Carrie (1976)
–They’re all going to laugh at you!
Ironically, for a story about a girl shunned by her peers, Carrie made a lot of people popular. The original novel started its author, Stephen King, on his meteoric rise to fame. The movie adaptation gave a tremendous boost to its director, Brian de Palma, as well as his young stars: Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, William Katz, and P. J. Soles. Interestingly, Carrie’s appeal is that so many of us identify in some way with its heroine. We all feel that high school is one big torturous experiment inflicted upon us by those in charge. Insecurity and hormones are rampant and to assuage them teenagers form their own groups to buffer the pain. Not everyone fits into a proper niche, though.
I grew up in the coal fields of Appalachia during the 1980s when unemployment was an epidemic. My father was laid off from his job and the family budget grew quite lean. Kids in class would taunt me by saying, “You get all your clothes from the flea market.” I remember that a few years later when Dad was working at his own construction business, things improved. I was sharing a gym locker with a little girl who was a part of the rich, elite clique. When she learned that I was now wearing Nikes and Jordache jeans, she made a cutting remark about how those companies were certainly coming down in the world. Yeah, a lot of us can relate to at least a small part of Carrie’s pain. Hopefully, we survive, graduate and realize eventually that kids usually torment other kids because of their own pain, confusion or jealousies.
Of course, Carrie’s problems are exacerbated by her mother. I remember an old interview with Bono from U2 where he talked about something he referred to as spiritual abuse. That’s a perfect term for what Carrie endures every day in her home life. Her mother, played by the unforgettable Piper Laurie, makes Marcia Gay Harden’s character in The Mist look sane. There are hints that she is perpetuating a cycle and that the same misogynistic propaganda she spews at Carrie was once pounded into her head.
Sissy Spacek brings a sweet sensitivity to Carrie that makes our hearts ache, but there are always hints of an inner strength. That steel core certainly comes to the front when she’s finally pushed too far. The image of Carrie, blue eyes as wide as globes, in her prom dress splattered with pig’s blood is now iconic. Upon revisiting the movie, though, I got the feeling that her eyes were widened in shock and that she was reacting entirely on instinct without thought.
Nancy Allen, John Travolta, and P. J. Soles are very good in their roles as Carrie’s tormentors. Amy Irving and William Katz make their characters deeper than they appear on the surface. Betty Buckley is Miss Collins, Carrie’s protector. Miss Collins is not perfect, however, and she admits to the principal that at times even she gets irritated with Carrie. She certainly causes her share of problems when she punishes the girls that were picking on Carrie. Giving them detention was certainly justifiable, but the slap to the face that she gives Nancy Allen’s Chris sets in motion the final tragic prank.
Ultimately, though, it’s Carrie and her mother who are at the heart of the movie. Margaret has not done a good job preparing Carrie for life and has left her open to ridicule at the hands of her peers. Spacek and Laurie have an electric chemistry between them and Laurie’s porcelain doll beauty is echoed in Spacek’s delicate features.
Brian de Palma got off to a good start with Carrie. It’s one of the most interesting films made from a Stephen King novel. It touches us and scares us because we think that under different circumstances that could be us or someone who know. It reminds us of the importance of recognizing and appreciating the humanity in other people before they are pushed too far.
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