Eve was weak, say it woman!*
I spent most of the day at Ikea and spent E2.75 on a blanket, hand towel and candle holder. Then I cleaned the house. Then Links of the Day. There's a roomfull of hyper and/or drunk girls sinking Dutch songs in the room next-door, which is unpleasant.
Yesterday I watched Carrie (1976) (Wiki, IMDB, Awards). It's a ridiculously well-known film direct by Brian De Palma and written by Lawrence D. Cohen (based on SKing's novel).
All I knew about the movie was that it involved an outcast teen with telekinetic powers who brings on fire and destruction at the prom. More accurately, it's about Carrie White, who's humiliated by peers and teachers and psychologically tortured by her fundamentalist Christian mother. The rest is pretty much accurate.
The lead role is played by Sissy Spacek, the mother is Piper Laurie, Gym teacher is Betty Buckley, and two students are played by Amy Irving and William Katt. There's other students in the movie, including a young John Travolta, who spends most of his time with beer sopping down his chin.
Sissy did a spectacular job as a scared, bullied and insecure girl who slowly grows a spine and stands up for herself and blooms into the social world. (Nevermind that she's really pretty in a cornflower-and-hay sort of way.) Piper was brilliant as the craaaaaaazy, bible-thumping, everything-is-a-sin mother. I rather liked the gym teacher and Amy's character, Sue Snell.
Firstly, I don't really consider this a horror movie. Oh sure, there's blood and gore at the end, and it did start the "final scare" trend (the only bit which made me jump), but for most of the film, it isn't about that at all. I found it mainly a horrifically sad movie, not just because of the down-trodden Carrie we see at the beginning, but also because of how it all goes wrong for her even when she's stood up for herself and is finally becoming a person in her own right. She tried so hard - telekinetic minor violence aside - and just gets kicked over by the world, whether she's up or she's down.
I really liked the recurring fire and blood motif in the film, which starts of slow with menstrual blood and a cigarette and then later escalates to massive proportions. If I were better versed in film criticism I'm sure there'd be a lot to say about it, but as it is, I can just point and say, "Lookit! They did something!"
While we're on the blood issue, a word. Now, from what I've gathered, King wrote this (his fourth but first published) novel as a "I could write about [women] if I wanted to" novel, and it features menstrual blood - especially menarche - and how this "release the right hormones and she would rain down destruction on them" (SKing). He's described the novel as "about a poor little girl with menstrual problems" (although, granted, this comment was in the context of, "I didn't expect much of Carrie. [...] I couldn't believe I was writing it.").
I'm sure there's a lot a well-versed feminist, as well as the aforementioned critic, could say about basing a horror plot on a girl's period and what this reflects on men (basically, "Ew! Periods! Eeeeevil women!") Ye gods, the scene where Carrie's mother rants to Carrie about "the curse of blood" was just awful and heart-wrenching ("Why didn't you tell me, mama?") and broke a whole bunch of child-abuse and just plain abuse laws. (Also, I think the menarche scene was a bit unrealistically depicted, because for a woman to pour out blood like that, she's got to have felt something before hand and, oh, I don't know...soaked her underwear right through?)
I was a bit unsure at the very beginning of the movie, though, because it starts of with a slow-motion pan of girls in the locker-rooms. That is to say, full-frontal soaked nudity in slow-motion in the most stereotypical wet-dream site imaginable. And then there's some loooong shots of Carrie showering, including various close-ups all "Look! I'm lathering myself with soap! Sloooowly," variety.
A short word about the book, which I'd love to read: "It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools and the film version was banned in Finland." and "Much of the book is written in an epistolary structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books." (Wiki)
Among other incarnations, there was a 2002 made-for-TV film version which was supposed to be the two-part pilot of a series, where Carrie moves to Florida to help other telekinetics. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Other reviews on IMBD say:
"One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever, certainly one of the saddest, most poignant, and bitter movies I've ever seen."
"This is a tense, exciting thriller that is also a sturdy character study."
"It is a thriller, but at the same time a very humane movie. [...] This movie wasn't made for cheap scares: every scene is brilliantly captured. The scary parts may be rare but when they are there you just can't move from your seat!"
"The story has a haunting tone, also centered on youth and yearning. Menarche as a horror, the innocent acceptance/fear of the basest religion, the brash director intelligently spoofing Hitchcock. Odd mix that, so an odd and intriguing experience."
"At its heart, Carrie is not a 'horror film', but a film about horror.
The subject matter is physical and emotional abuse; time and time again DePalma returns to the theme of abuse to create a sense of anxiety and dread. And although our hapless heroine is the primary target of abuse (from her mother, her peers, and 'authority') abuse is also meted out liberally to others---violence against women (Travolta/Allen), and public humiliation by authority figures (Buckley/her gym class) also add to the discomfort level (the John Travolta-Nancy Allen relationship is defined solely by abuse---and they in turn are the initiators of Carrie's humiliation)."
"Carrie is played by Sissy Spacek in a performance of such power and strength that she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (the first actress ever to be nominated for a horror film; the second would be Sigourney Weaver for "Aliens"). She manages to hit all the right notes. A lesser actress would have veered toward melodrama. Spacek plays the role more realistically and the film is much more effective that way."
"Travolta had a miniscule role, but he was fine in it..."
"...the prom went on a little too long..."
"And did we really need the slow-mo shower sequence at the beginning?"
Links of the Day:
Livejournal:
juice817's reading of leonidaslion's Phthonus Waking (Sam/Dean)
trashy_eats's Home-made Cheeze Wiz ; Corndog Cupcakes
literaryquotes's Jonathon Safran Foer (Protect yourself from sadness.) ; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe ('Cause I'm me and nobody else.) ; Crave by Sarah Kane (You can't sat no to me.) ; Last Words by Michael Symmons Roberts (You know, I'm sure.) ; The Secret History by Donna Tartt (No matter how beloved.) ; Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (They calculate no cycles.) ; The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (The present is forever.) ; God's Fool by Mark Slouka (The saddest word in the language.)
zqfans's Random Greg Grunberg of ZQ
doctorwho's Trailer: Ice and Fire, a DW fanfilm
kumanoki's metaquotesed Post on Civil War re-enactment, race and politics.
's proposed pillow slogan
nonsecateur's metaquotesed comment to sluts4choice's reply to confurvatives's reasoning on abortion.
yuki_ona's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland Novel (WIP)
justbeast translates Russian fairytales
rex_dart talks about fascism
rafaboreanaz's Multifandom Icons
anie_tangerine's Supernatural 5x01 Icons
rtwofan's Official art post for the Heroes Big Boom 2009 fic, Mad World by jadedoll
trust_tissues's on How would the final Mohinder vs. Sylar stand-off go?
starrylizard's SPN Fanvid A Sam Life
teand's Supernatural 5x01 Reaction Addendum
lienne's Things I fucking love about... - an academic with no previous exposure to fandom* getting into the game to the point of writing a blog post exploring nature/nurture as a slash pairing allegorically.
Nature/Nurture: Slash To The Rescue
janie_tangerine's Supernatural 5x01 Reaction
Intarwebs:
Wikipedia's Snapping Hip Syndrome (*eyes own hips*) ; Donnie Darko (film) ; The Zeirgeist Movement
YouTube's ildoc1's Why I'm Happy, Why I'm Not Satisfied (On the election.) ; Ianto Jones: Seed of Evil (Torchwood Fanvid) ; The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello (Short film)
Blogspot A Drunken Walk Through Science - A Discussion About Recent Scientific Advances And Science News Minus The Technical Jargon (Whenever Possible)
The Outcampaign's Blogroll
TV Geeks Awards Nominations
SJTucker's Music
Geeks Of Doom's Fox To Make New Western With Science Fiction Twist & No, It’s Not Firefly
V Remake Stocked With Stars From Lost, Firefly, The 4400
After the Storms, an Island of Calm - and Resilience - 9/11 Essay
Mil Milington's Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About Novel on Amazon
The Devil's Dictionary
Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente - aka yuki_ona
* Carrie
Yesterday I watched Carrie (1976) (Wiki, IMDB, Awards). It's a ridiculously well-known film direct by Brian De Palma and written by Lawrence D. Cohen (based on SKing's novel).
All I knew about the movie was that it involved an outcast teen with telekinetic powers who brings on fire and destruction at the prom. More accurately, it's about Carrie White, who's humiliated by peers and teachers and psychologically tortured by her fundamentalist Christian mother. The rest is pretty much accurate.
The lead role is played by Sissy Spacek, the mother is Piper Laurie, Gym teacher is Betty Buckley, and two students are played by Amy Irving and William Katt. There's other students in the movie, including a young John Travolta, who spends most of his time with beer sopping down his chin.
Sissy did a spectacular job as a scared, bullied and insecure girl who slowly grows a spine and stands up for herself and blooms into the social world. (Nevermind that she's really pretty in a cornflower-and-hay sort of way.) Piper was brilliant as the craaaaaaazy, bible-thumping, everything-is-a-sin mother. I rather liked the gym teacher and Amy's character, Sue Snell.
Firstly, I don't really consider this a horror movie. Oh sure, there's blood and gore at the end, and it did start the "final scare" trend (the only bit which made me jump), but for most of the film, it isn't about that at all. I found it mainly a horrifically sad movie, not just because of the down-trodden Carrie we see at the beginning, but also because of how it all goes wrong for her even when she's stood up for herself and is finally becoming a person in her own right. She tried so hard - telekinetic minor violence aside - and just gets kicked over by the world, whether she's up or she's down.
I really liked the recurring fire and blood motif in the film, which starts of slow with menstrual blood and a cigarette and then later escalates to massive proportions. If I were better versed in film criticism I'm sure there'd be a lot to say about it, but as it is, I can just point and say, "Lookit! They did something!"
While we're on the blood issue, a word. Now, from what I've gathered, King wrote this (his fourth but first published) novel as a "I could write about [women] if I wanted to" novel, and it features menstrual blood - especially menarche - and how this "release the right hormones and she would rain down destruction on them" (SKing). He's described the novel as "about a poor little girl with menstrual problems" (although, granted, this comment was in the context of, "I didn't expect much of Carrie. [...] I couldn't believe I was writing it.").
I'm sure there's a lot a well-versed feminist, as well as the aforementioned critic, could say about basing a horror plot on a girl's period and what this reflects on men (basically, "Ew! Periods! Eeeeevil women!") Ye gods, the scene where Carrie's mother rants to Carrie about "the curse of blood" was just awful and heart-wrenching ("Why didn't you tell me, mama?") and broke a whole bunch of child-abuse and just plain abuse laws. (Also, I think the menarche scene was a bit unrealistically depicted, because for a woman to pour out blood like that, she's got to have felt something before hand and, oh, I don't know...soaked her underwear right through?)
I was a bit unsure at the very beginning of the movie, though, because it starts of with a slow-motion pan of girls in the locker-rooms. That is to say, full-frontal soaked nudity in slow-motion in the most stereotypical wet-dream site imaginable. And then there's some loooong shots of Carrie showering, including various close-ups all "Look! I'm lathering myself with soap! Sloooowly," variety.
A short word about the book, which I'd love to read: "It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools and the film version was banned in Finland." and "Much of the book is written in an epistolary structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books." (Wiki)
Among other incarnations, there was a 2002 made-for-TV film version which was supposed to be the two-part pilot of a series, where Carrie moves to Florida to help other telekinetics. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Other reviews on IMBD say:
"One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever, certainly one of the saddest, most poignant, and bitter movies I've ever seen."
"This is a tense, exciting thriller that is also a sturdy character study."
"It is a thriller, but at the same time a very humane movie. [...] This movie wasn't made for cheap scares: every scene is brilliantly captured. The scary parts may be rare but when they are there you just can't move from your seat!"
"The story has a haunting tone, also centered on youth and yearning. Menarche as a horror, the innocent acceptance/fear of the basest religion, the brash director intelligently spoofing Hitchcock. Odd mix that, so an odd and intriguing experience."
"At its heart, Carrie is not a 'horror film', but a film about horror.
The subject matter is physical and emotional abuse; time and time again DePalma returns to the theme of abuse to create a sense of anxiety and dread. And although our hapless heroine is the primary target of abuse (from her mother, her peers, and 'authority') abuse is also meted out liberally to others---violence against women (Travolta/Allen), and public humiliation by authority figures (Buckley/her gym class) also add to the discomfort level (the John Travolta-Nancy Allen relationship is defined solely by abuse---and they in turn are the initiators of Carrie's humiliation)."
"Carrie is played by Sissy Spacek in a performance of such power and strength that she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (the first actress ever to be nominated for a horror film; the second would be Sigourney Weaver for "Aliens"). She manages to hit all the right notes. A lesser actress would have veered toward melodrama. Spacek plays the role more realistically and the film is much more effective that way."
"Travolta had a miniscule role, but he was fine in it..."
"...the prom went on a little too long..."
"And did we really need the slow-mo shower sequence at the beginning?"
Links of the Day:
Livejournal:
juice817's reading of leonidaslion's Phthonus Waking (Sam/Dean)
trashy_eats's Home-made Cheeze Wiz ; Corndog Cupcakes
literaryquotes's Jonathon Safran Foer (Protect yourself from sadness.) ; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe ('Cause I'm me and nobody else.) ; Crave by Sarah Kane (You can't sat no to me.) ; Last Words by Michael Symmons Roberts (You know, I'm sure.) ; The Secret History by Donna Tartt (No matter how beloved.) ; Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (They calculate no cycles.) ; The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (The present is forever.) ; God's Fool by Mark Slouka (The saddest word in the language.)
zqfans's Random Greg Grunberg of ZQ
doctorwho's Trailer: Ice and Fire, a DW fanfilm
kumanoki's metaquotesed Post on Civil War re-enactment, race and politics.
's proposed pillow slogan
nonsecateur's metaquotesed comment to sluts4choice's reply to confurvatives's reasoning on abortion.
yuki_ona's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland Novel (WIP)
justbeast translates Russian fairytales
rex_dart talks about fascism
rafaboreanaz's Multifandom Icons
anie_tangerine's Supernatural 5x01 Icons
rtwofan's Official art post for the Heroes Big Boom 2009 fic, Mad World by jadedoll
trust_tissues's on How would the final Mohinder vs. Sylar stand-off go?
starrylizard's SPN Fanvid A Sam Life
teand's Supernatural 5x01 Reaction Addendum
lienne's Things I fucking love about... - an academic with no previous exposure to fandom* getting into the game to the point of writing a blog post exploring nature/nurture as a slash pairing allegorically.
Nature/Nurture: Slash To The Rescue
janie_tangerine's Supernatural 5x01 Reaction
Intarwebs:
Wikipedia's Snapping Hip Syndrome (*eyes own hips*) ; Donnie Darko (film) ; The Zeirgeist Movement
YouTube's ildoc1's Why I'm Happy, Why I'm Not Satisfied (On the election.) ; Ianto Jones: Seed of Evil (Torchwood Fanvid) ; The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello (Short film)
Blogspot A Drunken Walk Through Science - A Discussion About Recent Scientific Advances And Science News Minus The Technical Jargon (Whenever Possible)
The Outcampaign's Blogroll
TV Geeks Awards Nominations
SJTucker's Music
Geeks Of Doom's Fox To Make New Western With Science Fiction Twist & No, It’s Not Firefly
V Remake Stocked With Stars From Lost, Firefly, The 4400
After the Storms, an Island of Calm - and Resilience - 9/11 Essay
Mil Milington's Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About Novel on Amazon
The Devil's Dictionary
Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente - aka yuki_ona
* Carrie