Monday, February 22, 2010

Female Villains in Horror: Carrie White

Poor Cassie..
Whoops! I mean Carrie...



That darn telekinesis will get you in trouble every time.

Carrie White was a meek, socially apprehensive misfit who unfortunately had some special powers. And nothing to do with radioactive spiders or mutated genes. Moving things with your mind isn't exactly cool unless you're cool too. And Carrie White...not so much.



Her mom is a religious nut job who locks her away in a closet when she thinks she needs some Jesus-time and says she's cursed because she got her period (yeah, aren't we all?).



Carrie is relentlessly ridiculed by her peers at school and so she's pretty confused when one of the best looking, most popular guys in school asks her to the senior prom.
[I was pretty baffled as well - in my opinion William Katt (Tommy) isn't exactly anything to write home about.]



Her mother warns her "They're all gonna laugh at you!" about a hundred times, and pretty much forbids her to go to prom, but Carrie, with a new found confidence, ignores her and sets out anyway. And at first, everything is simply dreamy!! Little does she know all her new "friends" rigged the prom queen contest so she would win. For obvious reasons.


I think everyone knows how Carrie wigged out at the prom after the pig's blood was dumped all over her. And at that point in the film, we wanted Carrie to take her revenge. We couldn't wait to see those assholes pay. The burning of the school (and everyone inside) and subsequent murders of her other tormenters gives anybody who's ever been teased, humiliated, laughed at or made a fool of some hope that fate will indeed intervene.



Sadly, after everything that happens, Carrie decides taking her own life is the optimal solution, so when her telekinesis causes her house to crumble around her, she makes the ultimate choice.



But damn if she didn't look terrifying on that stage, dripping in blood and working her magic.
And the joy of that final scene....priceless.



*Buy it here.


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4 comments:

The Shitty Astrologer said...

Where most evil women slip into unforgivable territory, I retain a soft spot for Carrie...all those people that taunted her had it coming anyway, up to and including her mother!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree with the astologer.

Anon said...

For your information, Carrie isn't a villain just 'cause she's not your typical girl. Instead, she's a misunderstood anti-hero who I can relate to due to my being bullied by more than one of my classmates and my dad. Therefore, I agree with the Astrologer and Anonymous.

The people who hate Carrie are small-minded hypocrites who can't get past her being different from them. And I can't stand people who mistreat others for being different.

Why in the world would you call the final scene of the first Carrie movie priceless? Are you supporting Carrie for burning in hell? If so, shame on you!

I'm glad that she got revenge on her torturers, which is I wish that I did to my torturers.

If you ask me, Carrie doesn't deserve to burn in hell for goin' out of control. I'd reward her for retaliating by taking her to paradise if I'm a god.

Christine Hadden said...

Anon:

Did you even READ the actual post here or just go off on your tangent?
I quote: "I think everyone knows how Carrie wigged out at the prom after the pig's blood was dumped all over her. And at that point in the film, we wanted Carrie to take her revenge. We couldn't wait to see those assholes pay. The burning of the school (and everyone inside) and subsequent murders of her other tormenters gives anybody who's ever been teased, humiliated, laughed at or made a fool of some hope that fate will indeed intervene."

Hello??

And I called the last scene priceless because it IS priceless! It's one of the best - if not THE best - jump scare endings in horror. It's terrifying. But it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting Carrie to burn in hell. Give me a break.

I'm sorry about your past and the people who wronged you, but you really didn't get the point of this post at all. Most horror fans LOVE Carrie White, myself included. She IS an anti-hero, yes. But like May who came after her, she still killed people. Hence the title, villain.

Thanks for reading.