Tag, You're It
You’ll float through the Bildungsroman that is Stephen King’s It only to realize that adulthood is quite bleak. We spend our lives running away from the monsters at home, only to come to the frightening realization that the monster we fear is ourselves.
In the last two years, King’s New York Times bestseller It has resurfaced in popular culture with a two-part movie remake of the 1990 original film adaptation. As a child, It was my favorite horror movie so when the revamp came out in fall 2017 I was thrilled; literally.
It: Chapter One follows seven middle schoolers on a journey to face their greatest fears. Fear is disguised as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, who returns to torment the town of Derry every 27 years. After Bill Denbrough's younger brother George is killed by the clown, Bill and his seven friends unfortunately dedicate their childhood and adult life to defeating the monster. Pennywise, the epitome of "fear," makes it his mission to survive in the children's imaginations and he follows their pysche into adulthood.
Although It is a terrifying tale of survival and the loss of innocence through the reality of mortality, I’d suggest even more so that it is a psychological analysis of fear. As I turned each page, putting myself in the shoes of each and every character, my skin crawled, but my voice chuckled. I was laughing. I was afraid and uncomfortable, but I was laughing. I would say this is the gift King has that other writers try years to master. He not only writes so that the reader need make no effort to place themselves in the mind of every character they read about. He also brings to life the intertwining horror and humor that is felt in simply being alive.
The movies It: Chapter One and Two were both impeccably cast. Some of my favorites are Finn Wolfhard as young Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier (my favorite character), Jack Grazer as young Eddie Kaspbrak (the child of a mother with Munchaesen by proxy), and Bill Skasgard as Pennywise the Clown. I do not have any particular favorites in the adult cast, except perhaps James McAvoy, who plays adult Bill Denbrough.
As an English major and child bookworm, after watching books-to-movies like Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games (excluding Catching Fire), I was prepared for disappointment, but was instead faced with satisfaction. While It: Chapter Two was not comparable in cinematic quality to the first, due to what I consider neglect in the editing process, director Andrés Muschietti nailed the literary accuracy. The opening scene and the first hour of the film follow the writings of King almost verbatim. I sat in my seat visualizing every page turning in the book as one scene cut to the next. I had never experienced anything like that before.
My most appreciated aspect of King’s book and Muschietti’s adaptation is the way that each character runs away from the town of Derry to escape their fears, yet end up in situations that embody those very fears. Especially Beverly Marsh, who runs away from an abusive father just to end up with a physically and sexually abusive husband. This further confirms the psychological weight of this tale.
Yes, It is a story about death and fear, but above all else I think of It as a tale of friendship. Particularly of friends that are truly family. King writes, “No good friends, no bad friends; only people you want, need to be with. People who build their houses in your heart.”
Bill and his friends find home in one another. One without the other could not face their fears. They could not face the thing in the dark without facing each other. In the end, lives were lost and the lucky number seven turned out to be not-so-lucky after all. But these children, now adults, learn a valuable lesson. To overcome the monster, you have to release yourself from the belief of Its' existence.
Comments