Roland Emmerich on ‘Inpennce Day 2’s’ Gay Couple: It’s Not “a Big Deal” – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE GAY COUPLE ‘IT’ WAS BASED ON THE FATE OF CHARLIE HOWARD
• IT CHAPTER TWO GAY CHARACTERS: THE TE STORY BEHD HARROWG HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK
• IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
• LET’S TALK ABOUT THE GAY STUFF ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’
• IT: CHAPTER 2 FEATUR A GAY UPLE BUT DON’T CELEBRATE JT YET
• ROLAND EMMERICH ON ‘INPENNCE DAY 2’S’ GAY COUPLE: IT’S NOT “A BIG DEAL”
• 12 GAY COUPL HOLLYWOOD WHO HAVE THE MOST ROMANTIC LOVE STORI

THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE GAY COUPLE ‘IT’ WAS BASED ON THE FATE OF CHARLIE HOWARD

The 2017 and 2019 film remak IT Chapter 1 and IT Chapter 2 have sce proven to be beloved horror films (based on the book IT by genre master Stephen Kg), but did you know that the latter film’s (and book’s) brief gay uple storyle was actually based on a real cint? Unfortunately, Howard still faced homophobia om the Bangor muny at large. One day, homophob even strangled his kten and left the body on his doorstep.

Though the boys bragged about their gay bashg of Howard, the next day, the girls the r told police what happened and Ba, Ns and Mabry were arrted. **WARNING IT CHAPTER TWO SPOILERS**What is the te story behd the homophobic attack IT Chapter Two? In the film, bulli spot a gay uple together at a funfair Derry, and target them wh homophobic abe starts wh them hurlg sults at the uple, who try to walk away and ignore as well as possible.

More The Losers Club havg dner IT Chapter Two (Image: Warner Bros)A 23-year-old lled Charlie Howard was walkg down the street wh another man, Roy Ogn, when three teenagers set upon chased them, shoutg homophobic sults at them, before they ught Charlie and threw him over the State Street Bridge to the Kendkeag Stream, spe him tellg them he uld not ped and pulled a fire alarm to alert thori, but Charlie had also suffered om a severe asthma attack, as the topsy later Losers Club werg fear IT Chapter Two (Image: Warner Bros)Stephen Kg is a notable rint of Bangor and wrote It only two years after the cint, showg how greatly affected him. Another moment where a homophobic attack is seen is Richie’s memori, when he reunts bulli forcg him to leave an ar due to his them of homophobia clearly affected Kg are ntued the adaptatn by Andr Mchietti. After the homophobic attack Derry, alerts Mike Hanlon to the reappearance of Pennywise, and he reassembl the Losers mt retrace their memori to try and work out how to kill Pennywise once and for Chapter Two is out cemas now Related articl IT Chapter Two: What is Pennywise the clown?

IT CHAPTER TWO GAY CHARACTERS: THE TE STORY BEHD HARROWG HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK

” is the retort that preces a btal physil attack on a gay uple near the start of It Chapter film ntu the adventur of Stephen Kg’s “Loser” outsts, who battle the killer alien clown, Pennywise, and al wh the hate-filled attus of their townsfolk Meg Ryan quip om Adrian Mellon, the gay man who is beaten by homophob before beg murred by Pennywise.

Kg has nfirmed that the character is based on Charlie Howard, an out gay man murred Kg’s home town of Bangor, Mae, 1984 – who was targeted, part, bee he was wearg a flamboyant hat. But, tth, this is lopsid: the story ntas hate speech aimed at (legally-protected) disabily through to (as-yet unprotected) fatphobia, but the BBFC’s guidance foc only on homophobia: “A young man is subjected to homophobic abe (‘faggot’) before beg serly beaten” and “a young boy beg verbally abed a siar manner. ”One of the ratgs body’s ma ncerns is preventg pyt behavur: the BBFC not that, to get a 15 ratg, “the work as a whole mt not endorse discrimatory language or behavur, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discrimatory them and language”.

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

Acrdgly, It Chapter Two’s homophobic murr scene disurag discrimatn by prentg Adrian and his partner, Don, as hero. While this isn’t the Richie of Kg’s book, the film applds him for overg his ternalised homophobia a happy endg where he rerv his and his first love’s ials to Derry’s “Kissg Bridge”. The BBFC ratg suggts mature children n unrstand that the film’s queer portrayals nmn homophobia and promote self-termatn.

(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.

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.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE GAY STUFF ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’

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. 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? As they talk about gettg the hell out of Dodge (or, rather, Derry), a group of bulli scends upon them, hurlg homophobic slurs.

“Unfortunately, [homophobic] attus certa plac are the same as they were the ‘80s, ” screenwrer Gary Dberman tells Refery29 when asked about the scene at the IT Chapter Two junket. If the homophobic attack had to happen, was there not a way for Pennywise to go after the hateful bulli stead of the victims? Adrian Mellon (here played terribly by former director of note Xavier Dolan) kiss his boyiend at a Derry rnival, and the two are followed out of by a gang of homophobic hoodlums.

IT: CHAPTER 2 FEATUR A GAY UPLE BUT DON’T CELEBRATE JT YET

The crime alerts Mike Hanlon to It’s rurgence, spurrg him to rne his iends to battle , there’s gay stuff It Chapter Two. There is Homosexual Content TM.

In Kg’s book, homophobia Derry is implicly tied to the prence of It, both evils feedg off of and to one another. In the film, homophobic vlence is no different than Pennywise’s fantastil “kills. Seemgly by way of apology for the Adrian Mellon scene, the filmmakers have add jt a dash of gay to their ma st.

Richie Tozier (played by Fn Wolfhard as a child and Bill Har as an adult) is heavily implied to be gay. Richie is gay, he’s closeted, and this is the ep-seated fear that Pennywise is pickg on.

ROLAND EMMERICH ON ‘INPENNCE DAY 2’S’ GAY COUPLE: IT’S NOT “A BIG DEAL”

This isn’t to say, of urse, that homophobia don’t exist 2016.

12 GAY COUPL HOLLYWOOD WHO HAVE THE MOST ROMANTIC LOVE STORI

Still, the film n nceive of no reason why Richie should have remaed the closet all the years beyond a general sense of shame and ternalized homophobia, neher of which is ever actually picted. We have no ia how Richie feels about beg gay. Him beg gay is jt another Dark Secret for Pennywise to pick on.

Its pictn of gay characters is largely trashy and potls and herent. The follow-up to 2017’s It will feature a gay uple on-screen, but sadly, the chanc of a happy endg are slim. Alongsi the ma characters of the upg movie, Deadle revealed that the adaptatn of Stephen Kg’s horror novel will brg a gay uple om the book to life.

Taylor Frey, known for his rol The Carrie Diari and Gossip Girl, will play Don Hagarty, a young gay man a relatnship wh Adrian Mellon, played by Xavier Dolan, known for Tom at the Farm, Mommy and Boy Erased.