Mike Flanagan’s “Carrie”
By Ollie Mainguy
Staff Writer
“Carrie,” the infamous first novel by Stephen King, was originally published in 1974. Since its conception, there have been three "successful" movie adaptations. This year, Mike Flanagan has decided to tackle the challenge. Flanagan has previously adapted books into “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” and “The Haunting of Hill House,” both of which can be seen on Netflix. Both shows quickly became household horror classics to watch when the autumn air set in. Flanagan’s adaptation of “Carrie” debuted on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 7 with eight episodes. This is the first time “Carrie” has ever been conceptualized in the form of a mini-series. The series expands on “Carrie” through a lens of social media - after all, the series is set in the present day. Social media has taken the forefront in this adaptation and I was excited to see that put on the screen. The famous moments that have traumatized people for generations in the novel have been imagined in a new way. Carrie White, played wonderfully by Summer H. Howell, is the main character who the series and novel are so aptly named after. She is a sheltered teenager with no true knowledge of the outside world. Carrie is naive. She has no idea what high school is really like - she doesn’t even know what a tampon is. She is traumatized very early on in the adaptation following a tragic accident at her father’s construction site that leads to his untimely demise. After years of homeschooling, Carrie is forced into public school for the first time in her life. She is forced into the real world for the first time ever and finally realizes what her peers are really like. Carrie begins to understand that not everyone is a good person - she understands that sometimes, people have a motive. “Carrie” through the eyes of Flanagan is something truly unlike anything that has been seen before. Flanagan relies on the new and the present - he relies on the modern bullying tactics seen all over America today. Carrie is made to be the butt of every joke by her main aggressor - Chris Hargensen. Chris Hargensen is featured as the main bully of Carrie and is played wonderfully by the actress Alison Thornton. Thornton’s performance of Hargensen makes you hate her more than I ever thought possible. Hargensen creates an Instagram account under the name of ‘CarrieRed_’ which features various assaults and humiliating events, but it all starts with Carrie’s humiliation. The infamous scene at the beginning of “Carrie” is shown through a new lens, because this time it is being filmed. Imagine getting your period for the very first time and it shows up on the internet. Well, that’s what happens to Carrie White. Following this tragic moment at the very beginning of the series and novel, Carrie starts to realize things about herself and the world around her. She has to combat bullies at school, her grief-stricken mother at home, and a religious guilt that hangs over her head constantly. Carrie starts to develop telekinetic powers that she is able to use against the evils around her, which ultimately ends with the iconic scene of the pig blood being dropped on her head as she is crowned prom queen. The final culmination of Carrie’s rage emerges in that moment and all of the bullying and trauma she has had to endure comes out in a burst of fire and blood. Overall, this adaptation was wonderfully done. It expanded the story in a new way, allowing audiences to experience “Carrie” in more than a one-and-a-half hour period. Audiences were able to get to know the characters and their depths better through the expansion of a mini-series rather than a movie. While the series was realistically book accurate, there was one thing that adaptations have never been able to get right: her weight. Carrie White has always been played by a conventionally attractive, fairly skinny actress. Carrie is not supposed to be that way, according to King, and maybe one day, some director will take on the challenge of a book-accurate Carrie, but I guess Flanagan wasn’t up to the task this time.
