Copyright Screen Rant
In 1990, Rob Reiner's hit adaptation of Stephen King's 1987 novel Misery riveted audiences with its gripping psychological narrative, earning actress Kathy Bates an Academy Award for her impeccable performance as the emotionally disturbed Annie Wilkes. Beyond its suspense, however, the film captured something hauntingly prophetic, whose exploration of toxic fandom wouldn't be fully understood for more than two decades. What initially played as a textbook if unique Stephen King thriller took on a new life in line with the popularization of the internet slang "stan," a term derived from the Eminem song of the same name that details the ramblings of an obsessive fan who idolizes the Detroit rapper to the point of murder-suicide. Likewise, Wilkes is a sinister portrait of toxic fandom personified, whose fraught parasocial relationship with novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) as his "number one fan" eerily predicted the rise of fanatic stan culture in tandem with the mass proliferation of social media.Thus,Misery's endlessly quotable antagonist stands not only as an emblem of horror's past, but a foreboding glimpse into its digitized future. Misery Predicted The Rise Of Internet Stan Culture One of the elements that made Misery so unsettling was its concept of a deranged fan imprisoning their favorite author—an idea that, while possible, once seemed so perceptually implausible that its incarnation proved that much more terrifying. Nevertheless, Wilkes' manic obsession with Sheldon mirrors the most impassioned corners of today’s online fandoms, particularly those infamous for the severity of their parasocial relationships. In particular, one of the defining attributes of stan culture that Wilkes embodies is her perceived authority over Sheldon’s creative output, i.e. any decision not in agreement with her vision of "Misery Chastain" is therefore considered profane. In the film, Wilkes holds the unique position of actually wielding power over Sheldon’s narrative, forcing him to augment his work according to her standards. Misery is the only Stephen King adaptation to win an Academy Award; other films that have been nominated include Carrie, Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. Moreover, Wilkes' obsession also mirrors stan culture through its inevitable extension beyond the page, intruding into the lesser-known details of Sheldon's life and the mythos surrounding his origins as a writer; this catalog, encyclopedic in breadth and nature, so presciently echoes the deep-cutting fervor of Swifties and the “BTS Army” through their shared devotion to the mythology of celebrity. What's more, any slight toward this pedestalled version of their idols—even from the artists themselves—is viewed as a threat to their personas and must therefore be ferociously expunged. In a meta-ironic twist, Wilkes also personifies this infatuation through her obsession with the character Misery, forcing the author to resurrect the Victorian heroine so that her other parasocial relationship remains unfractured. Annie Wilkes Was The Original Parasocial Fan While movies like Play Misty for Me had previously explored narratives surrounding celebrity and obsession, Misery was the first to really predict the parasocial boom that came with the millennium and the in-flux of community-driven content that followed. Furthermore, the proliferance of digital avenues online has made it such that it’s now easier than ever to rapidly consume the most intimate details of a figure's life (à la Annie Wilkes). Another factor distinguishing Misery is the blurring of lines between parasocial and social interaction—a fixture of our modern age whose rise was foreshadowed by the zeal Wilkes continually exhibits toward her idol. Moreover, this zeal—initially sparked by genuine appreciation for an artist's work or talent—is notoriously a bridge toward romantic parasocial delusions, as seen in Wilkes’ belief of possessing true love with Sheldon. Thus, in accordance with her manic obsessiveness and concrete sense of authority, Annie Wilkes is, by definition, the cinematic prototype for internet stan culture, a precursor to today's communities of fans and zealous devotees whose most central unifier is a shared interest/fixation in X, Y, or Z—and, bulk or not, are often composed of individuals that view an artist's autonomy as their public property. Why Misery Continues To Terrify Audiences Today The core of Misery's horror lies not in supernatural frights, nor even in its graphic, leg-hobbling violence—its horror comes from the narrative's trite, mundane realism, as evidenced in Kathy Bates' ordinary, Plain-as-Jane, down-to-Earth, backwoods portrait of Annie Wilkes, Silver Creek, Colorado's resident sociopath. Per the rise of internet stan culture, Wilkes—fictional or not—is as real as you, me, or the anonymous face behind an online avatar. Privy that we are all susceptible and engaging in some manner of parasocial relationship, it's only natural, therefore, that some twisted soul would be willing to undertake the steps necessary to make their fantasies fate.
