LRT while that linked video IS amazing, i do think it under-analyzes Ginger Snaps imo, rather then delving into the complexity it presents. That section is imo the weaker part of an incredible video.

I also think that the conventional analysis of Carrie and similar works like Dark Phoenix are pretty reductive bad... like theyre pretty clearly about how repression is bad more than power being bad, theres a reason Carrie's story is built on her not knowing what a period is.

like reading Carrie as "power bad" seems to kinda go against like every part of it thats portraying her mother as abusive and terrible and the direct cause of her alienation.

is there an underlying anxiety around female power as desctructive? possibly, but its pretty clear in Carrie that her abuse and mistreatment and repression and lack of education is what leads to her explosion of violence, not her having power.

these reductive readings of Carrie and Ginger Snaps really bug me because there ARE lots of works that are scared of female power, or that don't pull off the message well. The Craft is one i was just talking about recently.

I think that theres an anxiety around female sexuality that views it as inherently monstrous that affects both men and also women is important to understanding how these films are playing with metaphor.

Ginger is terrified of growing up, of her own sexuality, she sees womanhood as a curse. that is core to how she develops as a character and how she relates to her sister.

Carrie literally doesnt know what her period is, her introduction to "womanhood" is painful and traumatic and mortifying, and only further alienates her from her peers and teachers, her mother tells her that womanhood is intrinsically evil and unclean and destructive.

the fact that her peers reaching out to her is shown to Work and shows that she Could be happy and Could exist outside this abuse is showing that she isnt intrinsically doomed to monstrousness.

i honestly baffling how many people, analysing in good faith, so misread the story?