Remakes are not great because they are ‘new and exciting’ but because they are both ‘old and new’. They take us back to the past while also showing how the original story can pack a serious punch within the shiny vessel of the remake.
Remake films are often quickly judged to be made for the purpose of ensured profit and entertainment through ‘escapism’. They also tend to be judged based on their fidelity to the original source, and are met with scorn when they do not include details loved by the film’s original fans. However, I want to make a clear point not to base the film’s value on its loyalty to the film it was based on, but rather look at possible reasons why certain elements were left as is, altered, or omitted. By having a close look at how sexuality, intent of "the monster", and technology play a part and vary in Carrie (1976), and Carrie (2013), the main points of difference reveal to us changes in focus and concern for the new time period the film is being made in, and what the new team of producers and directors want to express to their audience. Unlike what Chuck Palahniuk suggests in Fight Club, not “Everything is [simply] a copy of a copy of a copy.”
Sexuality and Sexual Agency in Carrie
Sexuality in a film like Carrie is all about power distribution, and a literal case of whether ‘mind over matter’ really is a good method for taking control of one’s own life and destiny. Carrie, at least in the beginning of both films, is an innocent girl, as she has been coddled, and kept sexually ignorant by her mother. In the original film (1976), our first look at Carrie is on the volleyball field, as an ganguly, and awkward young girl who is still doing her best to involve herself with the other girls by attempting to immediate them. Her failure in sports however earns herself verbal abuse (“you eat S***”), and isolation. On the other hand, in the remake (2013), we truly see Carrie at the very beginning of her life. The first thing we see is a shot of a regular and even picturesque middle class American home. The painful screams of a woman dominates the sinister soundtrack in the background. The point of view camera takes us through the house, which is covered in religious iconography and sewing equipment. Those who are familiar with the original film know that this woman is indeed Margaret White, Carrie’s mother. The point of view camera takes us up the stairs, which are covered with blood and water. Margaret is rolling on the bed in agony, talking to god as she believes she is dying of “cancer”. Soon, her yelling stops and she discovers a baby under her nightdress. Margaret tells herself that “it’s a test. Cut it down. Cut it down.” She grabs a large pair of sewing scissors from the dresser and prepares to stab the baby, however stops herself as we see her moral dilemma play out through a shot reverse shot of the eyes of both mother and daughter. Carrie cries as the title slide appears.
From this bonus scene in the remake, we clearly see that from the beginning of her life, Carrie has been treated as a product of sin. When this Carrie however attends gym class, she makes no attempt to participate with the other girls. There is a darkness to her character that grows throughout the film that is simply not there in the original. While this new Carrie could indeed be classed as “the freak” in terms of high school stereotypes, she is this in a scary way, rather than being pathetic and frightened. Spacek portrays Carrie from the beginning as wild eyed and ignorant, while Moretz, who had just come from doing the vampire film remake Let Me In (2010) is quiet, but in an insidious fashion, as a person who embodies untapped power, and has an underlying anger and hate for those around her. The shower scene where Carrie experiences her first period is different for both versions of Carrie as well, and has a different impact on their sexual maturity. In the original, after volleyball, all of the girls are made to shower communally. The girls run around, brush their hair, and get dressed, some of which have their naked bodies in full view. The combination of the sing song soundtrack, and slow motion camera fetishises the group of young girls, in a style reminiscent of Lyne’s 1997 film of Nobokov’s scandalous American novel, Lolita. While these girls are not fourteen years old like Lolita, they are all school girls, and possess a fresh kind of youthful beauty, and budding sexuality that is still in development. The way each girl moves also says a lot about puberty and growing up. Some strut around proudly, while others are still coming to terms with their confidence. We then see Carrie enter the shower, and watch as the young girl washes her body, unaware of her own beauty as a woman. As the water washes between her legs, it goes red. When she looks at her hands, the close up shows her confused, and afraid eyes. Her reaction is manic. She grabs onto the other girls screaming for help. She causes a light to break. This is the first instance of her power, however it is not intentional. When the gym teacher Mrs Collins comes, she tells Carrie to “grow up and take care of yourself.” and slaps her. Carrie is then made to sit outside like a naughty child while the Principal and Mrs Collins speak audibly about the ridiculous nature of the situation. While the girls did the wrong thing, this was her mother’s fault.
In the remake, the bathroom scene does not have any underaged nudity, or sensual slow mos, rather, all of the other girls are almost all dressed, and Carrie is the only one left to wash herself, making her the sole focus of our attention. As in the original, she stops when she sees the blood, however she focuses on her bloodied hands (an image which will be mirrored later), and immediately reacts in horror. While the new Carrie is also in an incredibly vulnerable position, she shows less mania. She speaks more than the word: “help”. She says “something’s not right” and “I think I’m bleeding to death”. Carrie also shows more power straight away. She makes the lights flicker, the items on the floor shake, then blows the lights out completely. The principal and teacher do not talk about her, but with her straight away in the office, causing less sexual humiliation on her part, and when asked about periods, she was comfortable to talk about it. She only resists when the Principal says he must call her mother. Carrie’s eyes are not scared as they are in the original, but more angry. Also, instead of just flipping a cigarette tray with her telekinesis like in the original, she smashes the large water cooler in the corner. Carrie’s increased telekinetic power could be a way to make the remake a larger version of the original, however it is also a source of increased sexual agency for Carrie.
Creepy Carrie! Creepier Carrie? Carrie's Intent
The issue and question of intent is particularly interesting and relevant when looking at the two Carrie films. As mentioned before, from the very beginning, it is made clear that there is something different, stronger, and darker about the new Carrie. The most telling and infamous scene is the attack at prom, and the bucket of blood that started it. In the original, once the blood falls on Carrie’s head, the audio cuts out. A slow drum beat starts. One of Chris’ bully friends begins to laugh and soon everyone is. We see Tommy mouth “what the hell?” right before the bucket falls down and bangs him on the head, causing him to pass out. Carrie stands there while she sees everyone laughing in a kaleidoscope view as laughter, “They’re all gonna laugh at you” (Margaret White), “We’re all very sorry Cassie”(Principal), and “Trust me Carrie, trust me”(Mrs Collins) mix together as part of a dizzying audio visual experience. Carrie’s face goes blank. The screen is split into two views to show Carrie using her powers to shut all of the exits in the gym. The lighting is red, and everyone runs to escape death. Carrie controls the fire hoses which appear to come to life, as everyone is soaked. The camera shots alternate between the full screen, and the split screen effect when it is necessary to show reactions. Chris and Billy watch from outside. We see Chris react to a frame swinging down and killing Mrs Collins, a teacher who did her best to be kind to Carrie. Carrie makes things crush people, causes people to fly into walls, and uses live wires to electrocute people indiscriminately. As the Principal is electrocuted, a wall of fire rises behind her, making the scene look like an image of hell. She walks slowly off the stage and out of the door, using her powers to seal it shut behind her. Still in her trance, she walks home. Billy and Chris who are in their car spot her and drive straight at her. She is walking with her back towards them. When they are very close, she turns around to look at them, causing the car to spin, and then explode into flames on the side of the road. As Carrie approaches her house, She is back to normal. Her posture is more relaxed, and her eyes are no longer staring. The moment where her power completely overtook her is over.
On the other hand, the attack in the remake is completely intentional. Whether she regretted it later or not, the murder was clearly revenge against all of the kids and adults who were cruel to her. When the blood falls on Carrie, it is replayed exactly as is, then happens again as a close up low angle shot, showing the bucket flip over, then a low angle point of view perhaps as a kid looking up at the stage, then as a regular mid shot, showing the whole stage, and the aftermath of the prank. A point of view shot shows us Carrie’s perspective as she looks at her bloodied hands, a shot which mirrors when she had her first period in the shower. The camera swings up to show the audience staring at her. Tommy audibly yells: “what the hell?” Everyone remains silent until the video of the bullying is played. Carrie steps forward and watches herself in the video, writhing with anger. The gym teacher calls out to her while approaching the stage, only to be pushed away by Carrie with her powers. The bucket then comes loose and hits Tommy on the head, not only causing him to pass out, but killing him instantly. Everyone is shocked. There is no chorus of laughter and jeering. Even so, Carrie stands up from Tommy’s body, causing the lights to flicker. Blood flies up from her body into the air, a modern horror technique that has been used in The Ring series to highlight supernatural occurrences, and her eyes go black. Even though she seems to be in an attack mode of sorts, her actions are conscious. After shutting the doors, she causes the whole crowd to suffer, but also picks people out for especially painful deaths. The twin bully girls are forced onto the ground while they are trampled and stabbed by the stiletto heels of the terrified crowd. She wet everyone with the hoses and whipped people with the live wires, causing electrocution. Chris’ best friend has her dress set on fire, causing her to burn alive. A boy who is carrying a girl and trying to help another person has a flaming moon decoration hauled at him. Carrie choke holds the gym teacher in the air with her powers, but lets her live. She then flies over the wreckage and out of the gym. Rather than just wanting to go home, Carrie goes after Chris and Billy. Rather than Carrie having her back to them, she is soon behind their car. She causes the road to crack and curl up in order to trap them. In retaliation, they drive straight for her, but crash into an invisible wall head on. This kills Billy, but Chris survives. Carrie circles the car like a predator. As Chris reaches for the door, she causes it to lock. She proceeds to choke her with a seat belt, but Chris escapes the hold, and gains control of the vehicle. She drives as fast as she can towards Carrie, however, her power is too strong, causing the car to stop in its tracks, and lifts in the air. In a shot reverse shot, we see Chris look at Carrie clearly afraid, while Carrie smiles wickedly. Carrie then lets the car go, and it flies into the gas station behind. Chris’ face smashes through the windshield in slow motion, and is alive for a few seconds for Carrie to be the last thing she sees. As Carrie walks away, she also makes a lamp post explode and fall onto the car, also causing it to burst into flames.
Looking at Chris’ death alone, it is clear that the new Carrie wanted this to happen, at least in the moment. After being in a position of weakness for her whole life, she had power over every life in the room. In comparison, the original Carrie is traumatised by her experience. There does not seem to be any anger or hate of her own, rather that the ridicule and hate she was receiving was being internalised until it exploded at random. While she certainly has the power to move things if she wants to, in relation to the massacre, that was an instance of her power controlling her rather than the other way around.
The Terror of Technology in Carrie
As this remake is set in modern day circa 2013, technology is one of the biggest differences between the films. While Carrie in both films is humiliated by the other girls when she gets her first period in the shower room, the new Carrie has the event filmed by Chris on her phone. While Carrie, in her religious extremist household is off the grid, she finds out straight away about the video, as Chris shows Billy and her group outside the school when Carrie has to be picked up early. The following day, everybody knows about it. As she walks through the hallways, other students ask each other “is that Carrie White?” Even something Chris said to her at gym class: “Carrie White eats S***” is spray painted across the lockers. While bullying has occurred before modern technology, the ‘he said, she said’ gossip culture is not the main method for spreading hate. In the modern media age, if something is not mediated, it might as well not have happened at all, however once an event becomes a piece of viewable or audible data, it can be disseminated and experienced by many more people, not just those that were there in real time.
While the ease of use for technology is increasing, it also becomes easier to do awful things with it. At Chris’ house, she proposes to Billy and Jackie that “We should post it” and use “Jackie’s email!” Jackie refuses at first not because it is nasty but because “[she’s] in it”. While it is easy to do, there is also a sense of accountability that comes from being watched by technology. As the gym teacher brings up later, “I think a video like that would be pretty damning to anyone in it and to the person who made it...a video like that would probably affect college admissions, possibly a lawsuit. Tons of bad publicity. I wonder what the Today Show would do with a video like that…” The existence of the video becomes a problem for Chris, due to this new consideration, one’s ‘digital footprint’, one must think about after doing something wrong. The most problematic use of the video for all of the characters in the remake is the replaying at the prom. After Carrie is covered in blood, the students are silent, however once the video plays, the ridicule begins. Carrie also has to listen and watch herself go through the incident again, despite coming so far. While the blood alone was enough to trigger the original Carrie’s attack, in the new Carrie, the incorporation of the video is a main contributing factor to Carrie’s revengeful rage, that fuels her deadly power.
While the original Carrie is ‘low tech’, the technology that are the books in her library aid Carrie in her quest to understand her powers. Carrie goes to the library and begins by looking up “miracles” in the filing cabinet. The titles of the books she flips through say a lot about her knowledge progression. 1) A Miracle a Day Keeps the Devil Away, 2) Cosmic Consciousness, 3) A Miracle, 4) Hidden Powers of the Mind, and lastly 5) Secret Science Behind Miracles. The titles start as more religious, then become more focused on scientific scepticism. One could even say that suggesting there is a science behind miracles is sacrilegious, however once she sits down with her books, she reads the definition of telekinesis in that book. As Carrie was homeschooled by her mother, her main knowledge would be a twisted form of Christianity so it is interesting that she is completely ready to abandon those ideals for other perspectives, in order to get the answers she needs. When she exercises her power on her mother for the first time, Margaret calls her a witch, and that her power is the Devil working through her. Carrie however says “No mama. I’m not the only one. Other people can do it. I read about it.” She says “read” with complete confidence. With her new knowledge, she is not afraid to stand up to her mother, and won’t let her tell her she is evil.
In the new Carrie, during the research scene, she begins on a lab computer. Carrie stares in amazement as the boy next to her types very quickly, before typing “magic powers” into the search bar slowly. It is interesting that she did not begin with “miracles” as the other Carrie did, as this exemplifies her lack of trust in her mother’s understanding of things. When Carrie collects her pile of books and places them on her desk, you see one entitled “telekinesis”, and another is called “miracles”, however she did not automatically think her powers were from God. Carrie also watches a YouTube video of someone displaying their telekinesis, by turning a page in a book without touching it. While this could be a hoax, Carrie stares in amazement. The fast typing boy from before nervously shows her how to make the video fullscreen, reinforcing her lack of technological understanding. Carrie’s new knowledge in the remake also gives her courage to face her mother, but also becomes a bit more of an information drop, and a power demonstration. Instead of making all of the windows close, Carrie causes her mother and all of the furnitature to rise into the air and fall down at the same time. Margaret cowers on the floor, but after refusing to stand up once, she is lifted into the air by Carrie’s powers. She says: “Mama, it's inherited. It was passed down from grandma and it skipped you. You know that. Maybe it came from Daddy.” Rather than emphasising that she had done her research, she highlights how her mother is denying the truth. Even though she has grown up with it, she knows her mother is crazy, and not like anybody else. This could be to do with the technology she is around at school. While the original Carrie was mostly homeschooled by her mother and only recently began to attend regular school, Chris says to Sue in the new film that “[Carrie] has been begging for [the incident] since the sixth grade!” While her exposure to the modern world is ambiguous, the new Carrie is certainly more confident and knowledgeable than the original due to this increased access to information.
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