Rita Desjardin

Miss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King in his first published 1974 horror novel, Carrie. In the 1976 film adaptation, the character was renamed Miss Collins and portrayed by Betty Buckley. In the 2002 and 2013 versions, she was played by Rena Sofer and Judy Greer. She was renamed Miss Lynn Gardner in the musical and portrayed by Darlene Love (1988), and Carmen Cusack (2012) and Ashleigh Murray (who also played Josie McCoy) in the 2018 television special episode of Riverdale.[1]

Rita Desjardin
Betty Buckley as "Miss Collins" in the original 1976 film
First appearanceCarrie (1974)
Created byStephen King
Portrayed by
In-universe information
GenderFemale
OccupationPE teacher

Novel

As the story begins, Miss Desjardin secretly feels the same disgust everyone at Ewen High School feels for Carrie White, believing Carrie to be a religious fanatic like Carrie's mother, Margaret. However, when she witnesses Carrie being humiliated by the other girls in the locker room after gym class for her reaction to her first period, she realizes that it is the girl’s first menstruation and that Carrie is oblivious to what is happening to her; Desjardin feels sorry for Carrie, and wonders why Margaret never taught her about it. Desjardin wants to punish the girls who taunted Carrie by having them suspended for three days and banned from the upcoming senior prom, but the principal settles on a lesser punishment: a week of boot-camp style detention in the gym. In Desjardin's view, the only reason the administrators didn't go along with her proposed punishment is that they are all men (unaware that they are all intimidated by Chris' father, a prominent lawyer), and thus didn't really understand just how nasty the girls' behavior had been. Lead bully Christine “Chris” Hargensen defiantly skips the detention and thus is banned from attending the prom. The principal reprimands Desjardin for cursing at Chris, but stands by her when Chris' father threatens to sue the school unless Chris is allowed to attend the prom, which would cause Desjardin being fired from her job. Meanwhile, Sue Snell, another girl who participated in the locker room incident, feels remorse for her actions and asks her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom to make amends.

At the prom, Desjardin talks with Carrie about her own prom night and later, congratulates her for being voted Prom Queen. As revenge for being banned from prom, Chris has secretly rigged a cord connected to two buckets hidden above the stage where Carrie and Tommy will sit on the thrones. When Chris pulls the cord, both of the buckets tip over, drenching them both with pigs' blood. Desjardin reflexively responds to the prank by laughing. However, she later tries to help Carrie, who pushes her aside with her telekinesis, because she telepathically sees that deep down Desjardin is still laughing at her. Once outside, Carrie uses her telekinetic abilities to wreak havoc on the school with the intention of killing everyone in the gymnasium. She then destroys the entire town on the way home. Desjardin is one of the few survivors of the "Black Prom".

Two weeks after the disaster, and with 440 people dead, Desjardin retires from teaching, saying she is consumed with guilt for not doing more to help Carrie and that she would rather commit suicide than ever teach again. She also implies in her resignation letter that she feels guilty for having laughed at Carrie like everyone else instead of helping or comforting her.

Adaptations

1976 film

In the 1976 film version of the novel, the character is named Miss Collins and portrayed by Betty Buckley. Unlike the character in the book, Miss Collins does not first experience revulsion toward Carrie, as she is suggesting in the beginning that the students pass the ball to Carrie in their volleyball game. After the locker room incident, she also punishes the girls, and when Chris argues with her during detention, Miss Collins slaps her and makes the infuriated Chris skip detention, thus being banned from prom. She becomes more sympathetic and attempts to help Carrie overcome her awkwardness when she realized Tommy asked her to prom, and reprimanded him and Sue for trying to do so.

After Carrie uses her powers to wreak havoc on the school, Miss Collins is seen trying to move the unconscious Tommy, along with another teacher and three students. Carrie pulls her across the floor and pins her against the wall. Carrie then smashes a basketball rafter into her, killing her.

2002 film

In the 2002 version, Rita "Desjarden" is portrayed by Rena Sofer.[2] After finding out that Chris and her top henchwoman, Tina Blake, compounded Carrie's locker-room humiliation by vandalizing her locker and filling it with tampons, an angry Desjarden hurls a bag full of tampons at them the next day. She then announces that they've been sentenced to a week of detention, telling that skipping the punishment would result in three days' suspension and banishment from the prom. Chris, refusing to take her punishment, storms out. The principal reprimands Desjarden for this, but stands by her when Chris's father threatens with a lawsuit unless Desjarden is fired.

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: the pretty, popular 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 dead Tommy and leads an escape through an air vent (rather than the fire doors, as in the book). She is the last one to leave the gym and is nearly electrocuted, but survives and reports the events to Detective John Mulcahey (David Keith), revealing her conclusion by denouncing Carrie the perpetrator behind the destruction.

2013 film

In the 2013 version, Desjardin is played by Judy Greer. As in previous film portrayals, she sympathizes with Carrie and tries to help her. Desjardin is spared from Carrie's wrath during the prom as she was the only one who wasn't laughing at Carrie and tried to help clean her up. She uses her telekinesis to throw Desjardin out of the way of falling electrical wires. Desjardin is last seen with her arm in a sling, telling Sue that Tommy is dead.

Performers

Musical

In Carrie: The Musical, Miss Desjardin becomes Miss Gardner, 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 Gardner becomes much more sympathetic toward Carrie and even sings "Unsuspecting Hearts" with her to get her to accept Tommy's prom invitation. Miss Gardner was a chaperone at the prom, and died in Carrie's onslaught. She was portrayed by Darlene Love in the Stratford-on-Avon and Broadway production of the musical.[3]

In the 2012 revival, she was portrayed by Carmen Cusack.

Other media

The television series Riverdale, featured an episode based on the musical, "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember", with series star Ashleigh Murray, who played Josie McCoy as Gardner.[1]

References
  1. Stack, Tim (January 24, 2018). "The Riverdale cast will sing in an adaptation of Carrie: The Musical". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  2. HK and Cult Film News's Fan Box 26 October 2012
  3. Carrie... A Fan's Site: Overview of Carrie the musical
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