Miss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by American author

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

in his first published 1974 horror novel '' Carrie''. In the 1976 film adaptation, the character was renamed Miss Collins and portrayed by

Betty Buckley Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Olivier Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the American ...

. In the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

versions, she was played by

Rena Sofer Renas may refer to: Places *Rena, Badajoz, a municipality in Extremadura, Spain *Rena, Norway, a village in Innlandet county, Norway *Rena, Washington, a community in Clallam County, Washington, United States People *Rena (given name), list of pe ...

and Judy Greer, respectively. She was renamed Miss Lynn Gardner in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

and portrayed by

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist. She began singing as a child with her ...

(1988) and

Carmen Cusack Carmen Cusack (born April 25, 1971) is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour, and Melbourne productions of the musical ''Wicked'' and for originating the roles of Ali ...

(2012).

Novel

As the story begins, Miss Desjardin secretly feels the same disgust everyone at Ewen High School feels for

Carrie White Carrietta Nadine White is the title character and protagonist of American author Stephen King's first published 1974 horror novel, '' Carrie''. In every adaptation and portrayal of ''Carrie'', she is portrayed as a high school outcast, bullie ...

, believing Carrie to be a religious fanatic like Carrie's mother

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

. However, when she sees Carrie being humiliated by the other girls in the locker room after gym class for her reaction to her

first period First Period is an American architecture style in the time period between approximately 1626 and 1725, used by British colonists during the earliest English settlements in United States, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia and later in ...

, 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 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. He also refuses to fire Desjardin. 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 late, congratulates her for being voted prom queen. As revenge for being banned from prom, Chris secretly has 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 Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

because she

telepathically Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

sees that deep down Desjardin still is 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 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

. Unlike the character in the book, Miss Collins does not first experience revulsion toward Carrie. After the locker room incident, she 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 realizes Tommy asked Carrie to prom, Miss Collins reprimands 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

. After finding out that Chris and 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 will result in three days' suspension and banishment from the prom. Chris, refusing to take her punishment, storms out. The principal reprimands Desjarden, but stands by her when Chris's father threatens 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 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

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 as 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

(1976;

theatrical film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

(as Miss Collins)) *

(1988;

) *

(2002;

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

(as Miss Desjarden)) *

(2012; musical) * Judy Greer (2013;

) *

Ashleigh Murray Ashleigh Monique Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She portrayed Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the band Josie and the Pussycats, on the CW television series '' Riverdale''. Murray reprised this role in the '' R ...

(2018; '' Riverdale: A Night to Remember'' (as

Josie McCoy ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (initially published as ''She's Josie'' and ''Josie'') is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, o ...

and Miss Gardner))

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

in the Stratford-on-Avon and Broadway production of the musical.Carrie... A Fan's Site: Overview of Carrie the musical
/ref> In the 2012 revival, she was portrayed by

Other media

The television series '' Riverdale'', featured an episode based on the musical " Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember", with series star

, who played

as Gardner.

References

External links

Miss Collins on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desjardin, Rita Stephen King characters Female characters in literature Fictional schoolteachers Female horror film characters Literary characters introduced in 1974 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Carrie (franchise)