# I guess I'll start it... I Am Legend **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272 "2007-07-10T22:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/21 "2007-07-11T14:45:59Z")
Well ya learn something every day. I saw the thread title and thought “ooh, White Zombie!” (the band.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/22 "2007-07-11T15:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] Oh Damn It! I just looked on [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1349376/) and see that he directed Constantine… this is gonna suck some big, stinky ass. [/QUOTE] Maybe I’m the only one who enjoyed Constantine. Probably because I haven’t picked up a comicbook since 1985. I wasn’t bogged down with all the “Dammit he’s supposed to be blonde!” crap. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/23 "2007-07-12T03:03:00Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Maybe I’m the only one who enjoyed Constantine. Probably because I haven’t picked up a comicbook since 1985. I wasn’t bogged down with all the “Dammit he’s supposed to be blonde!” crap. [/QUOTE] neither was I… ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/24 "2007-07-12T03:05:13Z")
Well, I read “I Am Legend” today and I must say, it was a pretty damn good book. I really hope Smith can pull this off. I’m looking forward to the movie much more, now. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/25 "2007-07-12T03:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I remember liking the book. I know it is considered a classic in some circles but I’m not sure if it still holds up. I think I have it around here somewhere, I’ll have to reread it. But I don’t think that changing it a bit (or a lot) will be a sin if it is done well. IIRC the book was just a set up for the punchline. I’ll spoiler the book plot even though it was written in the 50s. You have had time to read it. Which of course was given away in the title. Our hero is the last real human that he knows about. He does his best to wipe out the vampires during the day and tries to survive the night. By the end he hears that he is what the vampire parents use to scare their children. He has become what vampires are to us. He thinks “I am legend.” It doesn’t end on a happy note. The vampires are now the inhabitants of the world and humans are just the bogeymen that used to be. Somehow I don’t see the movie ending like that but they did keep the title so who knows. (I hope I remembered that right it has been a while) [/QUOTE] I didn’t get that from the book exactly. As I understood it, there were two types of “vampires” - the ones that attacked the protagonist, but also others who kept their minds but changed physiologically. Because they were dormant during the day the same as the “bad” vampires, the hero was inadvertently killing them off as well as the bad ones. So it’s not entirely a bad note, in that humanity hasn’t lost hope, since they are essentially human in mind if no longer in body. The tragedy is just that he’s been killing off the innocent as well as the guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/26 "2007-07-12T06:12:27Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Maybe I’m the only one who enjoyed Constantine. Probably because I haven’t picked up a comicbook since 1985. I wasn’t bogged down with all the “Dammit he’s supposed to be blonde!” crap. [/QUOTE] You’re not. I liked it, too. I also didn’t read the comic, so I wasnt’ burdened by any expectations. I also liked Keanu Reaves in the role. He seemed about right for the character. Ooooh, blasphemy. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272/27 "2007-07-12T17:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I didn’t get that from the book exactly. As I understood it, there were two types of “vampires” - the ones that attacked the protagonist, but also others who kept their minds but changed physiologically. Because they were dormant during the day the same as the “bad” vampires, the hero was inadvertently killing them off as well as the bad ones. So it’s not entirely a bad note, in that humanity hasn’t lost hope, since they are essentially human in mind if no longer in body. The tragedy is just that he’s been killing off the innocent as well as the guilty. [/QUOTE] No you are right. I read the book maybe 20 years ago so I didn’t remember that distinction. I’m not sure how they are going to treat it in the movie because as I said… No vampires [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-guess-ill-start-it-i-am-legend/411272.md?page=1)