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The films do not force us to recognise and challenge our biases. We do not see ourselves in the bullies, who are humans, for better or worse -- as represented best by Sue Snell and Chris Hargensen. We do not see ourselves as being capable of what these teenagers did to Carrie, because their insults seem comedic and far-fetched to us, parody beyond relatability: Sissy Spacek and Chloe Grace Moretz do not elicit any implicit revulsion in us. They are thin, and beautiful, and the bullies' motivations in harassing them are outlandish and superficial beyond empathy.

However, if Carrie were to be kept fat, the audience would finally be forced to look inward and to recognise the ugliness in themselves that is instilled by societal norms. Instinctually, society rejects fat, unattractive women. Carrie, were she to remain as she was in the book, would elicit the same reaction from general audiences as she does from her classmates at school.

No longer would people be able to distance themselves from their own disdain for women and girls like Carrie by sitting safely behind the absurdity that is an attractive female lead being ridiculed for their appearance. They too would exist as Miss Desjardin did in the novel: sympathetic, pitying, but ultimately put off by Carrie, solely because she does not fit the requirements of modern, aesthetic womanhood.

People would finally be forced to reconcile that with themselves. How much more resonant would Carrie's retribution be if audiences finally felt the full impact of its being directed at themselves just as much as it is directed toward the ill-fated prom attendees? How important of a discussion could it have inspired even back in the 70s?

Even still, Hollywood is too scared to fully sit audiences before a mirror. Even still, we are unable to accept the lessons a novel like Carrie offers without having its protagonist altered nearly beyond recognition. How long will it be before we are able to portray the tragedy of Carrie with all of its nuances intact? How long before we are able to feel the sting of injustice just as sharply when a protagonist is fat as we do when a pretty and thin protagonist is injured?