Do We Really Need Another "Carrie," Darlings???????????

                                                   ",,,,then he put his filthy hands all over me,
                                                      and I liked it! I LIKED IT!!!!!!!!!"
                                                     ---Margaret White, in "Carrie," by Stephen
                                                       King

                      Oh, brother!  We have to go through this again????????????

                       Statistically speaking, it is said that "The Bible" and Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" (whether  or not you count the musical!!!!!!!!!!) are the two most filmed properties in Hollywood history.

                         Well, lambs, I am telling you, "Carrie" is creeping up to a close third!!!!!!!!!!!

                           I feel like I am all "Carrie"-d out.  Especially since I also saw the not too successful Off
Broadway reworking of the musical, a year or two back, at the Lortel!!!!!!!!!

                             Now, who doesn't like seeing the have-alls from high school get theirs?????  It is what those of us who were not live for!!!!!!!!. And the closer you are to those years, "Carrie" resonates tremendously.  But the more removed one becomes, what does it matter, in the long run????????????

                               From my generation on, everyone has grown up, so to speak, with "Carrie," so that even pre-high schoolers--hell, even elementary students!!!!!--know the drill!  They all know about the prom,
the nutso mother, the blood and carnage that ensues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                So, what is the point of doing it again????????????????

                                To think it is being done by director Kimberly Pierce, who, 14 years ago, did the film I refuse to sit through a second time--1999's "Boys Don't Cry!!!!!!!!!"  Interesting choice, so let's see what she can do with it.  Then there is the casting of Julianne Moore as Margaret.  Though she's toning the glamour thing down a bit, my God, she is Julianne Moore, so will it actually work?  Even more interesting is this connection--Patricia Clarkson played a much more understated Margaret in the 2002 made for TV remake, with Angela Bettis as Carrie. And both Patricia and Julianne were in "Far From Heaven!"  Hmmmmmmmm.......

                               But in the end, it's the same story cycle--taunt, retaliate, avenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, in this age where bullying is at least being discussed out in the open, unlike 1976,or my day, when it was not,  how fresh an approach can one take to a story that is so prescribed by nature of how it was written in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                And, of course, girls, you know I am going to be there, to see how it is all pulled  off!!!!!!!!  I doubt Julianne will camp it up, like Piper Laurie!  Hers was a classic performance!  I am sure the special effects will be state of the art.   But how many times can "Carrie's" story be churned out????????

                                 Let's hope it doesn't curdle, like rancid butter!  But I have my doubts!!!!!!!!!!

                                  See you at the prom, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In my designer gown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!