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Carrie White[]
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Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a shy, lonely teenage girl who is frequently bullied and abused by both her classmates and by her fundamentalist Christian mother Margaret. Her life seems to be getting better once the attractive, kind-hearted athlete Tommy asks her to the prom, but then it goes right back into hell, and then some. She possesses the ability to manipulate objects with only her thoughts, which makes angering her... not advisable.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the book, she is portrayed as being rather pudgy and covered in acne. In the film, she is played by Sissy Spacek. However, the book's description is given as she is looking in a mirror at her own face, so the written portrayal could be interpreted as how she sees herself at that moment, in which case her flaws are being exaggerated (as teenagers in Real Life are fairly prone to doing), whereas most might actually see her as rather pretty. Tommy actually thinks she's beautiful when he picks her up for the prom.
- Averted with Angela Bettis in the '02 version; see below.
- Anti-Villain
- Ax Crazy: Near the end, famously.
- Ballroom Blitz
- Beautiful All Along / She Cleans Up Nicely: At the prom.
- Beauty Inversion: In the remake, her drab clothes, messy hair and something about not washing her face or anything definitely hid any beauty that Angela Bettis had, making it that much more special when she went to the prom.
- Berserk Button: She can't stand blood... or getting laughed at... or people thinking her name is Cassie.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Blessed with Suck: Her powers cause her mother to think that she's an evil witch and try to kill her.
- Blood Is the New Black
- Blood-Splattered Prom Dress
- Coming of Age Story: One that goes horribly, horribly wrong.
- Dawson Casting: 26-year-old Spacek in the '76 version, 29-year-old Bettis in the '02 version.
- Inverted with 15-year-old Moretz in the 2013 version, who will be a couple of years younger than Carrie (who is a high school senior).
- Despair Event Horizon: After a lifetime of being made feel worthless by everybody around her — especially her own mother — the three people to finally reach out to her also (at least in her mind) betray her. Tommy, Sue, and the gym teacher were all completely innocent (the real villains were Chris and Billy), but she didn't know that. Understandably, this would dash any last shred of hope for humanity she might have had. The utter shame of it all is that Tommy had genuinely fallen in love with her, and (in the movie) was visibly angry when the prank was pulled.
- Deus Angst Machina: Not only does she have to contend with an abusive mother, but she's also a complete social outcast in school.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A teen outcast, subject to heavy bullying by peers, snaps and goes on a killing spree... even Stephen King has made the connection.
- A retroactive example, given that Carrie was published 25 years before Columbine.
- The Dog Bites Back
- Faking the Dead: In the remake, she does this with Sue's help in order to start a new life for herself.
- Freudian Excuse: Having Margaret White as a mother can excuse practically anything.
- Hair of Gold: In the first movie, though Sissy Spaceck seemed to have a kind of hair color that seemed like a mix between blonde and red headed.
- It's called "strawberry blonde."
- Heroic RROD: In the book, her overuse of her powers, combined with blood loss from being stabbed by her mother, cause her to have a heart attack after killing Billy and Chris.
- I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me
- Little Dead Riding Hood: In the book, her prom dress is red. It's pink in the movie, although Margaret mistakes it for red (and she promptly corrects her).
- Loners Are Freaks: This trope is a large part of her problem with getting accepted by her classmates.
- Memetic Outfit: Her blood-drenched pink prom dress.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the movie, she does this after killing her mother.
- My Name Is Not Durwood:
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The principal: We're really sorry about this incident, Cassie... |
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- No Periods, Period: Averted in the first five minutes. She gets her first period at age 17 — and she is under the impression that she is bleeding to death.
- Ordinary High School Student
- Person of Mass Destruction: She burns down her high school and kills scores of people during her rampage. In the book and the remake, she also destroys most of the town.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: In the book, before killing Margaret:
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"You gave me darkness instead of love, Momma; now I'm going to give you darkness, so you can join whatever god lives there." |
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- Pstandard Psychic Pstance: She does this subtly — usually, all she does is look at her target, as evidenced when she throws the asshole kid off his bike, or locks down the school gym. However, when she slams shut all the windows and doors in her house, she doesn't even do this.
- Psychic Powers: Of the Mind Over Matter variety. In the book, she's also telepathic.
- Puberty Superpower: Semi-averted. She had latent powers since birth, but only managed to gain control over them at adolescence.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge
- Self-Made Orphan: In the short time between Margaret's death and her own.
- Shrinking Violet
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the remake.
Margaret White[]
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Played by: |
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Margaret White (maiden name Brigham) is the mother of Carrie. She is a hardcore fundamentalist Christian who feels that all sex, even within marriage, is sinful, and regularly abuses her daughter in the name of God.
- Abusive Mother
- Adaptational Attractiveness: While not as extreme an example as Carrie, in both movies she was played by actresses far more attractive than the white-haired, heavyset woman she was described as in the book (Piper Laurie in '76, Patricia Clarkson in '02).
- Asshole Victim
- Ax Crazy
- Christianity Is Catholic: In the '76 film, a lot of the religious iconography that shows up in her house is Catholic, even though it's strongly implied in the book that her beliefs are rooted in fundamentalist Protestantism of the old-time Puritan variety, which has... issues with the Catholic Church.
- Crucified Villain Shot: In the original film, Carrie kills her by crucifying her against the doorway with kitchen knives, in the style of the St. Sebastian figurine in her chapel.
- Evil Matriarch
- Freud Was Right: Listen to her screams in the '76 movie as she dies — it sounds like she's getting off. Her sexual repression was discussed prior to this, so it's not as if there wasn't a reason for it to sound that way.
- The Fundamentalist: Taken to its most insane extreme. In the book, she's considered crazy even by other Christian fundamentalists.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: In the book and in the '02 version, Carrie kills her by psychically squeezing her heart until it stops beating.
- Knight Templar
- Knocking on Heathens' Door: In the original, she is seen doing this at Mrs. Snell's house.
- Large Ham: Piper Laurie's performance in the '76 version. Laurie felt that her performance was so over-the-top that the film had to be a comedy... before she saw the finished product, of course.
- My Beloved Smother
- Religious Stereotype: She is every stereotype of Christian fundamentalists rolled into one and mixed liberally with raving insanity.
- Woman in Black: In the novel, she usually wears black clothing. She's evil, of course.
- In the '76 film she not only wears black, she wears a cape.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Everything she does in the story, from visiting people's doors to attempting murder, is because she believes she's helping people in desperate need of saving. Her intentions are good, but her actions are reprehensible.
Sue Snell[]
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Played by: |
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Susan "Sue" Snell is a popular high school student who feels guilty about taking part in the humiliation of Carrie in the showers. To make up for it, she asks her athlete boyfriend Tommy to take Carrie to the prom instead of her, choosing to stay home on prom night.
- Alliterative Name
- The Atoner
- Dawson Casting: 23-year-old Irving in the '76 version, 22-year-old McClure in the '02 version.
- Les Yay: A case can be made for her and Carrie in the remake, where she helps Carrie look good for the prom and gives her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She even jokes with Carrie about being a lesbian.
- Mind Rape: At the end of the book, a dying Carrie does this to her, angry about the prank that she thought Sue had pulled on her... only to find that she had meant her no harm, and that she hadn't planned to humiliate her at the prom. She even lets her into her mind intentionally to prove this to her.
- Only Sane Girl.
- Race Lift: She was played by black South African-Canadian actress Kandyse McClure in the '02 version.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome
- Teen Pregnancy: Suggested in the book. During the climax, it's strongly implied that Carrie uses her powers to cause her to have a miscarriage.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted in the sequel, where she is the therapist.
- Zen Survivor: She's become this in the sequel.
Tommy Ross[]
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Thomas "Tommy" Everett Ross is one of the stars of the school's baseball team and the boyfriend of Sue, and their relationship has recently become more intimate. After taking part in Carrie's humiliation in the shower, Sue, feeling sorry for what she did, asks Tommy to take Carrie to the prom in order to make up for it, to which Tommy reluctantly agrees.
- Dawson Casting: 25-year-old Katt in the '76 version, 26-year-old Mehler in the '02 version.
- Genius Bruiser: In the novel, he's a straight-A student and a talented amateur writer who has had his poems published in several journals, and wants to get a university degree before pursuing a career in professional baseball. Both film adaptations retain his niceness, but turn him into a Brainless Beauty for no readily apparent reason.
- Lovable Jock: In addition to being a star athlete, he's also a very good-hearted, likable person, and one of the few people who stands up for Carrie, though he is reluctant to take her to the prom.
- Jerk Jock: However, as shown by the book's Scrapbook Story, he's treated like this afterwards (along with Sue) so that the people investigating the incident can have an easy scapegoat.
- Only Sane Man: He seems to be this at the prom. Too bad he gets knocked out before the disaster occurs.
Rita Desjardin / Miss Collins / Miss Gardiner[]
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Rita L. Desjardin is the gym teacher at the high school, who feels a mix of pity and annoyance at Carrie for her social awkwardness. After Carrie is humiliated in the showers, Rita is quick to punish those responsible with a week's detention, with her, after school, with failure to show up leading to one being barred from the prom.
In the 1976 film, her name was changed to Miss Collins, while in the Broadway adaptation, she became Miss Gardiner. The 2002 remake kept the name she had in the books, but changed the spelling to "Desjarden".
- Air Vent Passageway: She and some students use this in the '02 version to escape the burning gym.
- The Atoner: In the book, this is why she retires from teaching after the prom.
- Composite Character: The musical combined her with the principal.
- Death by Adaptation: In the '76 version.
- Does Not Like Men: In the book and the '02 version, she says that the reason why the administration made her tone down her punishment was because all of them were men, and that none of them would understand what Carrie had gone through.
- Hot Teacher: Particularly in the '02 version.
- Lesbian Jock: She was played as one in the '76 version. Subverted in that she's not a Butch Lesbian, but rather, has a very feminine appearance, and the bulk of her interaction with Carrie is complimenting her looks and giving her beauty tips. She also mentions having taken a date to her own prom, although this doesn't rule out her being bisexual or a closeted lesbian — she most likely would have attended her prom in The Sixties, before the gay rights movement lifted most of the taboos surrounding homosexuality.
- Stern Teacher: She doesn't hesitate to give her class a week of boot-camp detention and threaten them with expulsion from the prom as punishment for humiliating Carrie. However, she drops this attitude when she's with Carrie, treating her with the respect that nobody (save for Sue and Tommy) gives her.
Chris Hargensen[]
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Christine "Chris" Hargensen is the Alpha Bitch of the school, and Billy's girlfriend. She leads the class as they humiliate Carrie in the shower. Feeling that Carrie is responsible for her misfortune, she sets out to get revenge on her after finding that she is going to the prom with Tommy, enlisting her Girl Posse, her boyfriend Billy, and his friends in the plan.
- Adaptation Dye Job: She was a brunette in the book, but blonde in both film adaptations.
- Alpha Bitch: To a sociopathic degree. Lampshaded in the parody Scarrie!:
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Chris: "The Carrie Whites of the world aren't meant to go out with the Tommy Rosses of the world! For if God had wanted that, he would have given her a kick-ass bod, and long hair that layers easily and DANCES IN THE WIND!!" |
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- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Asshole Victim
- Brilliant but Lazy: She has a very high IQ, but only a C average.
- Dawson Casting: 26-year-old Allen in the '76 version, 20-year-old de Ravin in the '02 version.
- Delinquents: Her characterization in the book. It's stated that she's been sent to detention 73 times in four years, twenty of them for bullying, and that she skipped most of them. In addition, during Junior High, she had once put a firecracker into a girl's shoe and nearly blew off two of her toes. The film adaptations largely downplay this to focus on her Alpha Bitch tendencies.
- It's All About Me
- The Sociopath: Or something close to it because her father does not bother to get her any help and spoils her instead.
- Spoiled Brat, Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Her father, a rich lawyer, got her into Oberlin despite her poor grades, and threatens to sue the school if they punish Chris for what she did to Carrie in the shower. He backs off when he sees her record of violations. Later, after getting kicked out of the prom, she plans to humiliate Carrie as payback for it, feeling that she is entitled to go to the prom. She's so annoying you just want to squash her. Thanks, Carrie!
- Tomboyish Name
Billy Nolan[]
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William "Billy" Nolan is Chris' boyfriend. He is one of the school's Delinquents, and his characterization ranges from merely a Jerkass (in the 1976 film) to outright thuggish (in the book). He frequently hits Chris, and in the book he forces himself on her. He breaks into a local farm in order to kill the pigs and drain their blood into the buckets.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- The Alleged Car: The original book has him driving a rusty, beat-up, jacked-in-the-back '61 Chevy Biscayne with a broken headlight. The film, fortunately, upgrades him to something much cooler.
- Asshole Victim
- Complete Monster: The only character who has absolutely zero excuse for being utterly loathsome.
- Cool Car: In the '76 film, he drives a '67 Chevelle. Shame that Carrie blows it up.
- He gets a Cool Truck in the remake. It suffers a similar fate — Carrie slams it against a tree, roof first.
- Dawson Casting: 22-year-old Travolta in the '76 film.
- Delinquents: Both him and his friends.
- Domestic Abuse: He is frequently shown hitting Chris, and in one scene in the book, he forces her to have sex with him.
- Jerkass
- Lack of Empathy: He barely knows who Carrie White is, he just wants to destroy her life. In the book, it's stated that he does the prom prank only For the Evulz, and that he would find it just as funny if Chris was the target of the pig blood.
- The Sociopath: Big time.