Carrietta N. "Carrie" White is the titular anti-heroine of the novel and film of the same name.
In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally unstable religious fanatic. At the late age of 16, she has her first menstrual period in the showers at school, and is harassed by the other girls. Carrie triggers her telekinetic powers, and sets in motion the disaster, that takes place at the high school prom.
Novel
Carrie is slightly chunky around the middle, with dirty-blonde hair that is long and flat. With pimples on her neck, back, and buttocks, she is considered unattractive and repulsive. However, she used to be a very pretty girl when she was younger. Her dress is old and puritanical, because her mother will not allow her to buy normal clothes like other girls her age, believing them to be too provocative and outrageous. In the character of Carrie, she is lonely and shy. However, later in the novel, she undergoes a profound transformation, both physically and psychologically.
Carrie's telekinetic powers are present throughout her life, usually evident in childhood incidents. She had closed a window and had dangled her own bottle above her crib when she was a baby. When she was three years old, she witnessed her teenage next-door neighbor sunbathing and asked her mother about the girl's breasts. Her mother scolded and physically abused Carrie for asking about such a matter. While she was inside her house, Carrie brought forth a hail of ice that smashed the bungalow. The chunks of ice were followed by a shower of rocks that plummeted onto the property, damaging it heavily while a table was almost sent toppling through the window.
At the age of 16, after many years of the telekinesis remaining dormant, Carrie is in the shower after PE class when she has her period. Already an outcast, Carrie is tormented by her peers and taps into her telekinesis again because of this torment and the initial aggressive reaction of Miss Desjardin, who didn't know what was going on. Now aware of her power, Carrie begins to practice and harness the power.
When she is asked to the prom by Tommy Ross, Carrie attempts to say no, even though she has a crush on him. Eventually, she says yes, and is nervous but happy. Her mother attempts to stop Carrie from going, but Carrie insists on trying to fit in, not wanting to be weird anymore. She makes her own dress, and is described as being beautiful as Tommy Ross escorts her to the prom.
At the dance she gradually comes out of her shell and even makes jokes while she converses with other prom goers. As she is accepted by the crowd, she begins to enjoy herself for once. Carrie and Tommy get elected the prom's king and queen, but, while on stage, a bucket of pig's blood gets poured on Carrie by Christine "Chris" Hargensen. The bucket then falls on Tommy killing him and everyone laughs because of this. Humiliated, Carrie runs out of the gym, being more humiliated on the way. Out of the gymnasium she soon thinks of a way to exact her revenge. Walking back to the gym, Carrie suddenly slams all the gym doors shut. She uses her telekinesis to turn on the sprinklers, and the water sets off an electrical fire. Most of the prom goers die, but some escape through the emergency exit.
Then she goes on a rampage throughout the town destroying downtown on her way home. There she meets her mother, who, now completely mad, reveals to her daughter, that she was born out of marital rape and then stabs her. Carrie retaliates by stopping her heart. Then she goes to the place, where she was conceived, where she meets Christine and Billy, who try to murder her, but Carrie kills them instead with her telekinesis, by slamming her car to a building place, where she was conceived, destroying it.
After that she falls to the ground, where Sue finds her. She forgives her, but transmits her all her memories about her life. She then dies out of blood loss with Sue having to watch her die. The authorities then take the body away after being identified by Sue for investigation.
Films
1976 Film
Template:Infobox Film Character2Carrie is seen as shy but attractive. She has an acne-free face, and reddish-blonde hair that is long and straight, as well as having a small, slim body.
There was no evidence to show, that her telekinetic powers were present in her life before, instead only being triggered by her first period. Her first shown telekinetic occurrences included toppling her principal's ashtray in his office and sending a taunting child swerving off his bike and injuring him. Later, while in her room, she accidentally shatters a mirror, that she was looking at, unlocks her door from a distance, and pieces the mirror back together.
After all this Carrie goes to the library to understand what is going on and finds about telekinesis. When Tommy Ross (William Katt) asks Carrie to the prom at Sue's request, Carrie runs away and hides, but is found by Miss Collins (Betty Buckley). She comforts Carrie and convinces her, that she is pretty, brushing her hair out of her face to reveal her smile. Carrie accepts the invitation and rebels against her mother's wishes, when she throws her mother down against the bed to prevent interference.
At the prom, Carrie is dazzled, and begins having the most wonderful time of her life, climaxing to the point, that she is crowned as the Prom Queen, basking in the applause of the crowd of peers.
While on stage, a bucket of blood gets poured on Carrie by Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen). The bucket falls on Tommy's head and knocking him out, cracking his skull like a mirror and killing him in the process. Humiliated, and believing everyone is laughing at her, she decides to extract revenge: she uses her telekinetic powers to shut and lock the exit doors, and controls the fire hose with which she douses and kills nearly all of the prom goers. Controlling the hose, she electrocutes two teachers trying to calm students speaking with a microphone. Starting an electrical fire, it quickly spreads all over the gym and she moves from the stage. Carrie walks out of the gym, as it erupts into a ball of fire.
On her way home, Christine and Billy Nolan (John Travolta try to kill her, but Carrie kills them instead by throwing her car away from the street and by making it later exploded, thus burning them into skeletons. At home her mother, now completely mad, tries to murder her in vengeance, because, in her eyes, she is a witch. She stabs her in the back, but Carrie retaliates by using her telekinesis to kill her with knives/daggers. Overcome with grief and rage, she destroys her house and buries it together with her mother. She dies out of blood loss because of the wound her mother inflicted on her.
Sequel
Carrie was also featured in flashbacks in the sequel The Rage: Carrie 2.
Sue Snell is now a high school counselor in the New Bates High School, who was deeply scarred by the events of the prom, being one of the few survivors. Her attention is drawn to a student named Rachel Lang, who is exhibiting telekinetic abilities similar to Carrie's. In the movie, it is revealed, that telekinesis is a genetic disorder, with the male as the carrier, meaning that it is most likely to occur in females rather than males. After researching Rachel's past, she finds that she is in fact Carrie's half-sister: her father, Ralph White, having left Margaret White (nee Brigham) for Rachel's mother, Barbara Lang, thus giving Carrie and Rachel their telekinetic abilities from their father.
2002 television film
Template:Infobox Film Character2Angela Bettis' 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 (although she says that certain foods, such as cake, give her pimples), and a small, slim frame. In this version Angela Bettis plays Carrie and 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.
Come prom night, 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.
2013 Remake
Template:Infobox Film Character2The 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 has 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.
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 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.
2002 television 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.
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.
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.