Why wasn't Carrie White homeschooled?

At the time it was written homeschooling was pretty much unheard of.

Getting her period when she was 36 wrecked the movie for me. Nothing else was believable.

You buy right into telekenisis but the fact that she isnt homeschooled is what bothers you.

R1 bullshit. I was born around the time of Carrie and I knew of 3-4 kids who were home schooled.

and R4? that wasn't my experience. I knew of no kids homeschooled in 1974 when the book came out. This isn't an argument. Calm down.

Margaret White was a busy career woman!

So since R5 didnt know anyone homeschooled, they were unheard of.

Because if she didn’t go to public school, there wouldn’t be a prom night or any of the stuff involving the other students that led up to it.

Why are you queens so ridiculous?

And Spacek was 26, not 36, R2.

R7 That is DL logic for ya. Because one psychopath shit turd gay on here thinks it, ALL gay men believe it, do it, whatever. They really are psychotic.

Margaret turned tricks on the side (with Carrie's prayer closet often functioning as a BDSM dungeon for her customers) so the house needed to be totally empty before noon.

Stephen King's novel came out in 1974 and Brian De Palma's film version was released in 1976. The big fundamentalist revival that included homeschooling as part of its agenda didn't really take off until the Reagan era.

R5 and R7 are obviously bored and looking for any argument to latch onto.

R11 is right

[quote] The big fundamentalist revival that included homeschooling as part of its agenda didn't really take off until the Reagan era.

But was Margaret really a fundie? In the film their house was full of statues and paintings with Marian iconography which were obviously of catholic nature.

Margaret was a fucking lunatic who probably decided that no church or denomination was righteous enough for her so she created her own. I doubt she cared much for the Papists.

Weren't they poor, living off Social Security survivor benefits? That lazy fucking bitch Margaret refused to work and wanted to go around bothering nice ladies like Mrs. Snell, who was only trying to enjoy a 3 PM cocktail in peace.

I think Margaret White got by sewing didn't she? I think she worked for a tailor and took in some side work. I don't think she could get SS since Mr. White just up and left to go drinking and whoring.

Did they have homeschooling back in the 70s?

Not accorrding to R1.

and you'll notice R19 that R1 said "pretty much" so he never said "not at all". Reading comprehension is everything.

Another thing was legally enforced busing didn’t happen until the early to mid 70s, which resulted in the establishment of lots of Christian Academies and home schooling as a reaction of Whites to the thought that their children might have to go to school with Blacks, or even worse be bussed to a Black school. I don’t recall, were there even students of color in the background of movie, it seems very white in memory?

No r13, r10 is right.

Margaret White was a stone cold heau.

If Margaret turned tricks, she would've rented out Carrie's dirty pillows.

R8 has the best answer -There's no story if she doesn't go to school. That said, R1 is correct. Homeschooling existed in some states, but very much as a fringe alternative that, in 1974 raised an eyebrow in the "what the fuck is that" mode, which would have been followed by "why the fuck" once you explained it. I'm a teacher, and worked through the period where homeschooling started to rise. It wasn't legal everywhere, and in most places parents still had to justify the decision -more often on special needs basis than simple religion (parochial schools have always been around). It took off in the late 80s with the rise of Reaganesque entitled yuppies who, once they got the right to keep the kiddies home and teach them only what they wanted them to know, then turned around and sued their local school districts for their children's right to play on school sports teams and be members of school clubs -even though they weren't enrolled. At my school a boy on the football team got bumped off the squad when a homeschooler sued to get on it. He had missed team tryouts because he hadn't heard they were going on, and the court sided with him that his rights were violated. Naturally, the parents of the boy who was bumped from the team sued the school as well... Today it's a case of "do whatever the fuck you want" for homeschoolers. They sit in on band, orchestra, art, computer programming, etc. Anything fun or expensive to do at home. But then they go home to their parent-set curriculum. Meanwhile, they local school district pays the bills.

I am OBVIOUSLY very biased, but I think homeschooling is a real cause (and symptom) of what is wrong with America these days. Everyone feels entitled to having everything just they way they want it, with no obligation to deal with other people's needs. I've had a lot of former homeschoolers in my classroom over the years. They usually read well, as in sounding things out fluently, but have low comprehension skills -especially with informational text. Their math skills are strong in calculation, but low in reasoning/problem solving. Usually they have no science understanding, and very biased views of history. If I could, I would ban the whole thing except in rare cases of extreme physical or psychological need. Right now parents are enraged that their kids are being deprived of ESSENTIAL interaction with peers at school, saying that the kids can't possibly learn as well at home. Seems it's always about what they want right now...

Because if she was home schooled, no book.

r24 summed it up nicely. At the time and place where Carrie is set, homeschooling would have been nearly impossible legally for someone like Margaret White, who couldn't produce any education credentials.

Did any of you know crazy Jesus freak mothers like her in the 70s?

Does Carrie have a history off going to vacation bible camp in the book?

Are we gonna just gloss over the fact that R2 thinks 36 year old women dont have periods?

I did have a Carrie-esque friend in high school. Her mother was a total Jesus freak. No make up (obviously). Hair always pulled back in a pony tail. Calico dresses and thick socks. She looked like one the Waltons. Not allowed to attend school parties or sporting events, or to join any clubs. Had to carry her Bible around with her at all times. Dating? Get real!

I saw her at a reunion decades later, and she was very together and quite beautiful. Lots of guys hitting on her who used to tease her mercilessly.

We had some very fundie freaky types at my school in the mid-80s--long hair, long skirts, etc. Homeschooling just wasn't a thing back then.

I loved Carrie at the prom. So pretty. Ginger-pink-red, such a killer colour combination. Who knew?

R2 Spacek was in her mid-twenties when the film released.

R30 And then she released her powers and killed them all!

I think that’s interesting that every class kind of had a Carrie White. In my grade is was a very sweet girl named Jannelle Nisely, whose father was a professor at Messiah College in our town, which is still to this day one of the most oppressively religious campuses in the US, especially remarkable for not being in the south.

She wore homemade dresses and at times I think a bonnet like thing on her head. She was very smart and well liked, though I don’t think she could ever go to school events or birthday parties. Interestingly, she was someone who had a very pronounced case of Anorexia, it was the early 1980s., but it had nothing to do with fashion and being attractive. I think it was because she had no control in her very structured religious life and it was the only way she could do something of her own accord by controlling her body. Obviously, it would have also stopped her period, so that may have been part of it too, a way to keep “clean.”

Jannelle went to nursing school near home, I think she commuted and got a job at a hospital nearby as well. Driving home on the Friday of her first week she died in a horrific car accident on the interstate about a mile from her home that was particularly deadly. Two other of my classmates died on the same road within miles of each other in separate accidents. It was so sad, she spent her whole life living for and doing what others wanted her to do and never for herself. I have little doubt that she was a virgin when she died. So sad, maybe she would have broken away from all that and had a chance at an amazing life. Or there is always the possibility that she saw what hell her life would be and sweared into that tractor trailer on purpose.

Tragic, R35. If she'd lived a little longer, she might have realized that as a nurse she could get a job almost anywhere, and she'd have broken away from her awful family.

[quote]At the time it was written homeschooling was pretty much unheard of.

Quite true. You might as well ask why Margaret White wasn't a mommy-blogger.

I should have killed myself after the first time Ralph put it in me.

As mentioned, homeschooling during that time was rare-- the homeschool curriculm would eventually get its inspiration from Southern "Christian Academies" that sprung up around that time after intergration. Maybe Carrie's mother, with all her faults, wasnt a racist? Or maybe she couldn't afford the church's $1,000 a month tuition for Carrie to sit in a trailer and learn about how Jesus says blacks and whites need to be separate.

If I'm not mistaken, there is usually some requirement of standards by the government; if you choose to homeschool your kids, you are required to show progress in the basics. I don't think Carrie's mom could've even handled that, she was waaaay down the "creepy fundie" rabbit hole.

Remember, despite having a cabinet member for Education, much of it is controlled on the state level, so homeschooling guidelines will vary considerably.

In the novel, Margaret worked at a laundry establishment I think, so she was there for most of the day to make money. I suppose that, just because the De Palma film doesn't show it, it could have still happened. We never really see her in the daytime except for her first introduction with Mrs. Snell as she's peddling her wares, so maybe she'd just gotten off work.

If I'm remembering correctly, the remake with Julianne Moore had Margaret working at a dry cleaners and they allude to the fact that she had been homeschooling Carrie for years until she couldn't anymore for one reason or another. I can't remember if they got into it or not and made me wish they hadn't even brought it up at all.

Speaking of Margaret White and the Snell mother, any idea what she's drinking in this scene?

Also, having never read the book, where is this story supposed to take place? I assume Maine because all of King's novels take place there, but Margaret White seems to have a vaguely southern accent.

On the DVD documentary they joke about all those candles in the White house. They come to the conclusion that Margaret must have stolen those from various churches around the city, since she was much too poor to afford them.

Those sinners didn't DESERVE those candles of the Lord!

[quote] This isn't an argument. Calm down.

Are you out of your mind?

Night Train, R43.

The only thing that bothers me about this movie is at the end, when the Doctor is talking to the Snell mother, and tells her that Sue is still young enough, and with time she'll forget all about it.

WTF? Even watching this movie as a child I thought this was absurd. The damn movie stays in my mind, let alone living through something like that.

She looked too old to be in high school.

Here's a newsflash, R43-people can move.

The novel was set in Maine.

R43, that scene seems so Southern gothic, yet being from a King novel of course you think its maybe Maine, yet in a twisted DePalma world it could even be *gasp* California.

I should correct myself in that Christian Academies aren't necessarily Southern by chance; whenever integration happened, evangelicalism rose up to demand a status quo.

Also R43, it looks like a very flat vodka soda.

Eleven states don’t even require you to register to homeschool – just don’t show up and everything’s fine (AK, CT, IA, ID, IL, IN, MI, MO, NJ, OK, TX). The ones in light blue on this map basically ‘only’ require you to register and make up whatever you want to tell them about what you plan to teach – and that’s it.

BTW, homeschooling was kind of a thing back in the 1960s, among hippies, who ignored the laws. Before that, rich people always could hire a private tutor (e.g., Victoria Winters in "Dark Shadows" was Roger's son's tutor and he was homeschooled - the show ran in the 1960s) - I'm pretty sure Prince Charles and his siblings were all "homeschooled" up to a point - they made a big deal about putting Charles' sons into schools with other children when they were small. And all previous royals as well, and plenty of the nobility - wasn't Jane Eyre a private tutor?

My memory is fuzzy - but I think the Prussians lost some war in the 1870s and decided it was because their troops were undisciplined. So they (Bismarck?) invented compulsory classroom schooling to make sure next time their soldiers knew how to take orders and behave (the point of the whole thing).

Massachusetts was the first US state to require compulsory schooling: "Massachusetts Passes the Nation's First Compulsory Education Law. In 1852, the Bay State began requiring children between the ages of 8 and 14 attend school. By 1918, every other state had passed similar legislation."

We can blame Kindergarten on those fastidious Germans too.

* I think I'm off on the decade, it was earlier than the 1870s when the Russians said we better whip these boys into shape. I guess before that, a lot of them were like Trump's grandpa Friedrich and not dependable at all.

*shit, not Russians - Prussians - why did they have nearly the same name?

Carrie and Margaret really did seem more like southern bible beaters to me, but De Palma was raised Catholic so be brought that aspect into the movie as well which makes it seem like Margaret just took elements from every denomination and made up her own crazy version of Christianity.

I always wondered if maybe Piper Laurie met Sissy Spacek before they began shooting and she decided to give Margaret the southern accent to match Sissy or if it was planned by De Palma all along. Spacek can definitely lose her accent when she wants to, so it's not like that wasn't an option. It gives them a nice outsider quality in the film with everyone else mostly having fairly flat American accents.

R51, there's a scene where Carrie is walking through a sunny, suburban, tree-lined street that made me think the film could have taken place on Laurie Strode's block in the original Halloween.

Margaret would be a front runner for GQP state office right now.

Give Steven King a break OP. It was his first book. His later works were much more believable.

The character of Carrie in the book is based on a couple of girls King went to school with, one of whom had a religious freak of a mother like Carrie (the other I think had a gambling addict mother or something). So, it clearly wasn't out of the norm for a fundie mother to still send her daughter to school.

Margaret was a stone cold ho. You know she was showing her dirty pillows and taking DPs up the arse.

POW! Two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis, came together, and I had an idea …

Before I had completed two pages, ghosts of my own began to intrude; the ghosts of two girls, both dead, who eventually combined to become Carrie White. I will call one of them Tina White and the other Sandra Irving.

Tina went to Durham Elementary School with me. There is a goat in every class, the kid who is always left without a chair in musical chairs, the one who winds up wearing the KICK ME HARD sign, the one who stands at the end of the pecking order. This was Tina. Not because she was stupid (she wasn't), and not because her family was peculiar (it was) but because she wore the same clothes to school every day.

Sandra Irving lived about a mile-and-a-half from the house where I grew up. Mrs Irving hired me one day to help her move some furniture … I was struck by the crucifix hanging in the living room, over the Irving couch. If such a gigantic icon had fallen when the two of them were watching TV, the person it fell on would almost certainly have been killed.

Just about every show or movie in the 70s had actors playing highschoolers who were in their mid-late 20s. Weren't all those daughters on Eight is Enough in their 40s, all still sharing a bedroom? Oh well, it was the 70s. We didn't need things to be hyper-realistic.

It was a big deal in 1968 when Zefferelli cast actual teenagers in Romeo and Juliet.

[quote] Ginger-pink-red, such a killer colour combination. Who knew?

"All reds match" was a great piece of sartorial advice I heard years ago, and it's pretty true. You'd never think pink and orange would match so well, for example, until you see it.

Those glam bitches Tom and Lorenzo did a great analysis of Carrie's prom outfit.

[quote]Bear in mind that DePalma ensured that the entire prom scene had a rising tension level, and the audience remains well aware that something awful is going to happen to her. It’s impossible to be happy for her, even as she’s happy; impossible not to be vaguely unsettled by her sudden beauty, knowing how precarious her self-worth is and how potentially dangerous it can be for anyone to challenge it at this moment. Again: if Spacek had a trendy disco dress or plucked eyebrows or a more showy style of hair or makeup, it would have detracted from the work this scene was doing. The shampoo-ad simplicity of her look, in the context of the darkness of the film, is practically begging to be ruined.

"Margaret White was a busy career woman!"

Me too. Someone's gotta be a God Warrior!- Marguerite Perrin

How did Carrie's mom afford to pay the bills, food and upkeep of the house?

R29 It meant that she got her first period when she looked 36, you fucking moron. God, I hate Janbot. She brings down the curve into minus millions.

Just because we don't see Margaret at work in the movie doesn't mean she doesn't have a job, R70. Must everything be spelled out for you?

I could see Margaret working in a Christian bookstore or selling Precious Moments figurines.

[quote]But was Margaret really a fundie? In the film their house was full of statues and paintings with Marian iconography which were obviously of catholic nature.

R14, there is such a thing as fundamentalist Catholics.

But I've never read the novel 'Carrie', so I don't know how accurate to the book is the DePalma depiction of Margaret White. I have noticed from the rest of the body of his work that Stephen King has never really grasped the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism, so that one often finds 'catholicisms' turning up in his Protestant depictions.

I think homeschooling started to gain traction after the Time Magazine article in the 80s about how Grant Colfax (currently Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and gay) was accepted to Harvard after being homeschooled. And the Colfax family also appeared on Phil Donahue.