Issue 7 - Some Prose By Any Other Name, Would Tell as Sweet

This week on Medium I spoke about making the choices count. And that is something that, as a filmmaker, I hold to my core. Every choice in a film, or in just a story no matter the form of its delivery, should matter.

Granted, working in the short form as we tend to do at Whatsabudget, that is an easier task to manage than for larger, more involved narratives, but that is just my preferred approach. And all in the name of authenticity and truth.

And so even when I do something, like change the name of a project as I’m adapting it from page to screen (for instance), I want those changes and the reasons behind them to resonate within that same field of authenticity.

I want to make sure that these choices have meaning behind them. And as I was recently asked by a friend of mine via socials about the meaning behind the title of our new film adaptation of a short story by Stephen King, E is for Expiation, I felt this would be a good place to dive into that specific change and the meaning behind it.

HOW “LUCKEY QUARTER” BECAME E IS FOR EXPIATION

First of all, a disclaimer, I took none of the changes made to the original story lightly, nor were any intended as a means of disrespect to the author and tale as it was told. It’s not that I felt the story needed improving, nor would I presume myself worthy of making any such “improvements.”

So if my manner of address on this issue seems in any way blasé or nonchalant, please know that is not in any way intended, and I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the original material and its author. That said…I changed the title.

For those unfamiliar with the original telling, in Everything’s Eventual, “Luckey Quarter” involves a single mom barely making ends meet in her job as a chambermaid in a hotel in Carson City (which I may have misremembered as Reno in previous tellings), Nevada.

The tip envelope, or “honeypot” as they refer to it, is a point of some discussion and contention between our main character and her coworkers. One particular day, Darlene finds a tip actually left for her, only to discover it’s merely a solitary quarter.

However there is a note accompanying the quarter which reads:

Always misspelled, and always with the added, “unnecessary” character. But why was the “E” added? What did it mean? Was it intended as a comment on the simple nature of the leaver of the insulting gesture?

One meant to allow for the audience to extend the benefit of the doubt and not presume ill intent on their behalf? Could be. But as a former service industry worker for many years who depended on tips, I found myself perhaps a bit unwilling to extend any such benefit.

I saw it as a purely purposeful act. One that was cruel and perhaps even of intents a bit darker than that. And so I explored that idea, and ran right down the rabbit hole it opened up before me.

TURNING IT UP TO 11

There was a little magic at play in the original story as I read it. Especially in the light twist at the very end. And I wanted to amplify that aspect of the story as I sought meaning in the inclusion of the “E” in the word lucky.

Building from there, the magic of the story, to me at least, was indicative of there being some sort of spell at play. So I figured if the misspelling of lucky was to mean something, and the intent was less than kind, then perhaps the “E” was part of the magic. Part of the spellcasting.

And given that I have always appreciated the Darabont adaptation of “The Mist,” with its constant calls for “expiation” throughout the tale, I felt like there was a thread I could play with in homage to that King classic too.

So I decided that expiation - the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing - would be what the “E” stood for in “luckey”. And when I started playing with that theme and idea against the rest of the story, more pieces fell into place.

Especially given Darlene’s role as a single mother and the guilt/weight she carries over not being able to provide more for her two kids. And since blood was the source of her guilt, her kids, then blood would be a factor in whatever magic I felt was at play.

And so what was “Luckey Quarter” had a new name and became somewhat rebranded as E is for Expiation for film. But again, I made sure that their was meaning to each the changes and choices I made with every alteration/diversion from the original text.

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