Carrietta N.White is the title character and protagonist of American author Stephen King's first published 1974 horror novel, Carrie. In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is portrayed as a high school outcast, loathed, taunted, scorned, insulted, slandered, confronted, and verbally and physically abused by students and her mother Margaret White, an abusive, and unstable religious fanatic. At the age of sixteen, she has her first period in the showers at school, accidentally bursting a light bulb with her telekinetic and telepathic abilities. After being humiliated in front of the entire school during the prom, in a cruel prank involving pig's blood, an enraged Carrie uses her powers to massacre the entire town of Chamberlain, Maine.
Novel
Carrie White is blonde-haired with brown eyes, full-figured, shy, lonely, and isolated. She is severely bullied at school. Her widowed mother, Margaret, is a religious fanatic who beats her daughter and throws her into a "prayer closet" whenever she does something that her mother doesn't like, including experiencing her first menstrual period, which her mother insists is a punishment for some sort of sin.
In 1988, Carrie was adapted into a musical co-produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Carrie was portrayed by Linzi Hateley in both the London production and the Broadway transfer. Her songs include "And Eve Was Weak," "Evening Prayers", and "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance" and the solos "I'm Not Alone" and "Carrie". Linzi Hateley won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer for this, her first starring role. She recorded the song "Carrie" for her album Sooner or Later. The pig's blood scene and the ensuing massacre are depicted in the musical number "The Destruction". Carrie seals off the exits, kills everyone present, and brings down the ceiling, burying the promgoers. Carrie sinks to the floor and begins to cry. Margaret arrives in an evening dress, and comforts her. She then stabs Carrie on the school stairs during the song "Carrie " in a moment described by one scholar as "the sort of moment Florenz Ziegfeld might have come up with had a lunatic asked him to stage a Grand Guignol version of his Follies." Carrie uses her powers to stop Margaret's heart before dying herself, comforted by Sue.
2012 revival
The 2012 revival of the show portrays a different version of events. The blood is dumped onto Carrie from above, as in the book. She slams the doors shut and turns off the lights, creating a blackout. The lights struggle back on in a strobe effect as Carrie forces everyone else to the ground. The students writhe in desperation as Carrie sets the gym on fire, and telekinetically forces Chris Hargensen to break her own neck. Several try to escape but are pinned to the walls. Carrie then leaves, blowing up the gym as she does so. Sue narrates how Carrie cuts a trail of destruction across town on her way home, as Sue herself follows her. At the White home, Carrie finds Margaret reciting prayers. She takes Carrie in her arms and sings softly to her before revealing the kitchen knife and stabbing her. Carrie uses her powers to force the knife out of Margaret's hands before stopping her heart. Sue enters, and cradles Carrie as she dies of her wounds.
Other media
The television seriesRiverdale featured an episode based on the musical, "", with series stars Madelaine Petsch and Emilija Baranac, who played the characters Cheryl Blossom and Midge Klump as different versions of Carrie, respectively. In this story, Cheryl is participate for the role of Carrie in the musical. However, the musical's director Kevin Keller, was offered the role to Midge, until she was killed by the Black Hood, at the end of the episode. The music video for "Hell in the Hallways" by the Americanmetal bandIce Nine Kills, is based on the story with Isabel McGinity as Carrie.
