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Carrietta N. White, best known as Carrie White, is the titular main protagonist from Stephen King's first horror novel, Carrie published in 1974. She is allegedly, the only daughter of Margaret and Ralph White, even though it may hint that Ralph may have had other children with different women. Carrie is also the granddaughter of John and Judith Brigham, the step-granddaughter of Harold Allison and the great-granddaughter of Sadie Cochran.

In the original 1976 Carrie film, she is portrayed by Sissy Spacek.

Summary Of Carrie White

For all of her lonely childhood and misunderstood teenage life, Carrie, an only child, whose father abandoned his family and later died in a construction accident, was disciplined for being taken by curses and secretly abused and beaten into submission and mistreated by her mentally ill religiously-fanatical mother for everything on a daily basis. Later Carrie was constantly picked on and mistreated by her classmates because of her differences.

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Carrie in the 1976 film

Since 1st grade, Carrie had been the school's scapegoat and outcast. Indeed, Carrie was at the bottom of the social pyramid, but what no one knew, not even her mother, was that Carrie White was no ordinary girl, as she had been blessed or cursed, with hidden telekinetic and telepathic powers that were dormant during her youth, but brought to full force by the time she was in high school after she unexpectedly had her first period in the girls locker room. This incident would cause a chain reaction of events to occur that would lead to not only Carrie's demise but also hundreds of others, whether guilty or innocent. Since Carrie had no previous knowledge about the concept of menstruation, the students’ rejection of Carrie became even fiercer. Tragically, when a so-called "prank" at her Senior Prom, involving pig's blood pushed her to her breaking point and beyond her limits, Carrie finally snapped, lost her sanity and used the wild talents she possessed to seek her hostile revenge to make her bullies and enemies pay and suffer for their cruel actions. Carrie mercilessly eliminated and killed anybody who had ever hurt, neglected or underestimated her before returning home after leaving a path of destruction in her wake to ultimately confront and finally kill her crazy, homicidal mother before dying on that very same night that ended up making national history. In the end, an entire town was destroyed, taking 440 lives with it.

In one iteration of her story, Carrie died as a result of her injuries. In the second iteration, Carrie survived The Black Prom and the trauma associated with it. She then made plans to move to Florida and start her new life with the help of Sue Snell, who felt sorry for her. In the third iteration, it is unclear if Carrie survived or not and it is left to the imagination. But regardless of the iteration, Carrie has been vilified by the surviving residents of Chamberlain, Maine only because she chose to fight back against the constant and collective tormenting and bullying in a way that most people cannot understand or comprehend.

Novel

Part 1: Blood Sport

In the novel, Carrie White is described as being slightly unattractive, she is a "frog among swans". Carrie is especially unattractive because of her mother's control over her. In the second section of the story, Carrie attempts to fix herself up on the night of the Prom and makes an effort in enchanting her appearance, she is described as actually looking pretty, for the first time in her entire life. Carrie lived in the very small and peaceful town of Chamberlain, Maine, with her severely mentally unstable mother who had cut her daughter off from all social life due to her religious beliefs.

Birth

Before Carrie's father died, both Carrie’s parents had left the local Baptist church many years before, so they held worship at home instead. When Ralph passed away, her mother survived off the money from the insurance and by working at the local laundry.

Childhood

The level of Carrie's "un-coolness" and the height of constant and verbal abuse she endured at the hands of her mother, peers and fellow classmates in the novel was far more extreme compared to the versions of the films.

At Christian Summer Camp, her comrades played pranks on her such as hiding all her underwear and putting a snake in her shoe or short sheeting her bunk-bed. She had even tried to take part in the other camp's activities, but the jokes never stopped playing on "old praying, fart-face Carrie", until she had come home on the bus a week early, her eyes, red and socket from weeping. She was picked up by her mother at the station and was sent to the closet to pray for hours.

At school, Carrie was made fun of by her peers and classmates into submission on a daily basis. At home, Carrie's life was just as awful. Margaret didn't allow Carrie to have any friends, take interest in things such as celebrities, fashion, listen to music, sleep with a pillow, or even take showers, as Margaret believed everything was bad, evil, sinful and godless, Carrie only took baths. Behind closed doors, Carrie was beaten by her mother into submission on a daily basis and regularly slapped Carrie in the face and grabbed, dragged, violently shoved and locked her into a "prayer" closet by her mother. Also in the novel, Carrie is sometimes locked in the closet by her mother for days on end without food, water or even bathroom breaks. Carrie is so controlled by her mother she is even forced to wear unbecoming and outdated clothes and forbidden to wear the color red, as Margaret believed that red was "the Devil's color".

Now there are instances where Carrie's special abilities manifested all by itself without her even trying. It was usually triggered by her own inner frustration and private misery and would flare whenever she lost her temper. Carrie's powers were strong even when she was a small child. She was also able to read other people's minds and inner thoughts when they were close enough to her, namely Miss Desjardin, the gym teacher, who secretly felt both disgusted and pity for the young girl.

Teenagerhood

At the age of 16, Carrie unexpectedly had her first period while taking a shower in the girls locker room after gym class. Due to her mother's religious believes, Margaret refused to discuss the concept of menstruation with Carrie, resulting in Carrie to think she was internally bleeding to death. As with everything else, Carrie was viciously teased and mercilessly bullied by the other girls in P.E. class. Miss Desjardin came out of her office to stop the commotion and to stop the hysterical Carrie from panicking, Miss Desjardin slapped her across the face which caused a light bulb above them to explode and a bucket of baseball bats to knock over all by itself. Miss Desjardin calmed Carrie down and reassured her everything was going to be okay and that she wasn't dying. Afterwards, she explained to Carrie what menstruation was and told her it was a natural part of womanhood.

More of Carrie's telekinetic abilities were demonstrated on that same day. The assistant principal, Mr. Morton, who dismissed Carrie for the day, kept calling her "Cassie". Carrie yelled that it was not her name and his ashtray fell off his desk as if it moved by itself. Soon after that, while she walked home from school, a 5-year-old boy verbally abused Carrie while riding past her on his bicycle. Carrie looked at the boy with rage and he went flying off the bicycle as if an unseen force had pushed him.

Later that day, after Margaret found out about the incident from the school, she cruelly punished Carrie by beating her with a Bible, forced her on her knees with her to pray and locked her in the closet against her will for hours to ask God for "forgiveness".

A few days later at school, when the incident had died down, Carrie was unexpectedly approached by Tommy Ross, who asked her to go to the Senior Prom with him. Tommy was a talented and handsome jock who, unlike most of the popular crowd, was actually a very nice and well-meaning teenager. He also was the boyfriend of one of the popular girls name Sue Snell, who would torment Carrie along with the other girls. Sue felt guilty for her mistreatment towards Carrie and honestly wanted to make it up to her by becoming her friend and deciding to sacrifice herself from going to the Prom and let Carrie take her potential Prom date. Although she originally got skeptical at first and went against the idea, Carrie's hesitation was quickly forgotten and she subsequently accepted Tommy's invitation because she just couldn't resist the offer at the chance to finally experience being treated as if she fit in, even if it was only for just one night. Carrie was very nervous, excited and happy all at the same time and was determined to keep her promise to Tommy and go.

When Carrie told her mother about the Prom offer, Margaret threw tea onto Carrie's face and ranted and told Carrie that she would not allow her daughter to engage in such sinfulness after all she'd been taught. She then proceeded to slap Carrie across the face and ordered her to go in the closet to pray, but Carrie refused. As Margaret tried to hit Carrie again, Carrie stood up to her mother and stopped Margaret's hand in mid-air with her telekinetic powers, preventing the hand from reaching her face. Carrie told her mother that she wanted to live her own life and that things were going to change and be different and that she was going to the Prom with or without Margaret's permission and that no one would stop her.

Part 2: Prom Night

On the evening of the Prom, Carrie prepared for the night and tried on the elegant and authentic. For the very first time in her young life, Carrie honestly looked and felt pretty, which was alien to her. When Margaret first saw her daughter dressed up in the red gown and revealing her "dirty pillows", she immediately ordered Carrie to take off the gown and pray afterward. Carrie stood her ground and refused.

Later that night, Tommy picks up Carrie for the Prom as he promised, while Margaret stays by herself and prayed silently in another room. Arriving at the Senior Prom, escorted by Tommy, Carrie was dazzled by all the glamour surrounding her and as the night progressed, Carrie's nerves began to fade and she felt comfortable while opening up to her peers and even made a few small jokes with some of the Prom goers who finally treated her equally and with respect for once. For the first time since she can remember, Carrie enjoyed herself.

However, little did Carrie or anyone else know was that she was walking into a vile prank initiated by another girl in her class, Chris Hargensen, the main leader of Carrie's tormentors. Chris believed that Carrie was the one to blame for her being banned from going to the Prom. So as for revenge, Chris has her boyfriend, Billy Nolan partake in the plot against Carrie to embarrass her in front of the entire school. Billy places two buckets of pig`s blood over the school's stage on a high rafter beam completely hidden out of sight. Chris has her friends rig the ballots for Prom King and Queen to ensure that Carrie and Tommy would win the contest. Just as planned, Carrie and Tommy were announced as the winners. When the two are on the stage, Chris pulls a rope cord that causes the buckets with blood to tip over and drench Carrie and Tommy with the rotting pig's blood while they sat on the thrones for the King and Queen. Seconds after the blood dump, one of the buckets fell on top of Tommy's head, knocking him out instantly and possibly even killing him.

To Chris's delight, the prank was followed by a rain of cruel laughter in mass hysteria, by everyone in the gym including the teachers and chaperones. Carrie, thinking additionally that Tommy had been purposely killed for taking her to Prom, was overcome with humiliation and utter grief. She clumsily attempted to flee the blood-splattered thrones while struggling to keep her balance. When Carrie hops off the stage platform, Miss Desjardin comes to her. While trying to be compassionate, Carrie sees right through her with her powers and finds out she is laughing like everyone else. When Carrie looks at her she flew backward as if she was being pushed by an unseen force. Miss Desjardin hit the wall next to the stage so hard that the impact gave her a bloody nose.

Before Carrie could make it to the exit, she was deliberately tripped by someone in the crowd and fell, causing the laughter to grow even louder. Eventually, Carrie made her way through the exit and out the lobby doors. Once outside and alone, Carrie began to weep upon the grass on the front lawn of the school's campus. Tricked once again, Carrie was going to simply accept what had happened and shamefully return back to her home to admit to her mother she'd been right after all. She was ready to face more hours locked in that dark, lonely closet praying endlessly for the rest of her life as she had always done before. These last thoughts made Carrie suddenly snap, change her mind and realizing that she had a special gift to use as a secret weapon. Her telekinetic powers would give her the ability to make her tormentors pay for what they had done.

Part 3: Bloodbath

In a cold rage, Carrie's mind finally snapped and she returned to the school barefooted, with a sadistic vengeance and a thirst for bloody revenge. She saw how Tommy had fallen from the throne to the ground with people surrounding him and as she stood safely outside the auditorium, she decided to give everyone a taste of their own medicine ten times fold. Carrie set about locking all the Prom goers inside the gym, teachers and students alike by telekinetically sealing the gymnasium doors, slamming them shut all at once. Hearing this, many people inside panicked and that started a stampede. They rushed to the exits and tried to bang on the doors, hammering them, pounding on them to open them, but Carrie's powers were far too strong, they were trapped! Carrie then peered into the windows and watched students faces smashed up against the glass like fish in an aquarium, seeing this made her laugh. Next, she looked up and turned on the sprinkler system to wet everyone and ruin their expensive tuxedos and gowns, the only regret she had was it was raining water and not blood. Suddenly, one of the band musicians on stage was severely electrocuted by the large amp that had gotten soaked from the water. This made Carrie laugh again and she used her mind to break the backstage high-voltage power cables by picturing them in her head and threw them crackling on the wet stage, causing purple sparks to fly into the air. Two students on the platform were also Immediately electrocuted, the lead band member, Josie Vreck was one of the loudest ones who laughed at Carrie, began to convulse uncontrollably when he touched the microphone and volts of electricity violently shot through his body. A girl named Rhonda Simard busted out in a crazed puppet dance when she accidentally stepped onto one of the cables, causing her Prom gown to catch fire and burst into flames, setting her entirely ablaze. Carrie then telekinetically used the cables like slithering snakes and flung them back and forth into the air, painfully whipping people, shocking them and breaking their skin. She then dropped them upon the wet ground below. When the cables writhed in the puddles of water, there was a violent flash, like lightning and everyone was screaming all at once as they were killed. Once the hot sparks from the cables caught onto the Prom's backdrop mural, causing it to completely catch fire, the hot flames quickly spread throughout the entire gym. Carrie mercilessly left the remaining Prom goers trapped inside with the now-dead Tommy to be consumed by the hellish inferno created by her telekinetic abilities, the rest was history. However, before moving completely on, the town emergency whistle went off and startled her. As a result, Carrie's mind lost its sight of the gymnasium doors for a second and some of the Prom goers almost got out. But Carrie used her power and slammed them shut again, catching somebody's fingers, to her it felt like Dale Norbert in the jamb severing one of them. Despite Carrie's hostile revenge, a few lucky students and Miss Desjardin were smart enough to escape the fire exit, down the auditorium's corridor in the hallway next to the gym. It was the one and only exit that Carrie forgot to seal. The survivors got out just in time before being electrocuted and burned to death with everyone else still inside. When Carrie left the campus to return to her home, she made sure no one could put out her fire or tame her flames as she opened all the fire hydrants near the area to prevent the fire trucks from helping or saving anyone stuck inside. Eventually, the gym exploded a half-hour later, demolishing the entire school.

Part 4: The Devil Comes To Chamberlain

Carrie's extremely powerful telekinetic abilities initiated a highly destructive rampage, causing much worse disasters in downtown Chamberlain than at the high school. As Carrie walked home barefooted, she left a path of destruction and death in her wake, she "flexed" her mind as hard as she could and made local gas mains at numerous corner stations explode and let the broken pumps leak the spilled gasoline into the roads. While a male bystander was walking nearby, he carelessly drops his lighted cigarette on the ground, not realizing the streets are covered in gas. This caused more explosions which destroyed and demolished the town shops and local businesses. Carrie also used her powers to cause several fire hydrants to explode, flooding the streets. Carrie then brought down the power lines and when the snapped power wires hit the water and gas-soaked pavement, it ignited several wildfires that burned down the majority of the town's neighborhoods. Countless of bystanders were killed in the streets and electrocuted by the wires of the fallen power lines as they evacuated from their burning homes. By this point, the entire town of Chamberlain was up in flames, taking literally hundreds of lives with it. Also, most importantly, Carrie let loose a strange side effect of her abilities, "broadcast telepathic" which means that anyone within a certain radius of the disaster area suddenly found themselves learning about the destruction at Ewen High and downtown Chamberlain. They also learned from this that it was Carrie White causing the destruction, regardless if they knew or not who Carrie even was. During the entire event, Carrie seemed completely catatonic and was believed to even be smiling as she moved along. She then went into a church to pray, while at the same time, objects from the church such as pews, hymnals and a communion set were thrown. Carrie finally made it back home. With her telekinetic powers, she made the front door swing wide open and she destroyed all the items in the house as she entered the doorway. Clocks, dishes, plates, pictures and other religious objects where tossed and thrown into the air, breaking and shattering them as they fell to the floor. Carrie, still covered in blood, much of it being her own by now and one of her bare feet was bleeding from stepping on a broken bottle in the streets, had the intention of finally killing her mother who had been waiting for her daughter to return to her. Due to seeing that orange haze in the sky from the flames burning all throughout the town, Margaret had come to believe the Devil had truly come to Chamberlain to collect Carrie's soul. The only way Margaret could save her condemned daughter was to kill her before the Devil did. As Carrie approached her mother, bloody and dirty, Margaret sat before Carrie and then told her about her miscarriage and the true story of how she considered killing herself after having premarital intercourse with Ralph. She also confessed that Carrie was conceived by marital rape and that she was a punishment from God. Margaret, thinking that Carrie was possessed by the Devil himself, carefully took out Ralph's old kitchen butcher knife from the folds of her dress so Carrie couldn't see. She told Carrie that she had tried to kill her twice before during the first few years of Carrie's life, but she "backslid". As Carrie fell down to her knees to weep and pray with her mother, Margaret stabbed her daughter in the shoulder, the blade went all the way into Carrie's shoulder with only the handle visible. Margaret had hit an artery, causing Carrie much pain as she began to bleed heavily. Angry by her mother's actions, Carrie decided it was time to teach her mother a lesson too. So in return, Carrie used her powers to slow her mother's heart down, painfully and very slowly, until eventually stopping it completely and killing her by giving her a heart attack. With Margaret dead, Carrie then left her house as the whole neighborhood street was on fire, consuming all the houses on the block one after the other. And sure enough, the wildfire eventually reached the Whites bungalow and nearly burned it completely down as well. Carrie, with the butcher knife still stuck deep in her shoulder to the hilt, wandered aimlessly until she approached The Cavalier roadhouse, where her father drunk himself into a stupor before raping Margaret. It was amazing how she kept going, despite her wounds, but she still had one more last thing to do to complete her final destruction. Carrie arrived just in time to catch Chris and Billy fleeing the establishment after making love inside. Here, Carrie could feel them, almost taste them with her telepathic powers. She faced the two who she needed to finally kill most of all before the night was over, before she was completely finished with her rampage of revenge. Knowing she was responsible for what had happened to Ewen High and downtown Chamberlain, Billy tried to run Carrie down with his car to kill her. However, Carrie felt the car approaching and wrestled the oncoming vehicle with her telekinetic powers and violently slammed it full force into the roadhouse. Billy's nose was broken and his torso was crushed into the steering wheel. Chris was immediately thrown face first into the dashboard, busting the glass windshield. The car exploded, killing both Chris and Billy instantly and also destroying the building, starting yet another major fire that burned all through the parking lot. After the explosion, Carrie became weak and collapsed in the middle of the lot out of exhaustion from overusing her powers and the blood loss caused by her wound. Sue, who had been following the trail of destruction caused by Carrie in hopes of tracking her down to stop her rampage, finally arrived a short time later only to find Carrie nearly dead on the ground in the burning lot. Carrie, in pain and slowly dying from her injuries, blamed Sue for the prank. But before Carrie died, Sue invited Carrie into her mind to see that she had no part in planning the nasty joke that occurred earlier that evening and just paired her up with Tommy as amends for locker room incident. Carrie found that Sue was innocent and never really felt any personal hatred towards her. After crying out for her mother, Carrie died in Sue's arms and as her body began to shut down, Sue also felt Carrie dying and experienced her death as well due to their psychic connection minutes prior. Seconds after, Sue got up to fetch for help but could feel herself miscarrying, though she initially thought that she was apparently having her period. Whether it was her really miscarrying Tommy's baby or just a period caused by a side effect from Sue's and Carrie's brief connection, it is unknown.

Part 5: The Aftermath

The Black Prom tragedy hits the nation bigger than the JFK assassination. Carrie's story becomes a controversial and a highly discussed subject. An autopsy is performed on Carrie's body. The coroner's report that Carrie's brain had a different cell pattern compared to other brains. Scientists begin to take the concept of telekinesis more seriously. People all over the world are also scared that another telekinetic child could be born. Miss Desjardin, one of the few lucky survivors, resigns due to her guilt for not reaching out to Carrie, for not preventing what had happened on Prom night and for secretly for having approved of the evil prank in the end, even stating that she would rather commit suicide than teach again. Mr. Grayle, the school principal also resigns for not preventing more from what had happened. Meanwhile, the authorities and skeptics are also investigating and trying to figure out what exactly happened in Chamberlain, Maine that caused 440 people to die. It's a rather big mystery, due to the fact Carrie killed almost all of the witnesses in her mass homicide and with so many people dead and so much destroyed outerly and innerly, Chamberlain becomes a virtual ghost town and even a popular tourist attraction because of Carrie´s actions. Sue goes on to write a memoir about her involvement with Carrie White. She warns her readers to never forget about Carrie or the events that occurred in Chamberlain or something like this could happen all over again. Carrie's body is finally buried next to her mother's in a graveyard somewhere in Maine. Carrie's headstone also makes a cameo appearance in the novel, IT, which also takes place in Maine. The novel closes with a letter written by a hillbilly woman in Tennessee whose baby daughter is developing incredibly strong advanced telekinetic abilities as well. However, unlike Margaret White, she expresses a fascination with her daughter's natural abilities and predicts that her daughter will become a "real world beater someday". This may be hinting that Carrie's soul has been passed on to a happy family, something she had always wanted.

1976 Film

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Carrie White

The 1976 film of Carrie starred Sissy Spacek. Here, Carrie had long strawberry blonde hair, clear skin and the plot of the film was close to that of the novel, but certain differences did occur.

Biography

Carrie was raised, isolated from society by her single mother after her father, Ralph White had left them for another woman.

Life

One day after P.E. class, Carrie gets confronted by her classmates and gets her first period. Unaware of this, Carrie believed she was bleeding to death and asked for help from the other girls. Carrie was, however, mocked by Chris Hargensen, Norma Watson, Helen Shyres, and Sue Snell as they threw tampons all over her, ignoring her desperation. Miss Collins arrived and stopped them, expelling the girls from the locker room. As Carrie screamed uncontrollably, the light bulb above them exploded, much for Chris and Norma's thrill. Miss Collins was forced to slap her on the face and apologized, comforting her. After Carrie took a shower, she was taken by Miss Collins to the principal's office and the incident spread around, some kids mocking her as she waited to be called in. Angered, Carrie caused his ashtray to fall down and be knocked out by Carrie, after Mr. Morton kept calling her "Cassie". Miss Collins suggested that it would be better for her to walk home. As Carrie went, a neighborhood boy cycled across her yelling "Creepy Carrie", and was telekinetically knocked down by Carrie. Carrie arrived home and found out that Margaret had been informed of the incident. Carrie questioned why she was not told by this, who was telling that the girls all laughed at her over her ignorance. Ignoring her sorrow, a cold-hearted Margaret simply forced Carrie to pray, because she is still a girl, who according to her twisted beliefs, was susceptible to temptation. Carrie was dragged inside their prayer closet where she was locked in and forced to pray, which she did, after all. Finished, Carrie thanked her mother and went upstairs. In her bedroom, Carrie angrily caused her mirror to shatter and managed to rebuilt it before her mother could come in. The other day, Carrie saw from afar that Miss Collins was confronting the girls over the incident in the shower. As Mr. Fromm read a poem written by the popular student, Tommy Ross and sarcastically expressed his distaste for it, Carrie shyly commented that she thought Tommy's writing was "beautiful". Carrie went to the library to search about "miracles" and was led to better understatement of her gift. As she researched, Carrie was approached by Tommy and was asked to the Prom. Scared, Carrie simply ran away from him. Miss Collins later found Carrie alone and talked to her. Carrie revealed she was asked to the Prom by Tommy and her suspicions that "they" were planning to humiliate her once again. Miss Collins, worried, encouraged the girl by emphasizing how pretty she actually looked. Tommy visited Carrie, once again insisting in taking her to the Prom. Afraid that her mother would come and caught him at their door, Carrie accepted at last. Carrie then told Margaret about Tommy and the Prom and remarked that he was a good boy. Margaret reacted by throwing tea onto Carrie's face, and tried to force her into the prayer closet once again, because boys always came after "the blood". Carrie, however, refused and as her powers caused their windows to beat, was called a "witch" by a horrified Margaret. Carrie explained that she was actually born gifted with telekinesis. Margaret mentioned that her father was taken by sin and Carrie remarked that he had fled for another woman, something everybody around them knew. Carrie insisted she would go to the Prom and that things were about to change for them. A seamstress, Carrie made herself a gown for the night. At Prom night, Margaret approached Carrie, stating that she knew Carrie would wear "red", while her gown was actually pink. Margaret insisted for Carrie to stay and they could burn the gown, because her classmates would laugh at her. As Tommy arrived, Carrie mentally telekinetically pushed her mother onto the bed to contain her and left after saying she loved her. At the Prom, Carrie was well received by Frieda Jason, who complimented her gown, while Norma and Freddy DeLois mocked her and the others noticed how different she looked. Tommy invited Carrie for a dance, which she initially declined. Miss Collins later approached them and complimented Carrie, telling her about an awful, but "magical" experience in her teenagerhood, at the night of her Prom. Carrie then agreed into dancing with Tommy, On the spur of the moment, Carrie had her first kiss with him. Carrie then questioned why she was there and was told that it was because she liked his poem. When Carrie received the ballots for Prom King and Queen, she noticed that they were there as candidates. Reluctant to vote for themselves, Tommy persuaded her to do so. Much for her rejoice, the couple were elected King and Queen of the Prom. Carrie went onto the stage and was coronated in tears and noticed as Sue Snell appeared and was expelled from the Prom by Miss Collins. Carrie's pleasure came to an end when a bucket of pig’s blood was spilled on her, much to her horror. Tommy was hit on the head by the bucket above them and fell unconscious. Carrie then remembered her mother's ominous words that she would be scorned once again, Miss Collin's kind words of confidence and the incident in the shower, as in her mind, everyone at the Prom laughed at her. Enraged, Carrie used her powers to close every door of the gym, locking everyone in and turned the lights red. As Norma, Freddy and Kenny Garson left, Carrie forced the door to open, suffocating Freddy and Kenny as Norma screamed for help. Focusing on the firehose, Carrie opened it, washing Norma and everyone away from the door, creating a turmoil in the gym. With the water from the firehose, Carrie knocked Norma down and electrified Mr. Fromm and Mr. Morton. Miss Collins got lost among the turmoil and called for Carrie, the girl, possessed by rage, caused the basketball backboard to fell on Miss Collins, killing her. Carrie left as Mr. Fromm burned to his death, which set the gym on fire. As she walked home, Chris attempted to run her down with Billy Nolan’s car, but Carrie attacked them, causing the car to keel over and explode, killing Chris and Billy inside. Carrie arrived home and found out that the house was filled with lighted candles and as she washed the blood away, she bursted in tears. Margaret then appeared to seemingly comfort Carrie, telling her daughter that she was conceived after Ralph got drunk and that they made love, which Margaret regretted. Margaret invited Carrie into one last prayer and as the girl recited the Lord's prayer, comforted in her arms, Margaret stabbed her in the back. Carrie rolled downstairs, unable to stand up and run, as her insane mother approached her, ready to kill "the demon". Carrie then threw the kitchen's knives onto her mother, stabbing her and pinned to the walls. Carrie witnessed as Margaret agonized to her death and screamed in terror over her loss. Carrie's powers than manifested on the loose, bring the house down over her. Carrie rushed to the closet carrying her mother and stayed there as the house came down, dying.

Aftermath

Carrie killed 73 people at the night of the Prom and the incident became some kind of "Urban Legend" in the town. Carrie's father Ralph, had another daughter named Rachel Lang, who was also a carrier of telekinesis.

1988 Episode

In the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Milly takes the role of Carrie White.

1999 Sequel

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Carrie reappears in the sequel, but only in flashbacks through a now middle-aged Sue Snell's memories about what happened regarding the events, which later lead to The Black Prom. We learn that Sue had a mental breakdown and was put into a mental hospital due to the guilt of what happened to Carrie, Tommy Ross and all the other students she knew back in 1979.

As a result, she eventually became a school counselor to help teens at a local high school. We also recognize, that the town of Chamberlain has changed because of Carrie's rampage. After the death of 73 high school students in 1979, many people since then have left the town. The original high school is left abandoned and lies in ruins and has not been rebuilt. It has become a sick and twisted memorial of that doomed night and a painful reminder to the community of what happened in their town all those years ago. And because of it, the citizens have come to literally hate Carrie, even in death and as a result Carrie has become somewhat of an "urban legend" even though the telekinesis part of the story is not taken too seriously and looked at as a "suicide-revenge" type thing.

The new Bates High School is now instead in another part of the expanded town that has grown since Carrie's demise and there Rachel Lang, Carrie´s half sister, who is also a telekinetic, is an attending student along with her best friend, Lisa Parker who commits suicide after a cruel and degrading sexual prank is played on her. This tragic event later lead to The Black Party. She became a clean girl.

2002 TV Film

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Angela Bettis's portrayal of Carrie was similar to the original novel with the exception of her appearance. She was shown as having brown hair, a pale but clear complexion, and a small, slim frame. In this version, Angela Bettis plays Carrie, while Jodelle Micah Ferland plays the Little Carrie White.

Like the novel, her telekinetic abilities were present, when she was a child, giving only one example: the shower of flaming rocks, when her mother mistreated her for talking to a girl she considered a slut. Her only other telekinetic occurrences happened after the shower incident. However, more examples occur in this film, that never took place in either the original novel or in the film. In one scene, she falls into a bizarre trance, during which she bends her metal ruler and cracks her desk in half with her mind, but is unaware of what she's done until she comes back to consciousness.

After researching "miracles" and finding out about telekinesis, she begins practicing with it, attempting to control and intensify it.

When Tommy Ross asks her to go to the prom with him, she shies away, but he insists and she accepts. Her mother, on the other hand, is completely against the idea. At dinner, Carrie insists and uses her power against her mother, blocking the doorways and preventing Margaret from storming out. Carrie begins taking control of the situation, standing up for herself for once.

When Prom Night comes, Carrie dons her self-made dress and sends her mother sliding out of the room, when she comes in to interfere. Carrie's stress and paranoia grow to the point that she believes Tommy will not come, lifting things with her mind by way of fidgeting. When Tommy knocks on the door, she drops everything, crashing it all down to the floor.

As the two of them arrive at the prom, Carrie is greeted with open arms, complimented and accepted by the crowd of students and teachers. She actually begins to enjoy herself, and is even more excited, when she is elected Prom Queen. While on stage with Tommy, she drifts off into a daydream in which she and Tommy share the dance, leading to them kissing. Then she becomes victim of the evil prank of Christine and Billy and suffers a blackout.

Subconsciously she snaps and begins to destroy the school and later Chamberlain on her way home. She also kills Billy and Christine, when they try to run her over. At home Carrie goes to the bathtub and there she recovers her consciousness and wants to know what happened. Her mother, now completely mad, tries to drown her, but Carrie, with her last strength, kills her by stopping her heart.

She is between life and death, until Sue finds her and revives her. She desperately wants to know, what happened. Sue, realizing she didn't do this knowingly, hides her for two weeks and then they both visit together her mother's grave for the first and last time, where she says goodbye to her. She then takes her to Florida.

2012 Musical

Carrie White was portrayed by Molly Ranson.

2013 Remake

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The film is basically a remake of the 1976 film with the psychological aspects of the events more in the center of the movie, adapted to the cyber age and with a more confrontational fight between Chris and Carrie, which ends with Chris and Billy's death at the hands of Carrie, who, like in the 1976 movie, acted in self-defense. However, at the end she faces Sue, something that did not happened in the 1976 movie.

Finally, in this movie, Carrie forgives Sue, doesn't kill Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer) at all and doesn't kill all of the other prom goers. It is also implied, that she may still be alive after these events.

Buckets Of Blood

Each portrayal of Carrie leads to her climax in enjoyment, as she steps up onto the stage and is crowned Queen of the Prom, with Tommy Ross as her King. As the crowd of prom-goers and teachers applaud them, Christine Hargensen (Portia Doubleday) pulls the cord connected to two buckets (only one bucket in the movies) of pig's blood. In both the novel and the 1976 film versions, Carrie remains unaware of the buckets, until the blood actually splatters down on her head, while in the 2002 film version, she happens to look up in time to see the bucket fall, sending the wave of blood down on her and Tommy. Tommy is struck in the head, killing him; he dies almost immediately, as Carrie begins to wreak havoc around him because of the hysterical laughter she endured after that. In the 2013 movie, however, she only freaks out after consciously realizing, that Tommy is dead and gone having endured the hysterical laughter before that on the way. It turned out to be Fruit Punch.

One of the difficulties in staging the musical was that, when Carrie was drenched by the blood, it would clog Linzi Hateley's body microphone. Since her song "The Destruction" began almost immediately, there was no time to clear the microphone before it was needed. To solve this problem, an actor was dispatched to daub Linzi Hateley's face with stage blood and then invert an empty bucket on her head.

Carrie's Fate

Each version of what happens to Carrie and Chamberlain is different, though sharing some similarities.

Novel

Perhaps the most destructive of the four variants. In this version, Carrie runs out of the gym, as everyone laugh at her. After falling onto the wet lawn outside, Carrie remembers the power and plans to drench the others. Turning on the sprinkler system, she remembers the electricity is on, but proceeds. Witnessing the grotesque electrocution deaths of two students, Carrie's mind snaps, and she ultimately destroys the school, with most of the prom-goers in it. Walking home, she cuts a huge swath of destruction and death. When she enters the house, her mother is waiting with a butcher knife to kill her, and stabs her severely; Carrie slows her mother's heart to a stop using her telekinesis. She leaves again, heading for the roadhouse, where her mother says her father used to drink and watch strippers and where he committed marital rape, which lead to her birth. There Christine Hargensen and Billy Nolan attempt to run her over with their car before Carrie takes control of their car and slams it into the side of the roadhouse.

Carrie is left dying on the ground near the destroyed car, bleeding from the knife wound. Two hours later she is found by Sue Snell, Tommy's girlfriend, who invites her into her mind to prove that she was innocent, and did not wish Carrie any harm. Carrie does not forgive her, but believes her. She cries out for her mother and dies in Sue's arms. The authorities then take the body away after Sue identifies it for them.

The incident hits the nation even harder than the John F. Kennedy assassination, to which it is explicitly compared. 458 people died in the disaster, 99 of them were prom goers and 67 were seniors. A blue-ribbon commission investigates, several survivors author their own accounts, whose hearts have been broken because of the events and science begins to take telekinesis seriously. The town of Chamberlain has not been rebuilt, because of the destruction, the killings, especially the killing of the seniors, and the guilt resulting from its circumstances. All this has broken the city´s soul. It becomes gradually a ghost town and it is implied that, in time, it will be reduced to a mere tourist attraction for visitors, who want to know about Carrie White. The overall theme is, that to forget what happened, or to think of it as a one-time occurrence, would be a huge mistake.

1976 Film

In the first film version, Carrie remains inside the gym after the blood lands on her. She snaps and begins hearing her mother's voice saying, what she had told her before she left for the prom, "They're all going to laugh at you." Carrie believes everyone is laughing at her, but really only a part, including a few of Christine Hargensen's cohorts are. Most of the prom goers are shocked and, if anything, horrified. Tommy "Thomas" Ross is rendered unconscious by the bucket hitting him in the head. Completely disillusioned, Carrie uses her mind to slam the exit doors shut. The laughs die down as the lights above Carrie change, giving off a spooky and scary darker red tint.

As the students begin to panic, Carrie uses her demonic powers to pull out the emergency fire hose. Turning it on, Carrie then uses it to spray down on the students who attempting to escape from her wrath, even going so far as to spray on Norma Watson (P.J. Soles) into submission and possibly fatality as the high-pressurized water is blasted into her face. Carrie then kills Miss Collins after pushing her against a wall and sending a ceiling rafter toppling down on her, crushing her torso against the wall like a helpless female dachshund.

Mr. Fromm and Principal Morton take to the microphone, but Carrie turns the hose on them, instead hitting the wires and electrocuting Principal Morton like a catfish. Mr. Fromm is set on fire and stumbles backwards, and his flaming sleeve ignites the mural behind him. The flames spread quickly, and Carrie finally steps down from the stage, walking out of the school as the flames rise behind her, locking the students in to burn. As Sue revealed in the sequel, some survived the havoc, although names were not given. As Carrie begins walking home, Christine Hargensen and Billy Nolan attempt to run her over from behind, but one glance from her sends the car toppling and rolling before exploding.

When Carrie makes it home, she first washes the blood off of herself in the tub before putting on a nightgown. She is greeted by her mother, who literally stabs her in the back and stalks her through the house, almost stabbing her again before Carrie sends a barrage of kitchen utensils flying at her one by one, eventually crucifying her against a doorway, pinning her hands to the beams and sending one last knife/dagger spinning into her heart, killing her. Carrie then pulls her mother's body off of the wall, as her own stress pulls down chunks of the roof, bringing down the house. She then drags her mother's body into the prayer closet as the house begins to catch fire. Carrie finally dies from her wound as the house begins to sink into the ground and is destroyed in the fire.

In the sequel, it is told that 73 people died in the disaster and the original high school has not been rebuilt at all because of that. Instead it has been rebuilt at another part of the town. It is also implied, that Carrie's body was never found. Carrie was cleaned up.

1988 Episode

In the episode, she rocks the prom.

2002 TV film

The made-for-television version is overall more faithful to the book, although the special effects are ramped up to 21st century standards. The story is told as a flashback. The police questions several surviving students and faculty about the incident at the school and the death of Carrie White. Also, anyone who has seen any previous adaptation of the story may automatically assume that Carrie has died. However, in a surprising twist, Sue finds Carrie, unconscious after her mother tried to kill her, and resuscitates her. Carrie hides out in the ruins of the school, while Sue is questioned by the police (the film was a pilot for a proposed series about Carrie, which never materialized.).

Carrie remains inside the gym after the blood lands on her. Later Tommy is killed by the emptied bucket Christine and Billy later did let fall in order to flee the scene. As the crowd of students begin laughing at her, she becomes catatonic. She loses conscience and in her unconsciousness she uses her mind to slam the doors shut after she sends a wave of energy through the crowd. Tina Blake's date, Kenny, tries to stick his hand through the doors in an attempt to stop them, but Carrie crushes and twists his arm between the doors.

The students begin to panic, and Carrie viciously crushes Tina Blake to death with the basketball backboard, after striking her to the floor with it. As the gym erupts in panic, huge sets of lights begin to shake above the crowds, letting off showers of sparks and falling down to the floor. One set swings and smashes against the mural, igniting it in flames. The fire quickly spreads as the prom-goers panic, crowding at the doors. Miss Desjarden, along with Norma, find an exit route through a vent as the sprinklers above turn on, showering the gym with water. Carrie breaks the pipes lining the walls, leading up to the sprinklers, sending the water gushing out of the broken end, flooding down onto the floor.

Carrie begins walking out, as another set of lights swings and smashes into the electric basketball scoreboard. Miss Desjardin hurries a few students into the vents before attempting to crawl in herself, only to be left dangling, just as the scoreboard hits the water-soaked floor. Everyone else is electrocuted like a catfish as they run along the gym floor, and Carrie walks through the doors, and collapses the entire flaming school as she leaves. She then makes her way through the town, destroying it in a similar fashion to the novel, exploding gas stations and destroying cars and houses. Christine and Billy attempt to run her over, but she instead sends the car flying at a tree, crushing them to death.

Carrie finally makes it home; still wearing her blood-covered prom dress, she steps into a bath and washes herself. Her mother attempts to drown her in the tub while reciting the "Now I lay me" prayer. Carrie responds to this by (telekinetically) stopping her mother's heart, killing her. Afterward, Carrie just lies there, completely submerged in her bath.

Sue finds her later, and manages to revive Carrie. Afterwards, Carrie visits her own grave (she is thought to be dead), as well as her mother's. There, Sue insists, that Carrie must not be seen by anyone, and that she must leave town. Sue then offers to drive her as far as Florida, and the film concludes with Carrie startled awake in the passenger seat of Sue's car by a nightmare of her mother. When questioned, she dismisses the dream as "nothing," implying that she may be able to put her past behind her and move on.

A detective begins to investigate the events and it has turned out, that 234 people died because of the disaster. It is implied he is going to discover that Carrie is alive sparking the series that was never materialized.

2012 Musical

2013 Remake

In this movie, Carrie knows beforehand, what happened before she caused the rampage and who caused it. She first kills everyone involved in it (with the exception of Frederick, who was filming her humiliation) and then she slaughters most of the onlookers for condoning the crime, in which Tommy was later killed and murdered. Still, a rather large crowd survives the massacre, that Carrie commits, though most of them died anyway. Then she also kills the ringleaders, Billy and Christine in vengeance, when they tried to kill her, without showing any remorse during a head on confrontation with them outside the school. After her presumed death, Sue visits her grave and places a white rose on her grave. After she did that, she went away, but Carrie's tombstone begins to crack, which implies, she may still be alive. When she woke up, it was a nightmare.

Powers And Abilities

Carrie White possesses an incredibly powerful telekinesis. She is capable of manipulating multiple objects i.e.: fire hose, slamming the door and windows shut. The full extent of her powers are unknown, but they are strong enough to force a car away from her and spontaneously combustion. In the novel she also has limited telepathic abilities and great broadcast telepathic abilities, which enable everyone to realize, that she is the one causing the destruction of Chamberlain.

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