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Message: <blockquote data-quote="A Nightmare on Jimmy Todd Street" data-source="post: 376608" data-attributes="member: 3926">I just rewatched some scenes from the 1976 version of Stephen King's Carrie and found a few clips that compared scenes from the original and the two remakes. I read the book and saw the original over 40 years ago, and I was thinking about the fascination with this movie, both my own and apparently the general public, with two remakes, a sequel of sorts and a notions musical. The original movie still holds up, imho, because of its strong performances which included one of my favorite actors, Sissy Spacek. There's also a wonderfully tense buildup to the climax. The movie takes its time to get there, which makes Carrie's revenge that much more intense.  I'm wondering if a large  part of the fascination with this movie is the cathartic nature of it. The bad people get their comeuppance, which so rarely seems to happen in real life. Everybody faces the consequences  of the bullying and alienation that Carrie endured over the course of her life. Even those who didn't directly do anything to her but just accepted it as the status quo didn't escape unscathed.    One scene that really conveys the idea of justice finally being served, with the emphasis being on finally, is when Chris, the o.g.  mean girl talks back to the gym teacher.  The teacher is sticking up for Carrie, gives the girls a two week calisthenics heavy detention for their cruel actions toward Carrie, and is trying to get it through to them just how malicious their behavior was. Chris stops in the middle of the punishment, confronts the teacher and with that obnoxious, "I  can get away with anything" smug entitlement tells her to stick her punishment where the sun don't shine. Of course, this is where today adults, teachers etc would be advised to let her get away with so they don't get sued or to speak calmly and rationally to her. The teacher disregards all of this and slaps the callous entitlement off her face.  This scene resonates just as much today as it did back then, maybe more so, because its so good to see a "bad guy get what they deserve."  No teacher should hit a student, but symbolically it's a great catharsis to see such people really face some consequences.  Then there's the prom scene in which Carrie unleashes years of rage and Chris and her boyfriend really face consequences.      Stephen King has said he thinks the initial fascination with Carrie and The Exorcist is that it tapped into a subconscious fear of female empowerment as well as the fear of the early 1970s youth movement.  In today's world in which people are afraid of being sued or "canceled " to the extent so many don't want to speak out against bad or erroneous behavior and the usual rich and powerful people getting away with everything the movie is almost a big, "Screw it, ALL you b****** and b******* are getting what you deserve. Finally!"    I had just witnessed some blatant corruption at work yesterday and I'm wondering of my subconscious was leading me to watch clips of the movie for this reason   Anyone else find this movie fascinating, and do you have a preference among the three versions?</blockquote>

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