Born from the cruelty of menstrual embarrassment and sexual suppression, Carrie captures the cinematic thrill of unconstrained female rage. Adapted from horror extraordinaire Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the film outlines Carrie’s descent into a monster, but upon further glance, can one really blame her?
Raised by an unwaveringly religious mother, Carrie spent her adolescence in ignorance with regards to her body – so much so that when she gets her first period in her high school gym class, she feels that she is dying. Her classmates throwing tampons and screaming at her to “PLUG IT UP” is a thinly veiled mouthpiece for all the societal standards that seek to subdue all things inherently feminine. After this traumatic incident however, Carrie begins to realize that shaking off her shame and shyness has given rise to telepathic powers. Despite this satisfying discovery, Carrie is unable to keep these abilities in control when upset, and the movie leaves off with her school dance bloodbath and subsequent suicide.
Carrie is a story about mothers and daughters, about the power of a free woman, and most importantly – the patriarchal fears of a woman in control of her own body. Her mother regarding her period as sinful reinforces an age-old belief of women being intrinsically wicked (think back to Adam and Eve!). Further, the exigence of the novel offers a deeper look into the feminist connotations of Carrie’s story. Though generally liberal nowadays, Stephen King’s motivations for writing her fanatical chronicle are not as pure as one may think. When asked why he decided to, he admitted it was about,
“…what men fear about women and women’s sexuality. Writing the book in 1973 and only three years out of college, I was fully aware of what Women’s Liberation implied for me and others of my sex. The book is, in its more adult implications, an uneasy masculine shrinking from a future of female equality”
With this in mind, Carrie’s demise is a slap in the face to the gender equality movement as a whole. Why is it that as soon as she began to feel in control of her body and wielding it for her own motivations rather than others, she was immediately punished? It reinforces what every woman is born knowing – that the men around her will only respect her if he is in the driver’s seat. That to feel connected to your sexuality is a dirty feeling that must be squashed. That you must never be a crazy girl.
Misogyny is not a rarity in the horror genre (or actually any genre for that matter), but it is jarring to constantly see female rage and sexuality constantly extinguished. How many times have you turned on a scary movie just to know that the first kill is going to be the ditzy girl? Beauty is only a boon for girls when we are using it to please men – not ourselves. Carrie is a step in the right direction, but the crazy girl movement still needs quite a bit of work.
Shreya,
Another interesting analysis! Carrie is one of my sister’s favorite movie, so I’ve seen it a billion times. One of my best friends is also a Stephen King fanatic, so I’ve endured my fair share of Carrie. I have found that I don’t particularly enjoy Stephen King’s writing for various reasons, but his complete inability to write three-dimensional women is up there (Wendy deserves better!).
Best,
Sam
Hi Shreya!
This is a great blog post topic! I think Carrie is one of the classic pieces of literature showcasing societies attitudes toward women and their periods, an attitude that needs to change. I totally agree with your allegory to Adam and Eve, history is full of other places where women bring destruction on society. Pandora’s box for example. Great analysis of the greater themes that Carrie represents and how they play into the common view of women in the world!
Shreya,
I am so sad to see this blog go. It is absolutely one of my favorites, but I have no doubt that you and I will rehash it all the time next year and even find new female villains to humanize #roomates. I really like this post specifically! I never watched Carrie with my full attention, but you wrote such an interesting piece, I definitely want to now. I think it is disgusting how her first period was made out to be gross by her peers; the stigma against periods is ridiculous, especially because it is still happening in 2023. I think it is important to put strong women who don’t care what others think in the limelight of different media types, because people love to hate a strong woman, and I’m so incredibly over it. Amazing post. You always make me think a little more critically about situations when I view media with a female protagonist who is characterized as crazy.