The Sexual Politics of "It"

Andy Muschietti's elegant adaptation of Stephen King's "It," in summer 2017, was warmly accepted by critics and audiences alike. But it was a horror film and didn't really spark of a debate on sexual politics or the nature of fear.

Most people don't associate horror films with social messages, but there are exceptions.

In February 2017, Jordan Peele offered up a perfect retort to our current national policy of "Trickle Down Racism." "Get Out" was the most political, meaningful film of 2017.

Likewise, last summer's explosively popular "It" has a lot to say about the feminism inherent in the way Beverly (Sophia Lillis) is portrayed. "It" is a progressive and unique look at the sexualization that every woman faces as they come of age.

The thought of Beverly's transformation from child hood to womanhood terrifies Beverly. The bulk of the film is relatively bloodless. The boys' fear comes in the form of sickness and suffers. But blood symbolizes Beverly's fear. When the concept of blood, after buying her first tampons, enters her life, the attention, even subservience, of all of her male friends shows its bizarre nature. They clean up her menacing, bloody bathroom without question. They would never question it. No matter what she said, the boys would be her servants. Why?

Critics of the film and the 1986 novel accuse the story of sexualizing children. To the contrary, it offers a decidedly woman's point of view that every teenage boy needs to see. It takes the focus off themselves and makes them think of what it really is to be a woman, or at least the hurdles Beverly faces.

An article from last summer on the website by Aja Romano: "It: the most surprising scene in the movie has nothing to do with clowns,"goes into a very particular and open study of the imagery of the film. The article digs down into a young woman's fear and how that fear is so bloody. Literally.