It: Chapter Two’s gay-bashg scene explos a real-life killg for cheap sr.

Contents:

• STEPHEN KG CHAMPNS ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’ GAY CHARACTER SURPRISE: ‘KD OF GENI’
• IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
• IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?

STEPHEN KG CHAMPNS ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’ GAY CHARACTER SURPRISE: ‘KD OF GENI’

But  Chapter Two, ’s revealed Richie is gay, and he’s always had feelgs for Eddie. I don’t believe there was an tentn to make Richie gay the first movie, and the character isn’t gay the books. However, unlike the somewhat ialized 1980s of the Kg-fluenced Stranger Thgs, It's two-part movie adaptatn enavors to addrs the small-town homophobia that was rife Ameri at the time, and pictg Richie as a succsful entertaer who left his ral home favor of a large metropolan cy mak harr for the sequel to make sense of his closeted stat.

The novel’s versn of Richie never refers to himself as gay, but this is more than unrstandable when the novel’s early half is set durg the ‘50s while the latter half tak place the ‘80s. Like Kubrick’s take on The Shg, the movie adaptatn of It chang a lot of the origal text, and as a gay man who grew up at the height of the AIDS epimic and is a succsful entertaer the 2010s, Chapter 2’s versn of Richie is someone who likely would have e out to at least his clost iends, if not the world at large.

There is a possibily that workg as a stand-up edian (an dtry that has been plagued by homophobia ntroversi over the s) means Richie feels he n’t e out, but It Chapter 2 never explor this issue. Seemgly dropped om an earlier, darker versn of the movie, It Chapter 2’s ntroversial openg scene promis the followg sequel will not shy away om ank, unsparg discsns of queer opprsn, pictg homophobia and s ill effects. Makg It Chapter 2 a lighter, more fun sequel uld have been fe if the movie did not ntually feature numero hts at a movg, tragic love story that go largely untold the fished film, and did not open on a gome scene whose purpose is never ma clear when the sequel's gay love story is told only ambiguo terms.

IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK

Throughout It: Chapter Two, be clear that Richie is a closeted gay man love wh his childhood bt iend, Eddie (Jam Ransone plays the adult versn).

Gay, pecially a small town, meant alienatn and possibly ath. Some reers, like a beg a profsnal athlete or nservative analyst, n be difficult for an openly gay man to mata.

But llege, a big cy and a gaggle of gays ma throwg the opprsive weight of the closet away a celebratn. He didn’t behave the way reprsed gay men equently reprent. There was no forced womanizg, no gay-bashg.

IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?

Richie never even says he’s gay out loud. Watch what the filmmakers had to tell about Richie the vio Chapter Two ma text what had only been subtext Stephen Kg's origal book: wise-crackg Losers' Club member Richie Tozier is a gay man, and has romantic feelgs for his fellow Loser Eddie character's sexualy had been hted at the book, and over the years many fans theorized that he had more feelgs than jt iendship for Eddie. The film's openg sequence picts a btal hate crime agast a gay uple, which sets the stage for how unwelg this Mae town is to the LGBTQ+ muny and the chillg effect such open homophobia and bigotry would have had on Richie, who cid to stay the closet even after movg away and fdg fame and fortune stand-up Har wanted the film to m fully to makg Richie gay or to not even brg up.

"Har also poted out that the perds that the book was set were very different tim for gay characters than what morn dienc would expect this film to portray. In this scene, set Derry's ar, young Richie (Fn Wolfhard) has homophobic slurs hurled at him by the bully Henry Bowers after a game of Street Fighter between Richie and Henry's . Kg’s origal novel featured the btal murr of a young gay man, which was spired by the 1984 murr of Charlie Howard Bangor, Mae.

While Richie never openly says he’s gay or bisexual, the tentn is there, and that is what matters. Richie beg nonilly gay (though I hate to assign a specific label to him, sce the book he’s had ser relatnships wh women while still havg subtextual feelgs for Eddie, while the film seems to imply he’s gay rather than bisexual) is not a cisn thrown to appease or panr to the “Tumblr crowd” as some Reddors have already dismissively said. The film also opens wh a btal homophobic attack on a gay man, so to kill off two out of three openly gay characters might have drawn ire, and rightfully so.