Rita Desjardin

Miss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by Stephen King for his horror novel Carrie. In the film versions, she was portrayed by Betty Buckley (renamed Miss Collins) and Rena Sofer. She was portrayed in the musical by Darlene Love (renamed Miss Gardener).

Novel

In the book, she at first feels the same disgust everyone feels for Carrie White, but when she witnesses Carrie being humiliated by the other girls in the locker room after gym class for her hysterical reaction at her first period, she feels sorry for her and takes her side. She wants to punish the girls that taunted her by having them suspended and barred from the Spring Ball, but the principal orders only detentions; the lead bully Chris Hargensen skips the detention and is barred from the prom.

At the prom, she talks with Carrie about her own prom night (she was several inches taller than her date and felt awkward, but remembers it as a beautiful event) and later, congratulates her for being voted Prom Queen. Chris has rigged a cord connected to two buckets above Carrie and Tommy, and pulls it when they ascend the stage, drenching them with pigs' blood. Miss Desjardin runs to help Carrie, who pushes her aside with her telekinesis. Once outside, Carrie uses her gift to wreak havoc on the school, then leaves for home, destroying everything she passes. Miss Desjardin is one of the few survivors of the "Black Prom". One month after the catastrophe, she resigns from teaching, saying she is consumed with guilt for not doing more to help Carrie, and that she would rather commit suicide than teach again.

1976 film

In the 1976 version of the novel, Miss Desjardin is renamed Miss Collins, portrayed by Betty Buckley. As in the book, Miss Collins first experiences revultion toward Carrie, but after the locker room incident, becomes sympathetic and attempts to help Carrie overcome her awkwardness and connect with other students. During the prom, Miss Collins is trying to move the unconscious Tommy, along with another teacher and three students, when Carrie (who believes she was laughing at her) pulls her across the floor and impales her by pinning her against the wall and slamming a basketball rafter into her, crushing her pelvis and stomach area. Notably in this version, the story she tells Carrie about her prom experience differs from the novel when she tells her that her date was the captain of the basketball team who was 6'7" tall, instead of being extremely short as in the novel, and the downside of her experience was from her having to walk a few miles to the prom wearing 3 inch spike heels when her date's truck broke down.

1988 musical

In Carrie - The Musical, Miss Desjardin becomes Miss Gardener, a composite of the gym teacher and the principal. She opens the show with the song "In" where she orders the girl PE students to "Work, work, work, work!" After the "Shower Scene" Miss Gardener becomes much more sympathetic toward Carrie and even sings "Unsuspecting Hearts" with her to get her to accept Tommy's prom invitation. Miss Gardener was a chaperone at the prom, and died in Carrie's onslaught. When Carrie is attacked with the blood, Carrie imagines Miss Gardener laughing at her so Carrie takes her revenge on her and she is killed along with everyone else. Along with Tommy Ross, Carrie begins to realise what terror she has created which prompts her to calm down after she kills Miss Gardener. She was portrayed by Darlene Love in both the Stratford-on-Avon and Broadway production of the musical.

2002 film

In the 2002 version, she is portrayed by Rena Sofer (although her name is spelled "Desjarden"). At the prom, she talks to Carrie about her own prom date -- in this version, she says her date carried a fake gun to imitate James Bond but he ended up arrested. As a result she remained alone at the prom until her father came and took her home. She also tells Carrie that things change, and not always for the best: good-looking girls will be fat, cute boys will be bald, and the miserable ones might have a happy life. When Carrie begins destroying the gym telekinetically, in revenge for being drenched in pigs' blood, Miss Desjarden sends two students to carry the unconscious Tommy and leads an escape through a vent (rather than the fire doors, as in the book). She is the last one to leave and is nearly electrocuted, but survives, and reports the events to Detective John Mulcahey (David Keith), revealing her realization that Carrie had telekinetic powers.

External links

• Miss Collins on IMDb