It Chapter Two and the Horror of Anti-Gay Bigotry | Den of Geek

Contents:

• IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?
• I DON’T THK RICHIE OM STEPHEN KG’S IT IS GAY
• RICHIE TOZIER IS GAY ENOUGH
• DO RICHIE TOZIER IS GAY?
• IT CHAPTER TWO AND THE HORROR OF ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY

IS RICHIE FROM IT GAY IN THE BOOK?

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. 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.

Richie Wasn't Gay In The Book. 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.

IT Chapter Two, after all, opened wh a btal homophobic attack. 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.

I DON’T THK RICHIE OM STEPHEN KG’S IT IS GAY

Richie om IT may not have been gay the books — but makg him so the movie add credible pth to the sequel. 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.

Richie Tozier is a gay character om It.

RICHIE TOZIER IS GAY ENOUGH

It was speculated by some fans that he was bisexual both the book and the remake, and that has recently been given further nfirmatn by director Andr Mchietti's that the terpretatn portrayed him as gay IT: Chapter Two.

Stephen Kg has firmly stated that he did not tend for the character to be gay. 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.

DO RICHIE TOZIER IS GAY?

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 . While Richie never openly says he’s gay or bisexual, the tentn is there, and that is what matters.

IT CHAPTER TWO AND THE HORROR OF ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY

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. It’s also worth notg that prejudice and bigotry are very much villas the world of IT, and homophobia is clud that.