Thank you for signing up! Where Pierces film does diverge from de Palmas somewhat is in its restoration of Sue as a main character. . Sue gets her period in the final paragraph). She is good and her goodness is made all the more striking by virtue of the portrait of Carrie which is painted by her mother in her hysterical prayers: "help this sinning woman beside me here see the sin of her days and ways. The crossing cutting between Carrie on the stage, and the audience and Chris and her boyfriend, creates a frantic atmosphere as the audience are aware of Chris plan but feel happy for Carrie as she is being praised. The high-school in the film is named Bates High after Norman Bates in Psycho. A primary fault for Carrie being a social reject in her school was her mother, who was a religious fanatic. The reader never learns if Sue Snell marries or joins a country club, but we do know that she wrote a book, a memoir of her account of what happened on prom night that both exonerates her from implication in Chris Hargensens horrific prank and humanizes Carrie. She isnt smart. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Long before the blood arrived. The iconic prom scene in Carrie took two weeks and roughly 35 takes to create. Carrie unlocks the sprinklers and removes the electrical wires, electrocuting many of her classmates. The use of cross cutting creates a chaotic atmosphere as the tension swells as the hazy lighting blurs the focal points, this serves as the climax. When De Palma gave Spacek the role, he cast Amy Irving as Sue Snell instead. And when Carrie unleashes the full brunt of her powers, it's a magnificent and appalling spectaclethe teenage sci-fi rampage that the "X-Men" films never dared show us. Like the novel, the movie became a smash hit, turning a $1.8 million investment into a $33.8 million moneymaker. The music compliments the slow motion as they both slowly drawl out the process of Carries prank, when the editing becomes more fast paced so does the score, this indicates the approaching terror. As far as Carrie knows, this is a normal home life. The 2002 made-for-television adaptation of Carrie offers another ending for the story that differs dramatically from the novel and the film adaptations and for good reason. (Stephen King's source novel sold one million copies when released in paperback in 1975.) Sue tries to meet Carrie by following her telepathic message. Home Stephen King Carrie Themes and Analysis. On getting home, Carrie tells her mother about the school prom. The gruesome nature of the novel made Stephen King feel disconnected from the main character as he could not fully indulge in Carries mind. Swearing revenge on Carrie, Chris brings her father to school but gets banned from the school prom. More books than SparkNotes. The shot takes place as Sue Snell places flowers on Carrie's grave. A weekly newsletter focusing on literature by and about people of color! The most literal, clumsy interpretation would be that Sue is now wedded to her trauma of that night. Carries body language is reminiscent of Christian icons of tortured saints and martyrs, this links to her religious upbringing and her change from a young angelic girl into a vengeful demon. A bucket of pig blood is pulled and it covers her and her date, Tommy. To prepare for her role as Carrie, Sissy Spacek deliberately isolated herself from the rest of her cast members while on set. Posted on February 7, 2016 by asenaoyzoyn. The Cast Of Carrie (1976): Where Are They Now? It could make you Feeble. If we accept that Carrie has suddenly become a ghost, we can be reasonably sure she isnt haunting Sue. Most importantly, the two see each other. She may have committed the Sin of Lustful Thoughts. This kind of horror story suits a spooky or bloody twist ending; it may even demand one. Tommy dies after the bucket falls on his head. Whatever the book. . A shy girl, outcast by her peers and sheltered by . Sue kneels down to lay the bouquet at the foot of the sign, when suddenly a bloody hand springs up from the earth and locks onto Sues wrist. This is tragedy. Carrieshows how bullying affects the mind of young adults and shapes them to become enemies of society. the protagonist is jolted awake by a nightmare of the sadistic cannibal strangers who hunted him throughout the film. Carrie's body-shame was handed down by her mom, who's first seen in a prologue giving birth to Carrie, then briefly considering killing her with the same scissors she will ultimately use to cut the cord. The intention of the editing and sound is to set up tension in the build up to the pig's blood being poured on Carrie. After you claim a section youll have 24 hours to send in a draft. Margaret White and Chris Hargensen take the role Carrie occupies at the end of the other adaptations with Carrie essentially taking on Sues role. (Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers ahead.). And of course, Carries actions on prom night obviously ensure Sues life will never be the same. She never cranked the volume up when the Ramones blared through the radio speakers. In conclusion the scene masterfully exhibits Carries change from an isolated young girl, into a vengeful supernatural entity, the use of sound and editing emphasis her change and adds tension to the scene. 40 years ago, Carrie White went to the prom. What would have become of Superman had he been a girl raised by an insane single parent? Ostracization is a primary theme inCarrieas it sets the events surrounding Carries life. (Peirce's staging of the birthcomplete with first-person shot of the infant's soft head resting on bloody sheetsis original, and Moore's acting has a silent-movie purity.) But Kings novel is more than just a pair of bloody bookends. Even after her powerful father tries to use his influence to undo the damage Chris has done and get back into the prom, Chris believes she is Carries victim. Carrie discovers she has telekinetic powers. Carrie and Tommy get crowned as prom king and queen. This ending is a significant departure from all previous version of the characters, which makes sense for a film exists not so much to adapt Kings book but to provide an origin story for a new series. With a harsh and vengeful tone, Stephen King sets the readers mind to become attuned to love the main character and hate everyone that hurt her. The silence also serves as a cooling point for the audience after the frantic build up to the climax. Throughout Carrie's story, she does become more comfortable in her body, and powers, through exploration. Carrie is one of the most iconic horror movies ever made, and here are 10 interesting behind the scenes facts about the film. And she is bad to not just Carrie. Carrie is an innocent. It did not go well. Sues insecurities and internal conflicts are verbalized and mirrored back to her in a scene with the cruelly perceptive Chris. Whatever the genre. She is not good. Carries rage extends to all of Chamberlain as she delivers a telepathic message to Chamberlains citizens and then rains hell on them by destroying buildings and killing people. And ghost-Carrie does seem like the most obvious interpretation if we take this moment literally and as integral to the film. Carrie dies from excess blood loss. But films have represented and adapted wordless communication in a variety of interesting, effective ways. It stands alone. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Carrie by Stephen King. Following her performance, Spacek was nominated for Best Leading Actress at the 1977 Academy Awards. After she got her first period and asked her mother for answers, Margaret began quoting false scriptures that never existed in the bible; this gave an insight into the fact that Margaret believed that anything related to blood had to be evil and from Satan. RELATED: Every Carrie Movie Ranked, Worst To Best. However, the novel also tended towards the young adult fiction genre as it used elements of fantasy and fiction in character building. Sue is forced to truly bear witness to the pain Carrie has suffered and gets the opportunity to offer Carrie a moments succor with no ulterior motives. Short of a Carrie adapters roundtable, wecan never really be sure. There is a straight cut to a POV shot of the audience from Carries perspective. King crafts a lean, chilling, and insightful story that has at its heart a pair of complicated teenage girls who resist easy characterization. The Female Revenger: Gothic Influence in Stephen Kings Carrie and Gillian Flynns Gone Girl, Emergent Sexuality and Religious Shame: How Stephen King in 'Carrie' and Peter Shaffer in 'Equus' Use Stylistic Features. Carrie is not the monster; she is Carrie the good Christian girl. In screenwriter Bryan Fuller and director David Carsons adaptation, no one gets haunted by Carrie, either literally or figuratively, because Carrie doesnt die. An adverse effect of Carries ostracization was her not even knowing how the female body works. The horror most strongly associated with. Her haunting you from inside your own body. version of the de Palma ending with a cut to a graveyard, where Sue and a disguised, bewigged Carrie stand in front of Margarets tombstone. Peirce has turned "Carrie" into dark, sick take on a superhero origin story, complete with wide-angle lenses and God's-eye-view shots and poetic sound effects (when Margaret is near, Carrie "hears" her before she sees her, thanks to a high-pitched whine that's like a dog whistle). Sue Snell is one of the many girls who throw tampons at Carrie in the shower. This is a good impulse, but the movie doesn't properly follow through on it. Her haunting you from. Critics panned the Pierces adaptation and called it unnecessary given its similarity to the still-iconic de Palma film. The editing is slow and deliberate, for example the camera tracks Sues eye line to show the audience the bucket of blood. Getting elected as prom queen was the worst event of Carries sad life as she got forced to experience the brutality of how no one cared about her. It is a scenecomprised of telepathic communication. Carrie gets dressed up nicely for prom, but it is done in a realistic way. Quite a large percentage of those millions of words of analysis delve into the symbolism of blood throughout the novel and connection between Carrie Whites telekinetic powers manifesting so soon after her first menstruation. It takes forever. Sue convinces Carrie to fake her own death and, as the audience learns via intercut interviews with the police, lies for her. There is also diegetic sound present but it can barely be heard due to the score, ambient noises of people clapping and cheering for Carrie is contrasted to the slightly frantic score. To remain in the character's tormented headspace, Spacek returned to her trailer after three full days of filming and would sleep in her gore-sodden wardrobe. Margarets fanatism influenced Carries life as it cut her off from the real world. The sonic flashbacks end and a new non-diegetic score is introduced, the tone is eerie and it plays only one melody the entire time. Momma had told her there was Something. Their clapping stops and the score slowly distorts into an empty silence, the only diegetic sound present is the dripping of the blood from the bucket. The slow motion returns as the pace of the editing slows down, this creates a crescendo in the scene as the scene started off with slow motion, then the editing became so fast it was reminiscent of subliminal images, and now the editing has returned to its original pace. From Tommy to Chris, Billy, and almost all of Carries classmates, the death toll in the novel was staggering. Bad dream? Sue asks, before her face is transformed into that of Chris Hargensen. If we accept that Carrie has suddenly become a ghost, we can be reasonably sure she isnt haunting Sue. Prom was great. NEXT: The 10 Best Brian De Palma Movies, Ranked (According To IMDB). The Question and Answer section for Carrie is a great When Carrie dies, the tone employed by the novel is one of melancholy, sadness, and the feeling of completion of Carries life. He slows the scene down, lingering on Carrie's smiling, oblivious face, and the wide-eyed gazes of the cool kids plotting to take her down as the melodramatic music swells. Carrieis an exceptional novel whose story got propelled by Stephen King intricately. The film treats the school's gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer)who punishes Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday), leader of the girls who torture Carrieas Carrie's shadow "good" mother. Its Carrie who inspires Sues first transgressions against the social order: Sue rebels against the cruel, popular Chris Hargensen by accepting her share of the punishment for abusing Carrie and flouts the expectations of her peers by sending Carrie to prom in her place. Carrie just happens to be the weakest so she bears the brunt of the evil which explodes forth from Chris. Blood is a primary part of the tale of Carrie as her life circled it. Analysis Paragraphs: The ending of the book Carrie by Stephen King is very unique. I will be focusing on the iconic prom scene which serves as the climax of the film, as Carrie takes revenge on her high school bullies after constantly being tormented. The use of a spilt scene juxtaposes the characters reactions to the prank; Carrie is clearly distressed and has turned vengeful whereas her classmates find it amusing. Tommy asks Carrie to prom, and though she initially tries to decline, she later agrees to his offer. Brian de Palmas 1976 film is is the first, most famous, and most widely-praised adaptation of. Although Carrie can be seen as a horror film, it is dominantly a "Coming of Age" story due to the conflicts that are presented against Carrie. The speed of the editing is incredibly fast and is hard to absorb and begins to feel subliminal, the association between the shots is often the eye line matching. In contrast to DePalma's version, Carrie's mom seems less a standard-issue, frothing-at-the-mouth "religious nut" movie character than a mentally ill single mom, eking out a living as a seamstress and dry cleaner. He'd might have endured being called a freak for years until he finally snapped and roasted the football team. Still, there's a lot to like in this remake. Sue remains firm. The diegetic sound of Carrie gasping can be heard, this marks the first diegetic sound of the characters. Carrie suffered because of her mothers fanatism and guilt. But when famed production designer Jack Fisk suggested his wife Sisssy Spacek audition, everything changed. Blaming themselves for the incident, Desjardin resigns. Cohen: To keep the prom action continuous, I agreed with Brian to excise an interlude [Stephen King] had created after the blood fell in which Carrie fled the gym, ran across the school's front . Sue isalternately hostile and generous, and conformist and defiant but always acutely self-aware. Or unutterably evil. In this version, Carrie gets to be the Final Girl. Curiously, for such a secular movie, this "Carrie" lends Biblical significance to every blood drop spilled. Spoiler alert: important details of the novel are revealed below. Its incredibly satisfying: poignant but not too pat. The next day, Miss Desjardin places the girls who bullied Carrie on punishment, and after Chris protests, she gets banned from attending prom. Carrie White is, famously, a victim of bullying and abuse, but in Kings hands she isnt a perfect victim. write out a theme statement for Femininity in the book. The movie links Carrie's burgeoning power to creativity, watching her develop her gifts until, at the end, she is assured enough to preside over a combination Grand Guignol play and art exhibit. Telekinesis became the only thing Carrie felt was hers, and she used it to exert the revenge she wanted. And the shock ending of Kings novel is that just for a moment and far too late she isnt. They should really put a sign up: "Don't flush tampons down the toilet, or throw them at each other ." Importantly, though, Sue is the only one who seems to feel bad about it. Sissy Spacek was so dedicated to the authenticity of her performance that she refused the use of a stunt double during the graveyard finale, in which only her hand appears bursting out of the soil. The story of Carrie, has been enshrined in pop culture as a fairly straightforward horror story, a quite literal bloodbath. International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. Her gawkiness is internalized. After killing her classmates, Carrie heads home and confronts her mother, who believes she got possessed by Satan. The role marked the first time Laurie acted in a film since The Hustler in 1961. It happens almost entirely inside a teenage girls head, a place we know Hollywood is often reluctant to go. In the final pages of the novel, it got revealed that Sue was late on her period; this leads to the conclusion that she was indeed pregnant with Tommys child. Director Brian De Palma's 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's debut novel is consistently hailed as one of the greatest horror. When it came to printing the image, the shot was reversed and run in slow-motion to make it appear slightly off-kilter. Moore's Margaret is a purely pitable figure who scratches and cuts her own flesh, and who cannot love herself, let alone a child. Though Carrie wanted to experience life like an average girl, she could not because her mother destroyed her social life; this led to her getting ostracized by her peers. Carrieby Stephen King is a novel that tells the story of a teenage girl Carrie, who faced torment in many aspects of her life. Privacy Policy, https://bookanalysis.com/stephen-king/carrie/themes-analysis/. Moore's Margaret is a purely pitable figure who scratches and cuts her own flesh, and who cannot love herself, let alone a child. The shot was achieved by setting the two actors, Spacek and William Katt, on a platform that rotated in one direction, while the camera tracks in the opposition direction. When Carrie spares Miss Desjardin from the prom rampage, lifting her off a dance floor that she's about to fill with corpses, it's one of the most perversely touching gestures in a movie filled with them. After receiving her first period, she acquires telekinetic powers, which turns her world around; especially since she did not understand what the change meant for her as a new woman. Sue, one of the girls who bullied Carrie, felt guilty for what she did, and trying to atone for her misconduct, she tells her boyfriend, Tommy, to ask Carrie to prom. , but not the character of Sue Snell or her relationship with Carrie. Sue screams and then briefly sees an image of a blood-soaked Carrie cradling her infant. Spacek also examined the body language ofthose stoned to death for their sins. The music composer for Psycho, Bernard Herrmann, scored two of De Palma's prior movies, Sisters and Obsession. Carrie snaps out of. Carrie stops her mothers heart, killing her. Stephen King also pushes the storys narrative with the gruesome explanation of terrible events; this employs Hyperbole. Then the string running along it. Psychokinetic retribution. Christine always seems to be around whenever anything bad happens to Carrie when shes away from home. In the final scene of Pierces theatrical cut, Sue is interviewed by an investigative committee, the only extant footage of the White Commission. Carrie is a perfect example. The iconic prom scene in Carrie took two weeks and roughly 35 takes to create. Instead she very deliberately and maliciously destroys her towns water supplies before dousing as much of it as possible it in gasoline and setting it on fire. This measure was also taken to maintain visual continuity in the film, as the fake blood would often dry under the hot filming lights and stick to Spacek's body. The ending of Carrie saw the death of many characters. There is a note that is left in reference to Carrie White, saying that she is burning in hell. Brian De Palma has forged a reputation as a director who often pays homage to his cinematic idol, Alfred Hitchcock. The fact that there is non-diegetic and diegetic sound but no dialogue may suggest that the impending violence cant be justified by verbal means, instead what happens is based on the heat of the moment. thissection. These various adapted endings all have their points of interest but its hard to argue with Kings original. However, it uses an omniscient narrator for most of its story. The editing also manages to showcase Carries telekinetic powers with minimal use of special effects. Chris is the sinning woman that Carries momma should be praying for. Its a striking ending that is consistent with both genre tropes and de Palmas specific vision for Carrie, but not the character of Sue Snell or her relationship with Carrie. Sue decides to meet her as she hears the telepathic message. He shows the bucket of blood. Carrie is a movie inspired by one of Stephen King 's first novels, a dark story mixed with dramatic notes, where all the uncertainties and fears of adolescence, such as the problem of being different in a society that does not forgive, are transformed into anger and the desire for revenge. Only she quickly discovers that Momma is looking to kill her first. Carrie locks her classmates inside the school and unleashes terror on them by electrocuting and burning them to death. The horrific mayhem that surrounded the scene enabled for a satisfying means to an end; justice had been served. Killed a bunch of people. I'm going to analyse a scene from Brian De Palma's Carrie. Mentioning Stephen King's classic 1974 horror novel likely calls to mind one of two iconic scenes: Carrie getting her period for the first time in the school shower and being pelted with tampons as her classmates scream "Plug it up!" or Carrie wreaking fatal havoc on a gym full of students after being drenched in pig's blood just as she was Ironically while the rest of the cut footage was rumoured to me much more consistent with Kings novel, this ending borrows significantly from de Palmas film, with Pierce doing him one better on the shock front after all, whats more horrifying that someone haunting you from beyond the grave? resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. One of the most memorable shots in the film occurs during the prom scene, in which Carrie's vertiginous mental state is depicted with a piece of dizzying camerawork. In the novel, Carrie and her mother lack a healthy mental life. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. However, Nancy Allen was already promised the role of Sue Snell, so De Palma cast her as Chris Hargensen instead. In this version, Sue comes to Carries rescue and resuscitate her after Margaret tries to drown her. Its a striking ending that is consistent with both genre tropes and de Palmas specific vision for. On prom day, Carrie and Tommy have a good time as she meets his friends and talks with him. Where Brian DePalma's 1976 version of Stephen King's novel was a teenage girl's nightmare as seen through the eyes of a straight male voyeur, this one looks through a wider lens, and strikes more universal notes of sympathy. Because Carrie is an abused child, she feels ugly; because she feels ugly, she radiates a sense of worthlessness. She is, however, sorely tempted by Chris. She lays on the ground, exhausted and dying, to look at the stars. Sue Snell, Carries sometime-bully, sometimes-ally, is also a complex character. The scene then shifts to a rainy graveyard, where a black-clad Sue is walking with a single white rose in her hand. She acknowledges that yes, her boyfriend and all of her friends died that night, but she knows what she saw. Though the story is fictional, its elements of realism push the mind of its reader to the extreme. Margaret White and Chris Hargensen take the role Carrie occupies at the end of the other adaptations with Carrie essentially taking on Sues role. Miss Desjardin, the gym teacher, walks in to save Carrie and orders everyone out. Three adaptations. The version of Sue in this film is a slightly smoothed-out version of Kings character not quite as cruel or derisive in her worst moments but Pierce does maintain Sues complexity and the connection between her and Carrie. hallucination, then pulls of her wig and stars pensively into the distance. Frankly, though, it reads less like a thoughtful addition to the rest of the film and more like a half-hearted capitulation to the genre dictate to end on a scare. The 10 Best Brian De Palma Movies, Ranked (According To IMDB). When the Stephen King book was first optioned, it was set up with producer Paul Monash at 20th Century Fox, and Monash hired writer Lawrence D. Cohen to pen a first . For all the psychological realism of Carrie and Margaret's relationship, however, this remake has a comic book feeling. After that, they were thrown out of the garden of their innocence, or ignorance; each counterplot or attempt to make amends is a doomed attempt to return to the garden. To atone for her part in the bullying and to give Carrie at least one good memory of high school Sue gives her prom night with her boyfriend, Tommy, for Carrie, and risks provoking her classmates ire in the process. However, she discovers herself, and her life completely changes. In this dream Sue dressed in a white flowing gown and holding a colourful bouquet of flowers, walks toward the site of the former White house, where Carrie White burns in hell is scrawled in red paint across a For Sale sign. De Palma opted to keep the shot in the film, even though Soles was so badly hurt that she could not hear out of one ear for the following six months before the eardrum eventually mended. Chris and her boyfriend, Billy, decide to exert revenge on Carrie by filling pigs blood in two buckets. The frantic score is interwoven with sounds of screaming which increase the horror elements of the scene. Carrie unleashes her powers, hurting everyone at the prom. Even after the blood comes in the locker room, Carrie remains innocent. Now she's ready because "the devil has come home" (2.733). Expand Your Bookshelf With These 8 Interstellar Books Like The Expanse, The Best Sci-Fi Spaceships from Across the Galaxies, When Children's Book Authors Don't Like Children's Books, Love & Other Epic Adventures: Science Fiction Romance Books, 10 Bedtime Stories for Adults to Help You Get Some Shut Eye. Carrie is a 16-year-old teenage misfit who is bullied at school for her appearance and devout religious beliefs. After discovering she had the power of telekinesis, Carrie felt overjoyed as she knew she had powers that could protect her from the dangers of her peers. However its worth noting that this fear is not of Carrie herself, but of giving birth to Carrie: of having a daughter that takes after (the tormented, suffering and eventually violent) Carrie. I. t happens almost entirely inside a teenage girls head, a place we know Hollywood is often reluctant to go. Using epistolary writing, Stephen King designed Carrie to show different angles of characters who mattered to the story. Later, Miss Desjardin punishes the girls who bullied Carrie. The shot lingers on the hysterical Carrie forcing us to sympathise with her and possibly even ignore her approaching actions. In screenwriter Bryan Fuller and director David Carsons adaptation, no one gets haunted by Carrie, either literally or figuratively, because Carrie doesnt die. Chris pours pig blood on Carrie, and everyone laughs at her. Though the screen adaptations forCarriewere excellent, they featured an ending different from the novel. Sexton, Timothy. Carrie and Tommy have fun on the dance floor at prom, and Tommy discovers how great Carrie is. Screaming for help, she attracted the attention of all the girls in the shower room, who began laughing at her after discovering she was on her period. Rather than engulfing the White abode in flames, for which a miniature model was used, the original ending of Carrie was meant to be much different. Carrie faced the torture of adapting to an overzealously religious mother and terrible classmates. Carrie and Tommy get crowned prom king and queen. is a horror story of isolation and abuse about a girl with no safe haven and no one to understand her. It is a scenecomprised of telepathic communication. In this scenario it does not matter whether Carrie is conventionally "pretty" or "not pretty."

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