Carrie is a classic horror-meets-coming-of-age flick, and it incorporates a wide range of themes, from menstruation to bullying to domestic violence to religiosity.  Stephen King has fallen from favor over the years, but a number of his works have stood the test of time.  Carrie is one of those gems.

Of the films I’ve watched for our Halloween Movie Marathon, Carrie has been the most frightening, and also the most deeply tragic.

Carrie is the story of a high school senior (Carrie White) who is outcast by her peers largely as a result of her strict religious upbringing.  Her mother makes the rounds to visit the parents of her classmates in an attempt to convert them, and when Carrie has her first period (a traumatic locker room experience) her mother punishes her for the sin she has committed.  Taken under the wing of her gym teacher, Miss Collins and asked to prom as an act of charity, things momentarily look up for the young woman until a terrible prank at the prom (dumping pigs blood on her after she “won” prom queen – surely another jab at the locker room incident) unleashes Carrie’s telekinetic rage on the community.

Even in this brief synopsis we can glimpse the following themes: the dangers of female sexuality and sexual development, domestic violence, questions about charity and outreach, and religiosity. 

The danger of female sexuality, as in many “classic” horror films, is a primary theme in Carrie.  Her telekinetic powers first manifest, as far as we know, with her menarche.  Knowing nothing about her sexual anatomy, Carrie (Sissy Spacek) believes she is dying and has a breakdown in the locker room.  Her classmates are less than sympathetic, tossing tampons and pads at her while chanting “plug it up!”  When Carrie tells her mother what happened she is punished, forced to repent for her sins, beat, and dragged into a closet to pray.  This is only our first glimpse of her mother’s radical religiosity, as well as loathing of female sexuality and her daughter, whom she refers to as a result of sin.  Her mother refers to her breasts as “dirty pillows” and is outraged at the idea of Carrie going to prom with a date.  Anything to do with sexual development or sexuality is clearly forbidden in the household.

Carrie’s mother is frequently physically and constantly emotionally abusive to her daughter.  Carrie is beaten often as punishment for her “sins,” but after the manifestation of her powers Carrie finally defends herself.  Towards the end of the film we discover that Carrie’s father, who is absent in the film, was both physically and likely sexually abusive to her mother, as well as alcohol dependent.  Beyond the white family, there is a great deal of mutual verbal abuse in the relationship between queen bee Chris and her boyfriend Billy (John Travolta), as well as physical abuse from Billy to Chris.  With the exception of Sue and Tommy, there is nary a healthy relationship to be seen.

Sue seems to be the only student in the locker room to take mercy on Carrie, and is driven to charitably donate her boyfriend, Tommy, to Carrie for the prom.  Carrie liked Tommy’s poem in English class, but is of course overwhelmed by his invitation to take her to prom (and with a mother like hers, who wouldn’t be).  Eventually Carrie relents and agreed to go with Tommy to get him off her front porch before her mother sees him.  Although her agreement was reluctant, Carrie seems to enjoy herself at the prom, and Tommy’s gestures seem genuine – he honestly wants to show her a good time.  However, as with Miss Collins, Sue and Tommy’s good intentions may be more damaging to Carrie than they could have imagined.  When Miss Collins punishes Carrie’s gym classmates, alpha female Chris is barred from the prom, sending her on a mission for revenge.  Likewise, Sue and Tommy’s attempt at kindness towards Carrie put her right in Chris’s crosshairs on prom night.  Even after the story is over, Sue dreams about visiting Carrie’s grave and as she places flowers for the deceased Carrie’s bloody hand reaches out menacingly and grabs her wrist.

After Carrie’s public humiliation and destructive rage at the prom, she returns home to wash up and seek comfort from her mother.  However, her mother is lying in wait for her with a butcher’s knife, screaming about how Carrie has been taken over by the devil and was conceived in sin.  She stabs her daughter in the back, but before she can finish her off Carrie defends herself, sending an array of kitchen utensils at her mother, symbolically crucifying her.  Mrs. White demonstrated an obsession with physically punishment throughout the film, and this seems like a fitting end for her.  In fact, the scene of her death is filled with stereotypical “orgasmic” moaning, but in this case it might be authentic.  Carrie’s mother’s constant need for punishment and suffering is ultimately fulfilled in her death, whereby she finally pays for her own sin of bringing Carrie into the world.

Throughout the film red is a significant color.  It’s likely no coincidence that Carrie’s last name is White – representing purity and innocence.  Carrie is pure and naive until marred by blood.  From the moment in the shower on, her life is different.  She is fearful of her peers, suspicious of the motives of those around her, and unable to trust even her own mother.  As the movie progresses, more and more red items or red lighting take the screen: Carrie’s hair is strawberry blonde, her mother rages about her “red” dress for the prom despite it’s pale pink hue (here is another example of Mrs. White’s extreme purity), the lights at the prom are red (especially after Carrie’s rage), the blood that’s dumped is (obviously) red, the young woman in the crowd who not only did the dirty deed of rigging the prom election but leads the laughter at Carrie’s expense wears a red baseball cap (even with her ballgown), and the car in which Chris and Billy attempt to make their getaway and run down Carrie (only to be rolled and blown up) is red.

Periods can be a pain, but who knew menstruation could be so destructive?  Perhaps this is the result of a male interpretation of female coming-of-age.  Or perhaps its just an interesting plot device for one of the most resilient horror films of all time.  You be the judge.