Stephen King And Carrie, The Book And Film.
Without Prejudice
Just before I fell asleep last night, I had been reading a biography on Stephen King. I have always been a big fan of King and horror. I especially loved the character of Carrie and I have no idea why. The story just " spoke " to me.
It wasn't a story that Stephen had liked and at first draft he screwed it up and threw it in the bin.
His wife, Tabitha picked it out and smoothed it out and announced she liked it and Stephen continued with it. When the film came out, directed by Brian De Palma, I was one of its biggest fans and still am. Thank God for Stephens wife.
Carrie is about an outcast girl with no father and a religious mother. A grim mother who seemingly sees no joy in life apart from preaching the Gospel. Carrie is humiliated by Mean Girls at High School and a female teacher steps in and helps her.
The teacher asks one of the most popular boys to ask Carrie to the Prom. He already has a girlfriend, Sue, and she readily agrees that her boyfriend follow the plan. She had been one of the girls that had helped humiliate Carrie and feels guilty about it.
Not so one of the other girls, and she devises her own plan to further humiliate Carrie. She ropes in some other teens and one is her boyfriend, played by a very young John Travolta. Handsome as all let out.
Unbeknownst to her and the others is that Carrie has the power of Telekenesis. The ability to move things with her mind. It's a dormant ability but the humiliation she suffers triggers the latent ability with enormous and terrifying power.
Carrie turns from the ugly duckling into a swan the night of the Prom. Her crazy Mother at first begs her not to go and starts scratching at herself to dissuade Carrie even further. Carrie, confident now with her hidden power ignores the mother and goes anyway.
I think Sissy Spacek was about 28 when she played the role of Carrie as a teen. And is perfectly believable as the teen Carrie. She was nominated for a best actress award by the Academy Awards for her portrayal, not her first nomination.
Carrie and her date are named Queen and King of the Prom and at the moment of Carries greatest triumph she suffers the greatest disaster. Once again being humiliated and laughed at.
The scene of Carrie wide eyed covered in blood descending from the stage clothed in her pretty white Prom Dress is a scene once seen can never been forgotten. As is the last shocking frame. The whole town is affected by Carries terrible revenge.
Her Mother is the final victim and at the moment as shocking as it is I was hard pressed not to break out in applause. Piper Laurie came out of retirement to play the role and she chewed up the scenery in her powerful Performance and was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Stephen had said Carries character was based on two girls at his own High School. One forced to wear dowdy clothes because of her religious mother. Stephen had met the mother once, when helping the girl in dowdy clothes take something to her house. He felt sorry for that particular girl and another " outsider" girl.
The combination of girls became Carrie, but he hated the character he had created, hated writing about her. Luckily he managed to put his personal repugnance aside and complete the story.
Stephen up to then, had only been published in magazines and yet had completed several novels.
Carrie was published with critical acclaim and the film rights were offered.
Stephen had to sit down when his agent rang him and told him the news.
In fact he had to get the agent to repeat the sum of money, offered as at first he thought the agent had said $40. His mind could not compute the real amount, $ 400,000.
He said it was Mothers Day and he had to rush out and buy his wife something, anything. The only place open a drug store and he bought her a hair dryer.
When she arrived home she was puzzled at the gift and Stephen told her the news. He said he hugged her and as he looked over her shoulder at their impoverished flat with its few sticks of furniture he was delighted at the change to come and also terrified.
He considered himself a humble Storyteller. Had wanted to write as it was his creative expression and most times it just comes spilling it out whether you like it or not. Usually a feeling that you want to share with others and get a pat on the head for doing so.
When I went back to education at 32 as a mature age student my first essay was read out to the class of mostly 18 year olds and one other mature age student. The mature age student that had talked me into and gained permission for me to go back and complete my Form 6.
For the rest of the year she didn't speak to me and talked some of the 18 year olds into not talking to me either. I would walk into a class and there would be dead silence. The English Teacher told me to take ten weeks off before the exams.
She said she had nothing else to teach me, but I think she felt sorry for me.
I turned up late for the exam and was almost not let in. But I knocked on the door of the closed examination room and they let me in. My eyes were streaming with tears from a heavy cold but I was determined to finish.
As I contemplated the papers in front of me my Legal Studies teacher, Ian Luck, dropped a note on my desk.
I knew what he was doing was wrong, but I opened the note anyway. Furtively under the desk.
I couldn't make sense of the words at first, I had to absorb them , let them wash over me.
" 87% on your last Option, !!! Well Done !"
I had up to mid year been marking just over 50% on Legal Options. However the most important Option was the last one, the one that would be marked, credited towards the end of year exams. Luckily it was not boring old Business Law but Criminal Law and the Appelate Courts and Jury System.
I still have that note. I looked down at the papers in front of me and flew through them.
The next year I saw the other mature age student at Sandown Railway Station. We couldn't ignore each other. It was crazy as I never used that Railway Station and I knew she lived miles away so it was very unlikely that we would meet up. Highly unusual.
I tried to pretend I didn't see her and she me but in the end I greeted her with a laconic,
" Hi "
She asked me if I had passed and I answered yes. I had marked high on the scale and was off to Teachers College.
She hadn't and was off to nowhere but a part time job.
I thought of the rotten way she had treated me just because I was good at English.
I had warned her before we went to School. Jealousy or envy was something I had faced before.
But then I thought, bugger it, when other kids were out playing I was always reading or writing. I did the work. The year I went back to School I had 4 teen girls and an arsehole of a workaholic husband who tried to run me over in the car when I told him I was going back to School. He was drunk.
So I looked her straight between the lamps and said,
" Shame you failed"
But in my heart I was saying
" Karma, Bitch "
I became Carrie that day.
Thanks Stephen King.
Just before I fell asleep last night, I had been reading a biography on Stephen King. I have always been a big fan of King and horror. I especially loved the character of Carrie and I have no idea why. The story just " spoke " to me.
It wasn't a story that Stephen had liked and at first draft he screwed it up and threw it in the bin.
His wife, Tabitha picked it out and smoothed it out and announced she liked it and Stephen continued with it. When the film came out, directed by Brian De Palma, I was one of its biggest fans and still am. Thank God for Stephens wife.
Carrie is about an outcast girl with no father and a religious mother. A grim mother who seemingly sees no joy in life apart from preaching the Gospel. Carrie is humiliated by Mean Girls at High School and a female teacher steps in and helps her.
The teacher asks one of the most popular boys to ask Carrie to the Prom. He already has a girlfriend, Sue, and she readily agrees that her boyfriend follow the plan. She had been one of the girls that had helped humiliate Carrie and feels guilty about it.
Not so one of the other girls, and she devises her own plan to further humiliate Carrie. She ropes in some other teens and one is her boyfriend, played by a very young John Travolta. Handsome as all let out.
Unbeknownst to her and the others is that Carrie has the power of Telekenesis. The ability to move things with her mind. It's a dormant ability but the humiliation she suffers triggers the latent ability with enormous and terrifying power.
Carrie turns from the ugly duckling into a swan the night of the Prom. Her crazy Mother at first begs her not to go and starts scratching at herself to dissuade Carrie even further. Carrie, confident now with her hidden power ignores the mother and goes anyway.
I think Sissy Spacek was about 28 when she played the role of Carrie as a teen. And is perfectly believable as the teen Carrie. She was nominated for a best actress award by the Academy Awards for her portrayal, not her first nomination.
Carrie and her date are named Queen and King of the Prom and at the moment of Carries greatest triumph she suffers the greatest disaster. Once again being humiliated and laughed at.
The scene of Carrie wide eyed covered in blood descending from the stage clothed in her pretty white Prom Dress is a scene once seen can never been forgotten. As is the last shocking frame. The whole town is affected by Carries terrible revenge.
Her Mother is the final victim and at the moment as shocking as it is I was hard pressed not to break out in applause. Piper Laurie came out of retirement to play the role and she chewed up the scenery in her powerful Performance and was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Stephen had said Carries character was based on two girls at his own High School. One forced to wear dowdy clothes because of her religious mother. Stephen had met the mother once, when helping the girl in dowdy clothes take something to her house. He felt sorry for that particular girl and another " outsider" girl.
The combination of girls became Carrie, but he hated the character he had created, hated writing about her. Luckily he managed to put his personal repugnance aside and complete the story.
Stephen up to then, had only been published in magazines and yet had completed several novels.
Carrie was published with critical acclaim and the film rights were offered.
Stephen had to sit down when his agent rang him and told him the news.
In fact he had to get the agent to repeat the sum of money, offered as at first he thought the agent had said $40. His mind could not compute the real amount, $ 400,000.
He said it was Mothers Day and he had to rush out and buy his wife something, anything. The only place open a drug store and he bought her a hair dryer.
When she arrived home she was puzzled at the gift and Stephen told her the news. He said he hugged her and as he looked over her shoulder at their impoverished flat with its few sticks of furniture he was delighted at the change to come and also terrified.
He considered himself a humble Storyteller. Had wanted to write as it was his creative expression and most times it just comes spilling it out whether you like it or not. Usually a feeling that you want to share with others and get a pat on the head for doing so.
When I went back to education at 32 as a mature age student my first essay was read out to the class of mostly 18 year olds and one other mature age student. The mature age student that had talked me into and gained permission for me to go back and complete my Form 6.
For the rest of the year she didn't speak to me and talked some of the 18 year olds into not talking to me either. I would walk into a class and there would be dead silence. The English Teacher told me to take ten weeks off before the exams.
She said she had nothing else to teach me, but I think she felt sorry for me.
I turned up late for the exam and was almost not let in. But I knocked on the door of the closed examination room and they let me in. My eyes were streaming with tears from a heavy cold but I was determined to finish.
As I contemplated the papers in front of me my Legal Studies teacher, Ian Luck, dropped a note on my desk.
I knew what he was doing was wrong, but I opened the note anyway. Furtively under the desk.
I couldn't make sense of the words at first, I had to absorb them , let them wash over me.
" 87% on your last Option, !!! Well Done !"
I had up to mid year been marking just over 50% on Legal Options. However the most important Option was the last one, the one that would be marked, credited towards the end of year exams. Luckily it was not boring old Business Law but Criminal Law and the Appelate Courts and Jury System.
I still have that note. I looked down at the papers in front of me and flew through them.
The next year I saw the other mature age student at Sandown Railway Station. We couldn't ignore each other. It was crazy as I never used that Railway Station and I knew she lived miles away so it was very unlikely that we would meet up. Highly unusual.
I tried to pretend I didn't see her and she me but in the end I greeted her with a laconic,
" Hi "
She asked me if I had passed and I answered yes. I had marked high on the scale and was off to Teachers College.
She hadn't and was off to nowhere but a part time job.
I thought of the rotten way she had treated me just because I was good at English.
I had warned her before we went to School. Jealousy or envy was something I had faced before.
But then I thought, bugger it, when other kids were out playing I was always reading or writing. I did the work. The year I went back to School I had 4 teen girls and an arsehole of a workaholic husband who tried to run me over in the car when I told him I was going back to School. He was drunk.
So I looked her straight between the lamps and said,
" Shame you failed"
But in my heart I was saying
" Karma, Bitch "
I became Carrie that day.
Thanks Stephen King.
