Stephen Kingis one of the most prolific and renowned names in horror, with dozens of film and television adaptations of his work since the 1970s. The first to adapt one of King’s books wasBrian de Palma, who brought King’s debut novel,Carrie,to the silver screen in 1976, going on to become a horror classic. One of the latest directors to bring a number of King’s books to life isMike Flanagan, who has proven through his adaptations ofGerald’s Game,Doctor Sleep, and the highly anticipatedThe Life of Chuck,that he’s the best modern horror director to adapt the material of the literary horror icon.
For his next project, Flanagan will try his hand atadaptingCarrieas a limited seriesrather than a film, as announced in October 2024. Though Flanagan had the chance to bring something different to the table by simply incorporating one of the most important details from the novel, the recentcasting ofSummer H. Howellin the lead role follows a disappointing trend inCarrieadaptations. In the novel, Carrie White is described as being an overweight teenage girl with acne, but the three actresses who have played her in the past —Sissy Spacek,Angela Bettis, andChloë Grace Moretz— have all been thin, conventionally attractive actresses with clear skin. With his upcoming series,Flanagan had the chance to diverge from this trend and honor an important detail of the bookthat has been consistently left out of its adaptations, but he has unfortunately already followed suit.
Every ‘Carrie’ Adaptation Has Left Out an Important Detail From the Novel
In all three existingCarrieadaptations, thetitular anti-heroine has been portrayed by actresses who look significantly different from the way Carrie White is described in the book.In the first chapter of Stephen King’s novel, Carrie is described as being “a chunky girl with pimples on her neck and back and buttocks, her wet hair completely without color.” She stands out from the other girls at her school, like “a frog among swans,” and even Carrie’s gym teacher, Miss Desjardin, describes her as a “fat, whiny bag of lard” whom she enjoyed slapping across the face while she was bleeding in the locker room.
In this first scene, Carrie is harassed by her peers when she gets her period for the first time in the locker room showers. This sends her into a panic because herdevoutly religious mothernever taught her anything about her menstrual cycle, leading her to believe something was seriously wrong with her, with none of the other female students extending any empathy towards her. In the novel,the students of Ewen High School bully Carrie not only because she’s shy and awkward, but also because of her weight and perceived ugliness, though this element of fatphobia has been completely left out of its film adaptations.
Carrie White’s Appearance Has Not Been Accurately Represented
InBrian de Palma’s film, which is considered among the very best adaptation of King’s novel alongsideStanley Kubrick’sThe Shining, Carrie is played by Sissy Spacek, who gives an incredible performance and became one of the few actresses to benominated for an Oscar for a lead role in a horror film. Thin and conventionally beautiful, Spacek’s appearance inCarrieis a far cry from the way the character is physically described in the novel, and the same can be said of Angela Bettis in the2002 adaptationand Chloë Grace Moretz in the 2013 version. This insistence on casting thin actresses to play Carrie White could be chalked up to the common trend of adaptational attractiveness, when a character from a book described as being unattractive in some way is played by a more conventionally attractive actor.
Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ Series Finds Its Sue Snell in a ‘Resident Evil’ Star
The adaptation of the Stephen King classic is now underway.
With his upcomingCarrieseries, Flanagan had a chance to deviate from this trend by casting an actress who more closely aligns with Carrie’s physical appearance in the book. However, the recent casting announcement shows this detail will be tossed aside once again. ThoughHereditary’sMilly Shapirowas rumored to play Carrie, the role ultimately went to Summer H. Howell, who, notably, looks a bit like Spacek herself. Howell already has experience in the horror genre, and Flanagan is known for spotlighting remarkablechild and young adult actorsthroughout his filmography, so she was clearly cast for good reason. However,the fact that Carrie will be played by yet another actress whose looks do not match the way she’s described in the novel means this extremely salient detail from the book will continue to be left out.
Mike Flanagan Already Missed an Opportunity to Honor This Book Detail in
By casting another thin, conventionally beautiful actress to play Carrie, Flanagan misses the chance to incorporate an essential part of Carrie’s characterization into his adaptation. In the novel, Carrie’s weight in particular is a major part of why she’s bullied by her peers, with her tormentors demeaning her for her looks and comparing her to animals, like a frog and, most notably, a pig, which is ultimatelywhat prompts them to dump a bucket of specifically pig’s blood on her head.When Chris and her boyfriend Billy plan a cruel prank on Carrie during prom, they break into a farm to kill and drain the blood of a pig to do so. In the book, this detail is intentional, with Billy thinking to himself,“Pig’s blood for a pig.”
The vicious fatphobia and misogyny that motivates the relentless harassment inflicted upon Carrie by her fellow students are integral to the overall plot and the most iconic scene from both the novel and its film adaptations. Continuing to exclude such a major detail regarding Carrie’s physical appearance weakens the overall impact of her violent revenge in the end.Tormented by her motherat home and her peers at school over aspects of herself that she has no control over, the dumping of pig’s blood on her head, a nod to her weight, pushes her to her breaking point. Though Flanagan is one of thebest horror directorsworking today, who will undoubtedly bring his own flair to this classic story,failing to cast a plus-sized actress for the role is already a missed opportunity to incorporate something different into an onscreen depiction of Carrie White.
