As a class, we used the readings and our own observations to answer three different questions that we felt the movie, Carrie, attempts to answer.
The first question we answered was What does the movie Carrie say about becoming/being a woman? The group who looked at this piece said that the movie Carrie says that women can only occupy two positions in life, the position of the evil slutty witch or the good pious virgin. Then we talked about how different characters (Mrs. White vs Mrs. Collins, Sue vs. Chris) helps prove this point. The problem with Carrie is that she tries to occupy both spaces.
The next question we answered is What does the movie say about sex? This group believes the movie says that sex and sexuality is a sin. We pointed out how the only person who lived is the person who selflessly gives up their potential sexual partner to someone else, Sue. The one character who we are sure is sexually active, who is constantly flaunting her sexuality is the most evil character in the piece. Even Carrie's Mom thinks she deserves to be punished simply for conceiving Carrie even though she was married.
The third question we was How do our perceptions of ourselves and how people perceive us affect our choices? Because so many people told Carrie she was weird and funny and unworthy of love she believed them, so even when others treated her kindly she assumed they were after her. When the blood is poured on her, she imagines everyone is laughing at her because she perceives herself to be a person who everyone laughs at.
The last question was What does the movie say about revenge? The obvious response is what goes around comes around but we also looked at how most of the people who get revenge on others often seem to hate themselves as much as they hate everyone else. Chris has no reason to hate Carrie, who is the exact opposite of her which suggest that maybe she hates Carrie because she's everything she's not. Carrie has a very low opinion of herself and in the end gives in to her feelings of unworthiness.
What I wrote above are very brief summaries of what we talked about in class. From our discussions we could easily write 3 pages about how the film attempts to answer each question. For homework, you are going to write a 750 word analysis of a movie of your choice. Think about the choices that the director makes. Why does he/she choose to portray a character a certain way? What is the significance of certain scenes in the movie? Why are certain colors, lighting, set designs used? How does the setting (place, time period, etc) affect the story? I want your analysis to be your own thoughts. Try not to look up other people's perceptions of the piece.
Homework
- 750-word analysis of a film of your choice. What is a theme in the film that you want to focus on? Something you thought was important or different or interesting? How do you interpret the message of the film versus other people? Be sure to defend your ideas about the film with evidence from the piece. (Due Monday)
- Read Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin. (Due Wednesday)
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