Comparing and
contrasting the book
and the films based on
King's novel
Stephanie Gauntt
Ansley Nolan
Meagan Nix
Background
Information
Carrie
• Written by Stephen King
• Published in 1974
• King's first published novel (even
though it wasn't the first book he'd written)
• One of the most frequently banned
books in United States schools
Carrie (1976)
• Came out November 3, 1976
• Original film based on the novel by
Stephen King
• Drama/Horror/Thriller
• Carrie White played by Sissy Spacek
Carrie (2002)
• Not a remake of the 1976 film
• Originlly intended to be a pilot for
a T.V. series where Carrie lives and
moves to Flordia to help others with
TK problems
• NBC scratched the idea due to poor
ratings
• Carrie White played by Angela
Bettis
• Follows the novel more than the
original film
Differences in
the Novel and
Films
What was different about the book
and the 1976 film version?
Quite a bit actually ...
1. The P.E. teacher has a different name. In the novel she is
Miss Desjardin, however, in the film she is named Miss
Collins.
2. Where is Chris Hargensen's father? He played a big role in
the novel when he tried to get this daughter out of trouble
after the shower scene. He is not shown or mentioned in the
film at all.
3. There is really no sexual content in the film as there was in
the novel.
4. Sue asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom in a different
location.
5. Instead of staying at home while Tommy and Carrie are at
the prom, Sue leaves her house during dinner to go to the
prom and see how things are going. Miss Collins throws her
out after she sees her.
6. Carrie doesn't kill nearly as many people as she does in the
novel
What was different about the book
and the 1976 film version? cont...
7. Carrie seems to have a mother/daughter relationship with
Miss Collins in the movie, but this is not realy played upon in the
novel.
8. Carrie kills her mother, Margaret White, differently. In the
book she stops her heart, but in the movie she does more of a
crucifixion using knives.
9. Carrie dies differently as well. In the novel, she dies due to
blood loss, shock, coronary occulsion and/or coronary
thrombosis, but in the movie she dies from the house caving in
on her.
10. Sue was with Carrie in the book when she died, but she was
not in the movie.
11. Margaret is more talkative in the film.
12. The book is more of a documentary, but the movie is
firsthand actually happening
13. Carrie doesn't really show her feelings for Tommy in the book, but
in the movie she shows more interest
14. In this film version, the stone incident is not recounted. The
film does not look back to the child Carrie as the novel did.
What was different between the book
and the 2002 version of Carrie?
1.Sue Snell was played by an African-American girl.
2. There is not really any sexual content like what is
present in the book.
3. The girls from the locker room/shower scene stuffed
Carrie's locker with tampons, and the whole school
yelled at her in the hallway.
4.The stones incident is portrayed as meteors raining
down, not stones.
5.Carrie reads a teen magazine in her praying closet
and hides it where her mother can't find it.
6.Carrie ends up living at the end; Sue finds her after
her mother tried to drown her and takes her away
from their hometown.
7.People seem to die more from being electrocuted
instead of just being burned to death in the gym.
Carrie White vs. Carrie White
• There are differences in the character of Carrie in the
book and the movies.
In the book:
-Carrie is characterized
as a heavy girl.
-Carrie has pimples on
her neck, back, and
buttocks.
-Carrie is animalistic.
In the movie(s):
-Carrie is played by
skinny girls.
-There is no sign of the
acne.
-Carrie is still compared to
an animal, but she is not
animalistic.
• In the movie, Carrie is made to be more aesthetically
pleasing. She is more "Hollywood."
• She is an outcast in both of the movies and in the novel,
but in the novel, she seems less socially
awkward. Seeing the way she acts around people on film
makes her seem even more strange.
Analysis
Religion
• Religion is a central theme in the book and both films.
• Margaret is religion crazy, and forces this on her
daughter and on the townspeople.
• Margaret's death is like a crucifixion, and she resembles
the Jesus that is portrayed on the crucifix that hangs on
the wall in the first movie. Her appearance even looks
like Jesus.
• Margaret tells Carrie that starting her period was a sign
of sin. She then makes Carrie quote religously about
Eve.
• Margaret forces Carrie into a small closet to pray when
she deems that Carrie has sinned. It is almost like
Margaret is God, but she is sinning without realizing it.
• Religion is life to Margaret. Without religion or extreme
religion like hers, she has no idea what to do.
• Margaret tells Carrie she should have given her to the
Lord when she found out she was pregnant after
participating in the sin known as intercourse.
The Color Red
• The color red is present, in some way, when
"bad" things happen in the book and movies.
• Carrie starts her period, which is blood and
therefore, red. With the start of her period,
there comes the misuse of her power.
• Margaret's hair is red and she is a montrous
human being.
• The pig blood is the core of the prank Chris
and Billy carry out, which ends tragically.
• Carrie's mother described her dress as red
even though it was Pink, and she is wearing
the dress when everything goes awry.
• Carrie reeks havoc on the prom, while
completely drenched in the pig blood.
Sexuality and Power
• Sue and Chris both use sex to manipulate
their boyfriends.
• Sue uses her power over Tommy to convince
him to take Carrie to the Prom.
• Chris starts sleeping with Billy to make him
do what she wants him to, but she does not
know that he also has power over her. She
will not do the "prank" if he is not there. She
needs him to do the dirty work.
• Carrie starts her period, which in a way marks
her sexual female beginning. This is also the
time her power peaks. She starts becoming
more aware of her sexuality and her TK.
Women
• The pig blood is from female pigs.
• As discussed in class, the body of a woman is
complicated, and giving the TK power to a
young woman makes it and the
character harder to understand.
• Margaret is portrayed as an overwhelming
woman in the novel, which contributes to her
power; but, in the films, she looks like an
average woman, yet she still has great power
over her daughter.
• Once Carrie gets her TK under control, she tells
her mother, who has been in complete
control, that things are going to change around
their household, and she proceeds to show this
to her.
Closure
In Stephen King's novel, the reader is able to get a
better picture of who Carrie White is. In the movies,
mostly only what she does wrong with her TK is
shown. The second movie does follow the novel better,
but neither go in depth of her life. Carrie expresses to
her mother in both films that she just wants a chance
at being normal and hanging out with normal
people. Margaret is also portrayed in a worse way in
the novel. In the movies, it shows Margaret holding
her daughter, but this does not happen in the
book. She never shows any feeling besides hatred
toward her daughter. In Hollywood, it is easier to show
a monstrous mother that cares at some point, so it is
easy to see why the movies were this way.