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It Chapter 2 (2019) and its 2017 predecessor are joint adaptations of Stephen King‘s cult classic novel It (1986). While there are small narrative differences, director Andy Muschietti remains loyal to King’s original themes. The novel is a lengthy 1,138 pages. Thus, giving the story lots of room to develop in areas like character relationships and motivations, Derry lore, and the powerful themes that separate It (1986) from your average scary story. With that being said, there’s a lot to explore within the fictional world King has created. Therefore it is understandable and arguably smart for Muschietti to split the narrative into two parts, unlike the 1990 screen adaptation with a runtime of three hours and twelve minutes. Both It (2017) and It Chapter 2 have a runtime over two hours, with the latter nearing three, ultimately giving Muschietti more time to expand the on-screen universe.
Andy Muschietti’s films have delivered enough screams to earn themselves the mark of a great horror film, but the narrative at their core should not be lost in the fear they evoke. It’s easy as an audience member, especially if you aren’t a repeat watcher, to somewhat overlook certain themes in a horror film. Here, Pennywise is objectively terrifying, and despite Derry being a seemingly slow town, a lot is going on for the losers club (the main ensemble). Each of the young characters struggles with traumatic events individually, and like clockwork, Pennywise is ready to greet and taunt them in the following scene. The feeling of safety after trauma is paramount, so one can process the events that occurred and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
Similar to how the children in the movie are not granted feelings of safety or time to process after these traumatic events occur, the audience isn’t either. This lack of processing, i.e., the initial reaction to trauma, results in feelings of disassociation (( “Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2014. )) for the characters and possibly the audience as well. When the children’s lives are in danger, all one can think about is ‘are they going to make it out of this alive?’. This compels one to think whatever just happened in the previous scene was less important. In a truly meta fashion, the audience may find themselves overlooking the same thing the characters have been overlooking for the past twenty-seven years. The main themes this article will discuss are childhood trauma, its impact on the adult later on, and overcoming that trauma. Though it is important to note that this theme is an umbrella as all of the children have their own stories and traumas that fall under it.
Welcome To The Losers Club
In Muschietti’s It, audience members are introduced to seven kids growing up in Derry, Maine. Oh, there’s also a shapeshifting clown who is the epitome of evil trying to kill them but anyways… Set in the summer of 89′ these normal kids living in a deranged town would eventually form the losers club. As the name proceeds, each of these kids were outcasts in their own respects, but they all shared one Bully. While this bully, Henry Bowers, is the secondary antagonist, his character serves just as big a purpose as that of Pennywise (the dancing clown). Bowers and his entourage terrorize each of these kids into finding each other, developing their friendship, and forming the losers club. The friendship that eventually saves their lives… the first time.
Between Bowers and Pennywise, the losers are literally fighting for their lives every day. One of the main themes in It is “the complete indifference of the town’s adults, which is alluded to as being a product of Pennywise’s historical influence.” (( “Friendship and Paralyzing Terror: A Look at IT (2017).” Swarthmorephoenix.com, 2017. )). The consequence of this indifference is that the kids are left to ‘fend for themselves’ regarding Pennywise, Bowers, and even their own families. Not only does this reinforce why the emergence of the losers club was so important to keep these kids alive, but it also reeks of symbolism. Often it’s easy for adults to brush off children’s troubles because there is this idea that kids’ issues aren’t real-life adult issues, and they have ‘less going on’ in general. This could not be further from the truth; adverse childhood experiences, and trauma can result in latent vulnerability,
…the way in which neurocognitive and biological systems adapt to early adverse environments in ways that may confer short-term functional advantages, but increase future risk of poor psychiatric outcome.
(( “Autobiographical memory: a candidate latent vulnerability mechanism for psychiatric disorder following childhood maltreatment.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2017. ))
Relationships from our earliest ages play a critical role in molding how our brains develop and ultimately how we perceive the world and process situations. Although the losers club defeats Pennywise and their human abusers, he leaves them with one word. “Fear.” (( Muschietti, Andy, Dir. It. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2017. )) Pennywise, in many regards, is a symbol of trauma itself. While we get the illusion of defeat, Pennywise is not gone for good; he is merely below the surface of Derry awaiting his return. Pennywise uses the word fear at this moment to let the losers know that their work is not done. The clown, like their trauma, is not erased in the next twenty-seven years, only repressed. The fear and latent vulnerability they have now experienced as children will follow them through life.
Due to Muscietti’s decision to make part one of this narrative linear, it sets up It Chapter 2 beautifully. While we still get flashbacks in It Chapter 2, viewers have already gotten two hours and fifteen minutes to understand and dissect these characters and their individual complexities. Emphasis is put on why it is so important to return to Derry after all these years. They all seem to be successful in some way, but after growing fond of the childhood versions of these characters, the juxtaposition when they emerge as adults in the sequel is almost jarring. Viewers can walk away from It with hope for these characters in the future if they haven’t read the book. Though unfortunately, they are all still visibly dealing with their subconscious traumas.
Throughout the narrative explored between It Chapter 2 and its predecessor, the viewer is granted a notable paragon regarding childhood trauma. While It could easily be a horrifying and entertaining stand-alone adaptation, It Chapter 2 demands relevance due to its powerful themes. Stories that could have stopped at their first arc (the first film) are revisited years later. Muschietti delivers a successful depiction of trauma in these films, but in It Chapter 2, viewers are given a glimpse into what happens after the story usually ends. Getting the ‘win’ in 89′ didn’t necessarily mean a happy ending for the losers club, and more often than not, that is reality.
Even after people are able to get out of traumatic situations, if that trauma is never addressed, it can be extremely damaging. The real kicker is that many people store trauma subconsciously, therefore living with the damage without being aware of the damage or how to stop it. This is what happens to the losers club when they leave Derry. Going back to their hometown and facing Pennywise and, in turn, their unabsolved traumas gives them the opportunity to turn their lives into something better, something they deserve. Though this isn’t all possible simply by defeating Pennywise a second time around, back in Derry, they all have a personal journey to walk through.
A Deep Dive Into Bill Denbrough
Each member of the losers club experiences their own personal traumas and injustices, but they also deal with some similar issues. Since the children all have a similar framework for their trauma, this section will use Bill Denbrough to explain everything in detail before addressing the other characters’ specific traumas. If you’ve ever heard anything about It (the book, miniseries, or films), you are probably familiar with little Georgie in the yellow raincoat. You are probably also familiar with how he meets his demise after becoming acquainted with Pennywise at a nearby sewer drain. While this serves as a terrifying scene in every adaptation of It (1986), it also presents to the viewer what is, very likely, the most predominant of Bill’s traumas; the loss of his younger brother. There are multiple layers as to why this trauma will affect him so deeply. The loss of a loved one is cause enough for emotional and psychological trauma. Still, the events that surround this loss truly escalate the amount of latent vulnerability Bill will endure.
Let’s start by establishing that before anything ever happened to Georgie, Bill has a stutter. His stutter alone doesn’t contribute to any negative mental health effects. While social anxiety can commonly arise in those who may have a stutter, this didn’t seem to hinder Bill too much. We see he has healthy friendships with Eddie, Stan, and Ritchie from the beginning of the narrative. Though he is definitely bullied by the notorious Henry Bowers. Bowers was always a bully but “The combination of [Pennywise’s] influence and his father’s abuse caused him to experience a mental break.” (( “Why did Henry Bowers get committed to a mental institution instead of a prison?” Reddit.com, 2019. )); and ultimately, he is taken him from a ruthless bully to a full-on villain. On that account, when Bill isn’t searching for his missing younger brother, he is either being terrorized by a murderous thirteen-year-old or a murderous ancient clown.
It would also be ignorant not to bring up that Bill is dealing with loss and is also dealing with guilt when it comes to his brother’s disappearance. You see this manifest in his urgency to find Georgie as well as when he learns of Georgie’s death and continues to risk his life to prevent anyone else from falling victim to Pennywise. While there is the initial emotion of wanting your brother back, what haunts Bill is the responsibility he bears for his disappearance. To be clear, he bears no responsibility; he was “the best big brother there ever was… [Georgie] loved [him] and just because [he] didn’t wanna play on a rainy day, just one time, that does not make it [his] fault, and it never ever did.” (( Muschietti, Andy, Dir. It Chapter 2. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2019. )). Unfortunately, he is unable to admit this to himself until he is back in Derry, twenty-seven years later.
Bill’s inability to truly process the traumatic events he was exposed to as a child, coupled with the memory loss associated with leaving Derry, leads to an unfulfilling adult life. It Chapter 2 showcases Bill Denbrough, a Hollywood writer… who can’t write a good ending and resides in an unhappy marriage to his wife, Audra. Bill, as an adult, is still punishing himself for the things that happened in Derry all those years ago, even though he can’t remember what happened. Along the way to adulthood, he subconsciously internalized the feeling that he wasn’t deserving of happiness if a happy ending was even possible. Bill Denbrough is now the pessimist, the damned, and the perpetually self-sabotaging older brother to a ghost.
When Bill does make his way back to Derry with the rest of the losers, he goes through hell, as they all do. He is faced with Pennywise’s incarnation of Georgie, taunted as he is forced to watch the murder of another young boy he gives his all to save and ridiculed by incarnations of his younger self. Though he did not crumble, in the end, Bill is exposed to the happiness he has deprived himself of with the return of his friends. It is also much clearer to see that he had no responsibility for Georgie’s disappearance as an adult. When he watches ‘Georgie’ tell the younger version of himself, “You lied and I died.” (( Muschietti, Andy, Dir. It Chapter 2. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2019. )) Bill realizes that’s not true. He remembers why he’s felt this pain for so long and realizes that he was just a kid; a kid who would have done anything for his little brother.
Latent Vulnerability In It Chapter 2
Now that we have examined Bill’s character, what about Eddie, Richie, Beverly, Ben, Stan, and Mike? As Aforementioned, the entirety of the losers club is tormented by Henry Bowers, his goons, and, Pennywise on top of their own personal traumas. Remember, these kids form the losers club because they all have damage and hurt in common. The children’s trauma on top of trauma and lack of security due to the adult’s indifference in Derry has been established. Along with the ‘memory loss’ after leaving Derry, which is certainly a symbol for repression, it’s not hard to see that the losers were battling unfair odds. It makes sense how they might end up in negative situations as adults due to their shared trauma and repression. Nonetheless, the specific trauma that each of the children endures ultimately affects them the most.
Stanley Uris
Stanley’s personal trauma has to do with his experience with antisemitism, as he is bullied by Bowers for being Jewish. Stan also grows up as the Rabi’s son, and his father definitely puts pressure on stan to not ‘make a fool of him.’ Unlike most of the other characters, he seems to have been extra fearful after leaving Derry. Stan is visibly one of the most, if not the most, traumatized by Pennywise himself in the first film. Stan “has a very set way of approaching life, so the appearance of It in his life turns everything around and confuses and terrifies him.” (( “Stan Uris.” stephenking.fandom.com, 2021. )).
For some reason, while everyone else’s trauma was buried deeper, Stan’s seemed to be just below the surface. Regardless, Stan seems to be the happiest as an adult; he enjoys his life and loves his wife. They are even seen planning a vacation right before he gets the call from Mike to come back to Derry. However, unlike the others, when stan picks up the phone, everything starts to flood back to him at once without having to step foot in Derry. After this phone call, Stan commits suicide. It is later revealed in a note to the losers that “Stan knew that he would be too scared to face It again and his presence would only hinder the other Losers, so he took himself off the board to give the others a fighting chance.” (( “Stan Uris.” stephenking.fandom.com, 2021. )). Stanley’s story is heartbreaking, but they do include a flashback of Stan as a child in It Chapter 2, giving a speech and standing up to his father, which gives his character a bit of redemption.
Beverly Marsh
Beverly’s personal trauma is sexual assault. Her father abuses her in the novel, and it is alluded to in the films. Even her father touching her hair disgusts her enough to cut it all off. To make matters worse, she is slut-shamed by what seems like the entire school, all because of a rumor that Bowers started. In the novel, she is also sexually assaulted by Bowers and his goons. It is also revealed in It Chapter 2 that Beverly’s father abuses her and plants the idea in her head that her mother never loved her and Beverly is the reason she is gone. The culmination of all of this trauma results in a girl who craves the love she never got from her mother but knew of no other ‘love’ than the abuse she got as a child.
Often, if a situation is too devastating to handle, humans tell themselves things are normal, that’s just the way it is, or everyone must be living like this only to make it bearable in our minds. At the same time, this might help you survive a threatening situation; if you don’t go back and unlearn that, you risk putting yourself in danger later in life. As the losers leave Derry and forget what happened, this happens to Beverly, and as we see her grown up, she is in an abusive relationship. It is almost as if Beverly doesn’t believe there is a healthy option for love out there or at least one accessible to her.
Mike Hanlon
Mike’s family lives on the outskirts of town as it alludes that his grandfather has some awareness of Pennywise’s presence. Mike is also the last to join the losers club when the rest of the gang finds him on the verge of being bludgeoned with a rock by Bowers. It is not said explicitly in the films, but Mike’s personal trauma in the book is being a victim of racism. This is alluded to in the film with lines like “Stay the fuck out of my town!” (( Muschietti, Andy, Dir. It Chapter 2. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2019. )), delivered by Bowers, among many others. Though Mike never leaves Derry, so he never forgets what happened.
Mike takes his extra twenty-seven years in Derry to become an expert on Derry. He even reaches out to a local native tribe to get the dirt on Pennywise. When ‘It’ returns, Mike is ready, he has been preparing, and while that seems good, it’s at the detriment of his mental health and well-being. Mike says as a child, his dream was to get out of Derry and move to Florida, but the events that would ensue when he was a child would eventually end up getting the better of him. Defeating Pennywise eventually takes priority over his own wants and needs.
Ben Hanscom
Ben’s personal trauma is due to the fatism (( “Overweight Children and Adolescents: Impact on Psychological and Social Development” uknowledge.uky.edu, 2009. )) he experienced as a child. He is ruthlessly bullied by Bowers and Pennywise, as he also makes fun of Ben for his weight. Bowers went as far as to carve his name in Ben’s stomach: luckily, he didn’t get past the first letter before Ben could escape. It is also known that Ben harbors a deep love for Beverly as she was the only girl to give him the time of day as a child. He even holds on to the page of his yearbook she signed for twenty-seven years.
Ben even tries to express his feeling to Beverly through a beautiful poem. Unfortunately, though, Ben pretty much backs off when she assumes Bill wrote it, and they hit it off. This isn’t because he wants to but because his experiences with fatism have made him believe he is unworthy of love. As an adult, Ben is extremely successful, and he has lost weight, but it has been ingrained in him that he ‘deserves to be alone. Obviously, he does not, but he lacks the confidence to find someone now as an adult.
Eddie Kaspbrak
Eddie is clearly a hypochondriac; he is not shy about his distaste for germs and his careful nature. Being a hypochondriac is not his trauma but rather the reason Eddie became a hypochondriac, his mother. Mommy dearest seems to be unable to handle the world if Eddie is not dependant on her. To take it a little further, Eddie’s mom knows she needs him, so out of her own fear, she tries to make him scared of the world so he’ll always be there. Having him get prescribed placebos and isolating him from his friends after he breaks his arm.
This manifests in Eddie’s adult life as extreme anxiety and feelings of helplessness. He even becomes a risk analyst for work and ends up with his mother due to the conditioning he endured as a child. To emphasize how similar Eddie’s mother and eventual wife are, Muscietti even used the same actor to play both parts. Eddie is terrified going back to Derry; even after the wins he takes, he still seems anxious and reluctant. Finally, he is granted his hero moment in the final battle with Pennywise, and he can celebrate himself. He saved his friends, and he feels confident… tragically, he meets his demise soon after; though, Eddie did have his day in the sun.
Richie Tozier
Richie is the comedian of the group, fitting as he grows up to be a comedian. Yet, have you ever truly paid attention to his jokes? Most of them are lewd and hypersexual, which at first glance could mean anything. In It Chapter 2, we get a glimpse at Richie’s personal life away from the losers.
After playing games in the arcade with Bowers’ younger cousin, Bowers emerges to call him gay slurs and demands that he leave the arcade. Pennywise then appears, of course, taunting him, “I know your secret, your dirty little secret.” (( Muschietti, Andy, Dir. It Chapter 2. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2019. )). Richies lewd jokes were always an attempt to distract from his true sexuality. It is also notable that Richie was inconsolable after Eddie’s death, alluding to a repressed attraction.
From Losers To Lovers
Conclusively, after returning to Derry, the losers did much more than defeating an evil clown or a bully. The losers club had to face the darkest parts of themselves, the parts that stored self-hatred or sabotaged their chance at a happy life. Going back to Derry was noticeably traumatic and hard for the losers; not all of them made it.
However, without going back and facing their demons literally and figuratively, they would never have been able to see the preexisting issues they were blind to. Bill forgives himself and stops sabotaging his own career; Beverly and Ben find love but, more importantly, a genuine and non-abusive love. Mike finally leaves Derry, but on his own terms, not because he is being driven out, and we get a shot of Richie finishing a carving he started twenty-seven years ago. It reads “R+E,” and it can be interpreted as him finally accepting his sexuality.
Understanding Muscietti’s Message…
It emphasized how damaging childhood trauma can be and how important it is to have a support system of some kind. It Chapter 2 reminds viewers that regardless of how terrible things can get, nothing is set in stone. No one is doomed to suffer; it is possible to work through trauma and come out stronger on the other side. Moreover, kids’ issues and mental health are just as important as adults, if not more urgent. Therefore next time you watch It Chapter 2 or its predecessor, enjoy the fright but don’t let these important themes go unnoticed.
