Firestarteris a hugely underrated Stephen King book that follows a young girl named Charlie, who displays pyrokinetic abilities that allow her to manipulate fire.The general details of Charlie’s powers, and her quest to protect herself from them, are plot lines that King has used beforein his works - namely, inCarrie.Firestarter’s endingmay not directly connect to any other of King’s works, but it includes several thematic connections and aesthetic allusions that are fairly easy to spot given some familiarity with the author’s bibliography.
This is likely a coincidence, as the two stories have completely different sets of characters and culminate differently, but the author easily could have tied them together with a fun Easter egg. When the powers become too dangerous for Charlie to maintain alone, the government seeks her out to harness them for their own purposes. It’s a gripping thriller that manifests all the best aspects of King’s writing, including fascinating characters, an engaging story, and some brilliant horror set pieces. AlthoughStephen King criticized this work of his, it’s still an excellent story that has some interesting hidden connections.
Stephen King’s Firestarter Missed A Great Opportunity For A Carrie Connection
Firestarter & Carrie Share Many Similarities
Charlie’s pyrokinesis is very similar to Carrie’s telekinesis,and their respective powers allow for plenty of parallel challenges in the two books. Both girls are ostracized by their peers as a result of their powers, and both girls cause huge problems for the local (and federal) authorities whenever they lose control of their abilities. They’re stories about destruction, but most importantly, they present this destruction as a direct consequence of their childhoods and the neglect (or affection) they’ve faced from various people in their lives.
Everything Firestarter 1984 Did Better Than The 2022 Remake
While 1984’s original Stephen King adaptation wasn’t a critical hit, Firestarter 2022 still managed to ruin a lot of what made the earlier movie work.
WhileFirestartermade for a great movie, it still isn’t one of King’s most well-known or respected books. In fact, it frequently gets pushed to the side byCarrie, a very similar story that captures the same themes more effectively. Giving the two books a clearer connection would have been a clever way of ensuring thatFirestarterwas just as popular asCarrie, with audiences viewing it as a quasi-sequel rather than merely a copy of the same thing.
Carrie’s Ending Could Have Explained Why The Government Wanted Charlie’s Powers
Carrie’s Massacre Could Have Been Mentioned In Firestarter
ConnectingCarrieandFirestartercould have worked on multiple levels, but the most obvious advantage to these stories taking place in the same world is the effect it would have onFirestarter’s main antagonist. For the majority of the book, Charlie is hunted down by the government because they’re seeking her powers, but King never makes it entirely clear why they want them beyond preventing an accident. If the books had been connected,it would have been safe to assume thatCarrie’s ending had spurred the government into action inFirestarter.
Carrie
Cast
Carrie is a horror film directed by Brian De Palma, based on Stephen King’s novel. It stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy high school student who discovers her telekinetic abilities. Tormented by her peers and controlled by her fanatically religious mother, played by Piper Laurie, the film follows Carrie’s emotional and psychological struggles leading to a dramatic climax. Carrie solidified its place in the horror genre for its powerful performances and chilling atmosphere.
It’s mentioned inCarriethat there are more children with telekinetic abilities (and presumably pyrokinetic), so Charlie could easily have been one of them. The timelines don’t quite add up, as the government’s pursuit of Charlie takes place just before Carrie’s prom night massacre, but King could easily have fixed this with minimal rewording. This would have been a great way toexpand uponCarrie’s storywithout changing anything about the original. It’s one of King’s most beloved stories, so it’s surprising that the author has never made any attempts to return to this world over the years.
Firestarter & Carrie Have Parallels, Even If They’re Not Intentional
Firestarter & Carrie Have Thematic Ideas In Common
Even thoughFirestarterandCarriearen’t technically connected, there are many parallels between the two storiesthat have resulted in them being frequently compared over the years. The most obvious connection is the girls' abilities, which both stem from their minds and are (at least somewhat) controlled by their emotions. They’re both stories about self-control and the effect that relationships can have on mental states at such a young and impressionable age. However, the main difference betweenCarrieandFirestarteris that the former’s protagonist’s powers stem from neglect, while Charlie’s are a result of love.
Although both girls get into trouble and end up killing people with their powers, the fact that Carrie’s abilities stem from trauma is an important insight into the messages behind these films.
In many ways,Charlie is presented as what Carrie could have beenif she hadn’t suffered neglect and abuse from her mother. Although both girls get into trouble and end up killing people with their powers, the fact that Carrie’s abilities stem from trauma is an important insight into the messages behind these films. They’re very different both in their social commentary and character development, but they’re also two sides of the same coin. King has an excellent talent for taking ideas and reworking them into new stories, which is exactly what he did withFirestarterandCarrie.
Firestarter
Firestarter (1984) is a science fiction horror film directed by Mark L. Lester, based on Stephen King’s novel. It stars Drew Barrymore as a young girl named Charlie who has pyrokinetic abilities, and David Keith as her father, Andy, who possesses telepathic powers. The story follows their struggle to evade a secret government agency intent on exploiting Charlie’s extraordinary gifts for military purposes.
