Chris and Ms. Collins

I agree that no one is helping Carrie at the point we're actually introduced to the story but I think Miss Collin's and Sue's subsequent behaviour after the opening scenes are to make them feel better about themselves as opposed to being superior to others, although the end result may be just that, I don't think that's what drives them. They genuinely feel they are doing the right thing, but in actuality they are serving only themselves and in fact making the situation worse as a result. I don't think those characters are being consciously honest with themselves. Miss Collins, though, is a catalyst in Carrie gaining confidence and "nerve" later on to defy her mother and attend the prom with Tommy.

Aspects of the characters' motivations and psychology that aren't fully explored in the brief runtime, mean that we are sometimes left to rely on certain lines of dialogue to fill in some gaps. Like you pointed out originally with the prom conversation between Miss Collins and Carrie, we learn more about Miss Collins if we care to take note, and in the same way, we learn more about Carrie's previous school life. I think the evidence of prior bullying at the high school comes from Miss Collins herself, when she says to the school principal that "Carrie has always been their scapegoat, you know?" So we know that it has been bad for Carrie.

The reaction of the girls at the loss of the volley ball game I feel is a lot more vicious than it would have been should it have been one of "their own" that messed up. We just get to see that the "first time" serious punishment that has been doled out has stopped the girls' previous behaviour and, like you say, Carrie is pretty much left alone at this point to go about her business after that. I don't think that indicates there has been no real bullying going on. But again, I was reminded of the book where the Helen Shyres's character says to Sue after the punishment that "She (Carrie) hasn't made any friends out of all this you know."

I had nasty teachers too. It wasn't most of them, but there were a couple who clearly wanted favour with the elite "in crowd" and would do and say what they thought would gain them that favour and popularity with said students. It seems part of the human condition so-to-speak and so, yes, teachers are just human too. But it doesn't excuse any of it. It just helps to explain it. We all ultimately want acceptance which is the biggest theme of the story overall IMO.

I totally agree that Chris is an abused girl too. Bullies most often are. Not in a peer based school setting maybe, but most definitely outside of that and most likely at home. As a result, these individuals are often the most misunderstood. I agree totally that there are parallels between Carrie and Chris. Carrie is used to being abused by people and hit by her mother and Chris is used to being hit by boyfriends and now teachers. No mention of Chris's parents is ever made in the film. So again, we have to fill in gaps and assume/imagine.

In any case, they have more in common than what is seen from just a surface viewing of the film. That's the thing about this film. It works very well at face value or just on the surface with a very simple and brisk narrative. But, there are multi layers (as there are in other movies too) if we care to explore them and that is what makes the film work even better for me.