Contents:
- 'IT CHAPTER TWO': JAM RANSONE ON THAT UNEXPECTED, STEPHEN KG-APPROVED GAY SUBPLOT (EXCLIVE)
- IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
- STEPHEN KG CHAMPNS ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’ GAY CHARACTER SURPRISE: ‘KD OF GENI’
'IT CHAPTER TWO': JAM RANSONE ON THAT UNEXPECTED, STEPHEN KG-APPROVED GAY SUBPLOT (EXCLIVE)
That’s bee Adrian, a gay man, is the victim of a btal hate crime.
” Kg has said that Adrian’s ath the book is closely based on the real-life killg of Charlie Howard, a gay man who was murred by three lol teenagers Bangor, ME, 1984. “Leavg bigotry and homophobia and that kd of vlence out would not only not be accurate to the tim that we’re livg , would be omtg somethg that is still happeng to this day and is horrible. Slate‘s Jefey Bloomer wr that Adrian’s ath is a “gay-bashg scene” that “explos a ghastly real-life killg for a cheap shock, livered whout ntext or any clear thematic unrpng.
Henry acc Richie of htg on his , and the immediately steps away and jos hurlg homophobic slurs at Richie. After leavg the ar as an adult, Richie aga has an enunter wh It the town square durg which It, as Pennywise, threatens to reveal Richie’s “dirty ltle secret, ” implyg that he will out him as gay. In Mchietti’s terpretatn, “Richie is gay and he’s always had a thg for Eddie.
IT: CHAPTER TWO’S GAY-BASHG SCENE EXPLOS A REAL-LIFE KILLG FOR A CHEAP SHOCK
But never flourished bee probably Eddie wasn’t gay and pecially bee Richie was never able to e out” he says. 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 .
STEPHEN KG CHAMPNS ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’ GAY CHARACTER SURPRISE: ‘KD OF GENI’
) his hband Star Trek Beyond; Tri maybe beg bisexual Power Rangers; one of Avengers: Endgame’s directors poppg up a meo as an gay character who don’t have a name and is never seen aga; and, of urse, who n fet Bety and the Beast’s “exclively gay moment” — ’s a step forward that It Chapter Two posns Richie’s sexualy as somethg more than a box to be ticked orr to claim progrsivens. Another noteworthy scene Stephen Kg’s It is foced on a gay character, Adrian Mellon (played It Chapter Two, oddly enough, by wunrkd French director Xavier Dolan), who is btally beaten for his sexualy before beg butchered by Pennywise. It’s an unfortable scene that hasn’t aged particularly well; s disnnect om the rt of the story mak feel like a cheap attempt to wrg shock and horror out of rears at the expense of a gay character.
IT Chapter Two, once aga directed by Andy Mchietti, se Bill (Jam McAvoy), Bev (Jsi Chasta), Ben (Jay Ryan), Richie (Bill Har), Eddie (Jam Ransone) and Stanley (Andy Bean) summoned back home by Mike (Isaiah Mtafa) after Pennywise kills a young, gay man that was tossed to the river. " A smart aleck who was bullied and lled the f-word as a kid, adult Richie is nonted wh what Pennywise lls "a dirty ltle secret, " which is later revealed to be that he's a closeted gay man harborg feelgs for Eddie.
"It's a big parture om the book, " Ransone says of the film's gay subplot. "It's posive change that eventually out of Richie's tormented youth and the film's trmatic openg scene volvg Adrian (played by openly gay filmmaker Xavier Dolan) and his boyiend, Don, beg btally attacked by a group of homophobic men.