2020's outbreak of The Stand's pandemic.
One of the characters that truly shines in the book's version due to her resilience, comion, and strong will is s "Frannie" Goldsmith (Odessa Young in the 2020 series). In the novel, readers meet this young woman pre-major outbreak, when she's just discovered that she's pregnant. Though she knows it'll prove difficult, she makes the decision to keep her child, even without help from the father, who she decides to leave. She reveals the shocking news to her parents, and her father is far more ive than her mother, mirroring the lifelong dynamics Frannie has had with each of them. But despite her mother's harsh reaction and the looming challenge of being a single mother (at least for the moment), Frannie is determined. She knows what she wants and must do. Unfortunately, transferring this tenacity and strong will over to the 2020 CBS miniseries adaptation of The Stand doesn't go so well.
The show never depicts Frannie's decision to move on from the child's father or telling her parents about her surprise pregnancy, though any of this could be assumed to have happened. Instead, viewers first meet Frannie with her own father (her mother isn't in the picture), and he swiftly dies of the virus. Following the tragic demise of a dad she was clearly very close to, while society slowly crumbles and the apocalypse becomes increasingly harrowing (which also paints a bleak world for her child to enter into), Frannie falls into an all-consuming bout of depression. She even attempts to take her own life, before being found and rescued by Harold Lauder, another key The Stand character. Frannie's mental state is completely natural; most people, even those who have never battled with such internal turmoil, would become depressed in this scenario. And, of course, mental health struggles and suicide have nothing to do with weakness. However, it's the way in which viewers get to know Frannie, as well as how starkly this version contrasts her literary version, that's upsetting.
Her strength isn't really illustrated. If the writers had wanted to merely depict her as a three-dimensional person, one who's strong and determined, but still has demons to grapple with (which are only enhanced by the dismal circumstances), this would be understandable. And representation for mental health issues also aids in normalizing and destigmatizing them. But Frannie's character is boiled down to a much flatter version of her original self, one lacking her original inner fire, and forcing her to be defined by The Stand's superflu circumstances and newly-contrived moments that don't capture who she truly is.
In addition to omitting crucial chunks of Frannie's inherent strength, this attempted suicide scene also casts Harold into a hero role that he doesn't deserve. In the novel, Frannie's comion for this troubled young man is notable. But, in the show, it's Harold that has to swoop in and save Frannie, further perpetuating his twisted worldview where she owes him her love and the world is always wronging him. 2020's adaptation of The Stand not only misses a chance to highlight a strong and empowering character, but it also fails to illustrate a more nuanced and fleshed-out depiction of mental illness and circumstantial desperation.
