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IT Chapter Two ’s bend about Richie Tozier being gay was surprising because not only did it not fall out in the book , but it also was n’t hinted at in the first film . adapt from the classic Stephen King novel of the same name , the firstITfilm was released in 2017 to great acclaim . Directed by Andrés Muschietti , the film starred Finn Wolfhard ( Stranger Things ) and Jack Dylan Grazer ( Shazam ! ) as two member of The Losers ' Club , who discover themselves tormented by a fiendish entity ( Bill Skarsgård ) . Where the book jumped back and forth between the past times and present , the first motion picture opted to merely research the childhood encounter with the shapeshifting creature . Here ’s how Richie fromIT ’s sex was changed from the books .
Muschietti returned to direct the subsequence , which , customary to Pennywise ’s own radiation pattern , picked up27 years afterIT Chapter One . Honoring a corporate hope , the group returned to the town of Derry when it became clear that kid were once again going missing . IT Chapter Twolargely followed said adult version of the character as they seek to defeat once and for all an even more vicious and vindictive Pennywise . The picture show saw Bill Hader ( Barry ) and James Ransone as the grownup versions of Richie and Eddie , respectively . ThroughoutIT Chapter Two , Pennywise ’s method acting of tormenting Richie centered on a " secret " that he was keeping : that he ’s gay .
have-to doe with : IT Chapter Two : Cast & Character Guide
Richie Wasn’t Gay In The Book
In theITbook , Richie does , indeed , center a band of his attention on teasing Eddie — even calling him " cute " on many occasions . give Eddie ’s nonadaptive relationship with his mother , however , theITbook never conveyed it as anything more than the wolf parody that Richie became famed for . Similarly , the novel ’s Richie has a phone number of fail human relationship with women and had never married . Again , however , that is mostly root in his hyperactive nature thanIT Chapter Two ’s depiction of closeted gender .
EvenIT Chapter Onedoes little to sow this ultimate Apocalypse . Granted , Pennywise does simulate the form of Eddie to lureRichie fromITinto one of his hair-raising scenarios . But , again , that can be viewed as a result of friendly relationship than romantic feelings , particularly since the killer clown made no such mention of Richie ’s secret at that point . Pennywise admittedly had to adapt his style of torment for the adults from the genuine shape he used against children . Still , the enigma would still have been an efficacious instrument . After all , the 1980s , while being a far watchword from the original 1950s context of the book , was still an particularly difficult sentence to be jocund .
Whatever the case , it could be argue that the change make for somewhat of a solid bookend . IT Chapter Two , after all , opened with a brutal homophobic attempt . As such , concluding the movie with one of the heroes who in the end helped defeat the evils of the town being unwrap as being gay certainly tote up a level of thematic Justice Department and abreaction . It ’s also a change that King himself endorse , tellingVanity Fairthat Richie ’s new subtext is “ one of those things that ’s kind of genius because it resound the beginning . It comes full circle . ” . Regardless , the intervention of Richie being gay has continued to be mixed , and rooter will , of course , have their own thought on how successfully everything flowed and played out .
relate : Everything Stephen King ’s It go Right ( That Chapter 2 Got Wrong )
Richie’s Sexuality Added Depth To The Movie
Richie fromITmay not have been merry in the books — but puddle him so in the flick added incredible deepness to the sequel . InIT : Chapter 2 , Richie ’s sex is used as a weapon against him in the form ofPennywise transforming and chase after himas a gargantuan Paul Bunyan statue , and singing"I sleep with your secret , your sordid lilliputian occult . “This speaks to many in the LGBTQ+ community who have deal with their sexuality being the topic of disgrace , leading many to remain closeted . The pity is then used as an object of terror , and it ’s quite shocking that it has n’t been used in a repulsion movie up until this percentage point .
This makes Pennywise a far more terrifying villain , capable of using masses ’s secrets against them and using shame as an pawn of terror . Even though Richie fromITisn’t gay in the books , which were pen during a meter in which being LGTBQ+ was less permissible , it ultimately does n’t weigh , and the revulsion flick handled this vista of the grapheme with aplomb . Being go after by a 20 ft Paul Bunyan statue yelling"Give me a kiss , Richie!“would be terrifying for anyone , and it ’s made more so byIT Chapter 2’sPennywisein its employment of shame as a weapon .
