horror classic=fear of female sexuality?

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2006)

this was not the first time i watched 'carrie,' nor will it be the last, not if i have anything to say about it. every time i see it i leave convinced this movie is a metaphor for man's fear of female sexuality and yet have done little to further this belief. the greatest evidence i find to support this belief is the correlation between carrie white finally getting her (much delayed) period, a sign she has become a woman, and the development of her telekinetic powers. previously lacking this skill, with the onset of her menstrual cycle it is only moments before carrie is flipping ashtrays and, soon after, obnoxious boys as the ride by on their bicycles. there's piper laurie's comment regarding how, eve was weak. had she been stronger perhaps she would not have tempted adam, which led to knowledge of themselves as sexual beings, and their banishment from eden. if carrie's mother had only been able to control her sexuality then perhaps she would not have engaged in premarital sex and none of this would have happened in the first place. where i find myself hung up is the significance of carrie being covered in pig's blood before all hell breaks loose. there's clearly something in the fact that she is drenched in the blood of a female animal, like a giant menstrual flow, and then finds herself incapable of controlling her own powers.