Carrie White: Villain or Heroine?

by Jennifer G.
(Richmond, IL)

Ah Yes, High school! Homecoming, SATs, calculus, and yes the Prom. Having graduated from a very small all-girls catholic high school in the Midwest, I, as well as my friends were spared the agonizing period of waiting to discover if and when we would be asked to the dance- and by whom. At an all-girls school, if you want to go to the Prom, you have to do the asking. There were couples we knew would automatically go together, girls paired up with boys from the local military academy (our brother school), and then there were the cute long-haired guitar playing public school guys who you would get to know and hopefully date, if you threw enough neighborhood parties. I remember the rocker public-school guy on whom I had a crush and the girl from my school that he took to the prom, (she later became pregnant and he moved out East to pursue his music never to be heard from again).

So I, like many was not immune to the emotional highs and lows of high school. However, to imagine the fresh hell that public school could’ve provided stood luckily out of my reach. It wasn’t until seeing the movie Carrie that my heart ached and I heard myself quietly saying to Carrie White- “please, just realize it’s your period, all women go through it.”


For those of us who have seen Carrie several times, a type of metamorphosis occurs within our conscience, the lines between right and wrong cross indiscriminately. We may not have noticed the quiet longing that Carrie White (played by Sissy Spacek) so eloquently displays towards Tommy the first time we watch the movie. Or, the brilliance in which she proudly stands up to her mother, played by Piper Laurie- “they’re not dirty pillows, their breasts Mama.” But after seeing the movie two, three, or more times- Carrie White, in all her telekinetic glory, becomes an underdog. She is that part of ourselves we would like to tuck away forever; that part of us that ran from our high school crush, hated gym and did not understand the mean girls. She is quietly, embarrassingly like us. And if this is true, we must then suffer the existential question- If I had the special powers of Carrie White, would I exact revenge on those I felt wronged me?

Carrie White’s situation of course is extreme. Terrorized by her peers on a daily basis, overwhelmed by her religious fanatic mother, she doesn’t have any way to vent. She doesn’t have that safe place that we, as stress-coping individuals, provide for ourselves; except in her mind where she has complete control with the added bonus of controlling her environment by employing her thoughts. In one scene, Carrie White is walking home from school after a typically rough day when a young boy on a bike makes fun of her. She, on some level, maybe without even realizing it, has had enough. The boy hits a stone, topples over his bike and crashes to the ground. An odd sense of satisfaction comes over the viewer. Finally, she has done something about her lot in life. She has proven that she will not be pushed around.

Wouldn’t it be great to have that ability, just some of the time, and only with those people that are especially mean-spirited? After this scene and another in which she uses her power to stand up to her mother, the direction of this movie becomes clear. Carrie White will exact revenge on those who harm her. The question however, remains- On what level is her revenge acceptable? This young bike-riding bully now has a couple bruises and bumps and hopefully he’s learned his lesson. But he wasn’t set on fire. Brian De Palma is not one of Hollywood’s greatest directors for naught. With events set in motion and the prom looming, De Palma begins to humanize his characters for either good or evil.

In one scene, we see Tommy, played by the “greatest American cutie,” William Katt and his friends picking out tuxes for the prom. He’s having fun and one gets the feeling he’s not all that bummed out about going to the prom with Carrie. Likewise, in another scene we begin to see Chris Hargensen’s character, played by Nancy Allen, take form. Her vindictiveness towards Carrie grows, and she is unrelenting in her desire to bring Carrie White down. Her plots and schemes against Carrie are not just talk, she has something in store for the girl which, unbeknownst to her, will prove to be her untimely demise. And who could forget the infamous line Carrie’s Mom, Margaret, spews at her daughter before the big event- “They’re all going to laugh at you!” This line will play over and over again in Carrie White’s mind as she tragically misinterprets the reaction of the crowd after Chris has accomplished her evil deed.

Carrie White even believes her most fervent supporter, Miss Collins (played by Betty Buckley), is also chastising her. In a state of intense rage, made all the more frightening by her grotesque appearance, Carrie White does what she knows how to do best- use her mind to manipulate the objects around her. Chaos ensues, and a chain of events are set in motion that will forever change the course of everyone’s life. Sue Snell, played by Amy Irving is the only one that survives this ordeal. She initially convinced her boyfriend Tommy to take Carrie to the prom. Sue will forever live with the guilt of that night. Carrie White is mercifully relieved of this guilt.

So, I ask you to choose. Is Carrie White a hapless victim in all of this, or something more, something else?