Contents:
- IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
- IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?
- IT CHAPTER TWO GAY CHARACTERS: THE TE STORY BEHD HARROWG HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK
- TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
- THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
- IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
(He’s played the movie by wunrkd Québéis filmmaker and actor Xavier Dolan, well known to gay cephil and crics.
) People om Mae, pecially Bangor, Kg’s hometown, may regnize him stead as Charlie Howard, a 23-year-old asthmatic gay man who was beaten by three teenage boys the town the summer of 1984, before he was thrown off a bridge to a stream 15 feet below and drowned. The explanatns—that was part of the origal source material, and that anti-gay hate crim still happen today, so was “important” to pict this particular one—suggt a half-baked unrstandg of what lls for different kds of vlence on screen.
IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?
Y, as Mchietti says, anti-gay vlence remas “of relevance, ” and was a major moment the origal novel. The murr the book tak place the summer of 1985, one year after the event that spired , and the novel clus an extend scriptn of the victims, the teens, their motiv, and the police vtigatn that follows (“The guy was a u, but he wasn’t hurtg anyone, ” says a sympathetic district attorney), along wh a brief but evotive read of the town’s gay i. In fact, some enterprisg fans of the novel have long surmised that Eddie is gay and love wh Richie (a dynamic played up the 1990 It miseri, which notably exclus the hate crime).
In this versn, Richie has grown up to be a stand-up ic who mak sexist jok, but seems he is gay and love wh Eddie, a suggtn that grows somewhat lour the movie’s epilogue.
IT CHAPTER TWO GAY CHARACTERS: THE TE STORY BEHD HARROWG HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK
Regardls, what do say about this movie that feels fortable pictg every cshg blow and sperate cry for help om gay men as they’re beg bludgeoned but then reli on a retro, d treatment of s only apparently gay prcipal character, who never even gets the digny of sayg who he is? IT Chapter Two's twist about Richie Tozier beg gay was surprisg bee not only did not happen the book, but also wasn't hted at the first film.
TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
Throughout IT Chapter Two, Pennywise's method of tormentg Richie centered on a "secret" that he was keepg: that he's gay. That secret is revealed a flashback featurg the homophobic Henry Bowers and then more overtly towards IT Chapter Two's endg.
After all, the 1980s, while beg a far cry om the origal 1950s settg of the book, was still an pecially difficult time to be gay. As such, ncludg the film wh one of the hero who ultimately helped feat the evils of the town beg revealed as beg gay certaly adds a level of thematic jtice and tharsis. Regardls, the treatment of Richie beg gay has ntued to be mixed, and fans will, of urse, have their own thoughts on how succsfully everythg flowed and played out.
Richie om IT may not have been gay the books — but makg him so the movie add credible pth to the sequel.
THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
Even though Richie om IT isn't gay the books, which were wrten durg a time which beg LGTBQ+ was ls permissible, ultimately don't matter, and the horror film handled this aspect of the character wh aplomb. Culled om a longlist of hundreds, movi nsired for the list promently feature gay, lbian, trans, or queer characters; ncern self centrally wh LGBTQ+ them; prent s LGBTQ+ characters a fair and realistic light; and/or be seen as a touchpot the evolutn of queer cema.
IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
And we regnize that some of the films the list will re-igne healthy bat that have been fixtur of discsn around LGBTQ+ films — straight actors playg gay characters, cis actors playg trans characters, and the historil domance of whe male perspectiv. For our most recent update to the list, we’ve add mastream edi Fire Island and Bros, thriller Knock at the Cab (featurg two pairs of hbands whose vatn is terpted by the potential apolypse), Disney feature Strange World (wh the stud’s first openly gay lead character), Blue Jean (a Brish drama set durg the Thatcher premiership), the extremely well-reviewed Girl Picture), France’s magil realist The Five Devils, and Cann 2023 buts Monster and Strange Way of Life. Crics Consens: We Were Here reviss the cris facg the gay muny the early 1980s -- and offers a powerful tribute to the spirg rolve shown at a time of turmoil.