’d go with The Stand; I liked the casting of the 90s miniseries with Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald and lots of others. I also thought the recent version of It was quite good. And I recently made Mr. GC watch Firestarter with Drew Barrymore and George C. Scott; that’s an old favorite of mine, though not amazing.
