Last Updated on September 11, 2019
Yep, we kid you not – Stephen King, the author of “It”, often gets flak from social media users when criticizing Trump for his graphic, pages-long, teen orgy in his legendary horror novel.
But, out of all things you’d want to ally to your cause; a demonic child-murdering clown probably isn’t one of them.
But–alas!–you’d be wrong.
"I’m sad to announce that Pennywise is not gay, or even an ally" is my favourite ever quote from an honest to god serious article criticising the lack of LGBT allyship from a child-eating monster in the sewers disguised as a filthy razor-toothed clown. https://t.co/UiZOUobYvD
— Hannah (@teaforpterosaur) September 9, 2019
Out Magazine wrote a scathing article titled “Pennywise Is Surprisingly Anti-Queer in It Chapter Two” criticizing the macabre clown, “Pennywise”, for the heinous crime of being unwoke–in this case, not being an LGBT+ ally.
Out explains:
As has been previously reported, the film opens with a scene straight from Stephen King’s original novel, in which a gay couple (Xavier Dolan and Taylor Frey) are attacked by a group of homophobes, who beat Dolan’s character Adrian and throw him over the side of a bridge. His boyfriend, Don, follows him down to the river below, just in time to watch Pennywise literally eat his heart out. This attack, inspired by the real-life murder of Charlie Howard, could be written off as simply Pennywise taking an opportunity to feed (although its implied, moreso in King’s novel than the film, that the entity It — the name the Losers Club gives to the monster otherwise known as Pennywise — controls the town of Derry and may have telepathically inspired the homophobes to attack the couple.)
But what really cements Pennywise’s bigotry is his treatment of Richie (Bill Hader), who is revealed to be closeted and in love with his childhood friend Eddie (James Ransone). When Richie sets off to Derry’s arcade to procure a token needed for the ritual to defeat It once and for all — which turns out to be a literal arcade token — he reminisces about being called a “fag” as a child (Finn Wolfhard returns as his younger incarnation) by bully-turned-sociopath Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). Then he’s attacked by a giant Paul Bunyan statue and, eventually, Pennywise himself.
The piece also ties Pennywise’s uninclusive antics to none other than President Donald Trump:
The killer clown isn’t content to just threaten Richie with violence. Instead, he reveals that he knows Richie’s secret, his “dirty little secret.” He doesn’t just say it, he sings it — the song even appears on the album’s soundtrack (coming for all the pop girls’ necks, I see). So Pennywise isn’t just the physical manifestation of what is revealed to be some kind of cosmic entity that feeds off fear and human flesh, he’s a homophobe. Trump’s America strikes again!
It appears as if not only the psychopathic supernatural clown has failed the LGBT+ cause, but Trump must be apportioned some of the blame for the clownish creature’s change of heart.
https://twitter.com/satanicvvitch/status/1171795346198061057
The flesh-eating monster was a-OK until it wasn’t clear whether he’d put a rainbow sticker on his laptop during Pride Month and added a filter or emoji on his social media bio to show alliance.
At least Pennywise is doing his part in taking care of the environment by eating people, as cannibalism has been suggested by scientists to mitigate future food shortages.
