CARRIE

Stephen King read an article in Life magazine suggesting that at least some reported poltergeist activity might actually be telekinetic phenomena- telekinesis being the ability to move objects just by thinking about them. There was some evidence to suggest that young people might have such powers, the article said, especially girls in early adolescence, right around the time of their first period. The American writer put two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis. Apparently the memory came back to him one day while he was working at the laundry, and he started seeing the opening scene of a story: girls showering in a locker room where there were no U-rings, pink plastic curtains, or privacy. And this one girt stars to have her period. Only she doesn´t know what it is, and the other girls-grossed out, horrified, amused- start pelting her with sanitary napkins. The girl begins to scream. All that blood and, of course, she thinks she´s dying, that the other girls are making fun of her even while she´s bleeding to death. Thanks to King`s wife, he gave the story a try and Carrie became the Best- Seller it is today. 

Anyway I never got to like Carrie White and I never trusted Sue Snell´s motive in sending her boyfriend to the prom with her. I guess that I never understood how the whole story was built. But many years later I watched Brian de Palma´s movie and then I understood. The movie is the fear of being rejected by our peers. The film shows us than when a hormonal teen gets her way the result is disaster. From the beginning of the movie to the final scene we learn that High school is an uncanny cynical world, where all good deeds are suspects and the meanest behavior is rewarded as the cool kids impose a reign or terror. 

The film captures the unpredictable violent life of adolescence life. The surprise attack, we feel, is always around the corner. The scene where Carrie dances with Tommy at the prone makes us feel sick and unsettled as the camera is spinning faster and faster and a series of questions got not answers. Then we see the bucket of pig blood that her classmates are going to dump on her reminding us that our special moments, even the best ones, can be ruined in an instant by our peers cruelty.  The colors in the scene are childish; blue, red, yellow. The contrast between blue and red torn in two directions- odd with herself and childhood and adulthood- Palma, like Stephen King before, transforms a teen girl into a monster as Carrie uses her telekinesis power to close the High- School doors. Then she is no longer the Queen of Prone but the devil. She is now in control and everybody must die. 

As is said, I never liked Carrie but I came at last to understand her a little. I pitied her and I felt sorry for her classmates as well, because I had been one of them once upon a time.

Sergio Calle Llorens