IT Chapter Two From the Perspective of a Gay Horror Fan — Talk Film Society

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
• IT'S GAY BASHG SCENE SERV NO PURPOSE EXCEPT AS PORN FOR HOMOPHOB

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. 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?

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.

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

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.

IT'S GAY BASHG SCENE SERV NO PURPOSE EXCEPT AS PORN FOR HOMOPHOB

"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 . Beg a gay horror fan n be a tumultuo suatn.

For every fun or classic entry the genre there are about ten others that disregard the gay experience wh reckls abandon. Protagonists throwg around that F word like ’s gog out of style, tons of gay panic, and jt an overall disregard for any character who isn’t straight. Unfortunately gay characters rarely rise above beg the butt of nstant jok or are jt 'there to be different.

I’ve seen que a few people, mostly straight, take issue wh the openg scene of Chapter Two which volv a vlent hate crime agast a gay uple.