Awesome / Carrie

aka: Carrie 1976

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Novel

• Ms. Desjardin slamming Chris into a locker.
• The principal and vice-principal not only ensure Chris is punished for her actions but also deliver a legal slap to her father's face when he actually attempts to sue them for suspending his daughter by threatening to file a countersuit on behalf of Carrie. The principal also makes special mention of Chris's numerous cases of harassing misfit students.
  • Even though the vice-principal can't get Carrie's name right, he stands up for her anyway.
• Carrie first getting her mother to back off, long before she's able to control her powers. She threatens "I'll make the stones come again, Momma!" - remembering the incident when she was three. It's enough to make Margaret stop in her tracks.
• Minor one for Carrie but when she first arrives at the prom, she gets a good snarky line on Norma by quipping "I'm Don McLean's secret lover" - and her inner narration goes 'so that's what you look like when a joke is played on you'.
• Sue went through a Trauma Conga Line in one night, and to top it all off is blamed for it. What is her response? She maintains her innocence and writes a book about the experience, mainly to protect Tommy's good name.

1976 film

• Ms. Collins slapping the shit out of Chris was pretty awesome, considering how much of a bitch she is.
  • Even better, Chris tries to get people to side with her, but they don't even care, as proved when Sue tells her to shut up. It shows that Chris herself wasn't as popular as she thought she was.
    Chris: SHE CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS IF WE ALL STICK TOGETHER! NORMA? ...Helen? SUE!?
    Sue: Shut up, Chris. Just shut up.
• Mrs. Snell defending her daughter when Margaret rants about the sinful ways of the young - "My Sue is a good girl" - and she says it with badass politeness that makes Margaret immediately change the subject.
• Carrie showing her powers to her abusive mother for the first time. "Things are gonna change around here..."
• Chris and Billy's demise — it's quite satisfying to see their attempt to run down Carrie backfire when she topples their car, then blows it up for good measure.
• The prom scene on the whole, despite being Nightmare Fuel for most, is pretty great to watch on a cinematic/artistic level.
• Nancy Allen also managed to turn up on the last day of auditions, not even sure if she'd be seen, and got the role of Chris.
• Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie ensured that this film was Out of the Ghetto and got Oscar nominations for their performances. That still rarely happens in horror films.
• The famous "Figure-8" shot in which the camera seemingly effortlessly glides around the crowded prom to follow the whole process of rigging the votes, followed by rising over the stage to reveal the blood bucket before zooming back in on Carrie where it started, all in one take in what the cinematographer described as easily one of the hardest things he ever did in his career.

2002 film

• Sue's consistent Nerves of Steel when being interrogated. She maintains her innocence and explains the situation as honestly as possible; well, except for the part where she saved Carrie's life and is hiding her because Carrie would either be arrested, committed, or sent to a weird science lab where her powers would be studied. When the investigators learn that Sue was innocent, they apologize to her.
• When a random Jerk Jock embarrasses Carrie by making fun of her crush on Tommy in front of him, he stands up for her by throwing a book at his face, breaking his nose.
• The scene with Mr. Morton has an added Adaptational Badass moment for Carrie. Instead of just telekinetically flipping an ashtray off the table when her name is said wrong, she moves the whole table itself across the room.
• Miss Desjardin's calling out of the girls for the shower incident. She actually throws a whole duffel bag's amount of tampons at them, then gives them a serious verbal lashing for how they treated Carrie.
  Miss Desjardin: I want you all to know what you did on Friday was a really nasty thing. Did you stop to think that Carrie White might have feelings? Do any of you ever stop to think?! Sue? Helen? Tina? Oh, you think she's ugly, don't you? Well, you're ugly. I saw just how ugly all of you are Friday morning!
  Chris: You can't talk to us like this, my dad's a lawyer!
  Miss Desjardin: Shut up! Open your mouth one more time… and I'll plug you up.
  • Desjardin does a masterful job of lulling the girls into a false sense of security. First she comes in acting like a Cool Teacher who is going to let them out of softball so they can decorate their prom dresses, right before the tampons start flying. Then, while she's clearly furious that the administration vetoed her preferred punishment of three days suspension and banning them from the prom, the girls' relieved reactions are cut short when she reveals that she is going to be running the detention.
• There's also Miss Desjardin still getting away with hitting Chris without actually hitting her (she slapped her in the book and original film but wouldn't be possible in the 2000s) - shoving her against the locker. Chris tries to protest that she can't hit her students, Miss Desjardin gives her an icy "I barely touched you" that's practically daring the little sociopath to claim she was hit and see who believes her.
• The school officials, who not only ensure Chris is punished for her actions but also deliver a legal slap to her father's face when he actually attempts to sue them for suspending his daughter by threatening to file a countersuit on behalf of Carrie. The school official also makes special mention of Chris's numerous cases of harassing students.
• After the blood is poured - in contrast to the book, where everyone is laughing - Helen does not find it funny at all. She smacks Kenny for laughing at Carrie and immediately goes onto the stage to see if she's alright. She's also seen trying to move Tommy's body off the stage during the initial rampage.
  • Also when Tina sarcastically says "good luck" to Carrie during the voting, Helen gives her a Death Glare that warns her not to say anything else.
  • In fact, it's revealed that, while Carrie thinks everyone is laughing at her, in reality, it's only a select few. Everyone else is horrified, and rightfully so.
• Tina getting a dose of Laser-Guided Karma. When people are trying to escape through the doors, she slaps a couple out of the way clearly trying to save herself. Cue basketball hoop coming loose and putting a stop to her.
• Miss Desjardin manages to keep her head during the prom destruction and rallies a few people to get out through the air vents. She also alerts people to get off the flooded floors when she sees that Carrie is planning to throw live wires into the water.
• Angela Bettis's performance of Carrie deserves lots of praise, as she had the hard task of following Sissy Spacek's Oscar-nominated turn in the 1976 version. She herself was a fan of the book and original film and gave a grand performance that many think is equal to Sissy Spacek's - and some even find better.
• Sue has witnessed the destruction on prom night, including the death of her boyfriend. She follows Carrie to her house, seeing a dead body on the floor and another one seemingly in the tub; Sue pulls out Carrie, administers CPR, and revives her. She also gets a fistful of Carrie's thoughts, learning that she wasn't in control of her actions during the rampage. How does Sue respond? By hiding Carrie, lying to the cops, and giving her a solution: move to another state under an assumed name. She also reassures Carrie that what happened wasn't her fault because she lost control. Unlike practically every version, this one has hope that Carrie will recover from what she did, and what happened to her.

2013 film

• Miss Desjardin shutting the lawsuit threat right down by just mentioning the YouTube video Chris took of the prank. She goes on to state that if said video is on Chris's phone, they'll have proof that she posted it, which is more than enough to justify the punishment the school is meting out. Chris's refusal to give them her phone is treated as proof she's guilty.
  • Miss Desjardin passive aggressively calling out Chris at the beginning of her "The Reason You Suck" Speech to all those involved with the shower incident is just as good.
    Miss Desjardin: (talking about prom dates) What about you, Chris? Who’s the lucky guy?
    Chris: Billy Nolan. You don’t know him, he doesn’t go to this school.
    Miss Desjardin: Are you gonna get him a boutonnière? Or are you just gonna pin a bloody tampon to his lapel?
• Tommy calling the English teacher an asshole for being rude to Carrie.
  Tommy: Asshole.
  [entire class turns to look at him in shock]
  English Teacher: Excuse me, Mr. Ross, did you say something?
  Tommy: I said awesome. I just thought what Carrie read was awesome. Didn't you, Mr. Ulmann?
• The prom scene amps up the destruction to truly sublime levels, the least of which is the Perfect-Cell style shockwave which sent the stadium of bullies flying that opened Carrie's rampage.
  • Also what made Carrie snap: the fact that Chris killed Tommy. In most versions, Carrie hates the prank and the laughing. Here, it's that the only kid who was nice to her died. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
  • Carrie causing Tina's dress to catch fire, not long after she posted the locker room video for the whole class to see.
  • Carrie's razing the prom in general. Unlike the other versions, Carrie isn't in near-catatonic shock. She's fully aware and consciously kicking ass.
  • While it was horrific as well, Carrie giving the twins Nicki and Lizzy their comeuppance - if you believe they too were in on the prank, which they were in the original script (when the video plays, one of the twins can be seen looking excited as if she was expecting it). If you think about it, being subjected to horrific and drawn-out torture (being held down on the floor while everyone tramples them to death) that no one bothers to help them from is quite fitting karma for what they did to her.
• The little showdown between Carrie against Chris and Billy, as Carrie literally tears the road apart to stop their escape and tosses them around like ragdolls while they were in their car. Chris tries to get a villainous one when Billy is killed by trying to kill Carrie again, but the crowning moment goes back to Carrie when she smashes Chris's face through the windshield (rather accidentally since it was a move in self-defense) before throwing her into gas station tanks.
• The final act can easily be called Carrie Meets Dragon Ball Z; and that's quite a fine compliment for a remake.
• Carrie calling out her mother for straight-up inventing Bible passages to suit her agenda while Margaret rants at her.
  Carrie: (talking over Margaret) Mama, that's not even in the Bible! It doesn't say that anywhere.
• A student named George survives the prom... despite the fact that he was not only caught right in the middle of the destruction but stayed behind to herd everyone else out. He doesn't leave until everyone else has had a chance to escape. That is one brave kid. However, in the Director’s Cut, George doesn’t survive the prom and is impaled by star decorations, but the fact that he sacrificed himself to save his classmates speaks volumes.
• During the prom disaster, Sue immediately calls 911 on her phone and tells the operator that there was an explosion. The authorities are seen there shortly after Carrie has left, so Sue's quick thinking may have saved several lives.

Stage musical

• Carrie showing her powers to her mother for the first time.
  Carrie: (in the midst of an argument with Margaret) Momma, come back here!
  Margaret: The rain's coming in... I have to close the windows.
  Carrie: I'LL GET THEM! (she slams the windows shut, one by one, with her mind, scaring the crap out of her mother)
  • And while Margaret of course goes into a God-fearing panic, Carrie calmly sits back down and finishes her dinner. End of act one.
• Carrie's Hope Spot in "Why Not Me".
  And I know it's only a dance
  And I know it's only one night
  But this might be the start of my journey
  Out of the shadows and into the light.
• "The Destruction", which is a song just after the blood gets dumped on Carrie. On the revival's soundtrack, Carrie's actress's singing had been good, but nothing spectacular. Then, in this song, she belts out: "Doesn't anybody think that I hear?!", and just like that, you know why they cast this girl.
  • In the original version, this song has a reprise of "And Eve Was Weak", making the number show more of Carrie's rage and Sanity Slippage.

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