I think what I've been finding really fascinating about the Monstrumologist series, now that I've started rereading it, is how open to interpretation it truly is. I mean like, yeah, obviously, but I don't think a lot of people talk about how Will Henry is a very unreliable narrator. The way he interprets Warthrop's behavior in his own words is the only information we have, but there very well could've been more. We never truly see what Warthrop is thinking, just what Will Henry thinks—or hopes—he's thinking. Will Henry is the only source we have on him, so we kinda have to take his word for it, but at the same time all the little behaviors Will Henry noted could've meant something else and we never would have known! For all we know, Warthrop could've been cruel and indifferent, his actions just being red herrings that Will henry desperately latched onto in his isolation. However, as interesting as it is to think that, I believe a fair amount of show-don't-tell does disprove this throughout the book, what with "You're the one thing that keeps me human" and Will Henry being reiterated to have been indispensible to him. And yet, as well as Will Henry knew Warthrop, he wasn't him. Will Henry wasn't in his mind. That's what makes this so fascinating, As much as we as the audience know Warthrop through Will Henry's interpretation of him, it is just that. An interpretation. We never will know who the real Warthrop was.
I mourn the fact that the only piece we have written more or less from Warthrop's perspective (aside from a couple bits in the book that is still Will Henry retelling Warthrop's story) is some interview Rick Yancey did prior to the release of book 3 AS Warthrop. Tho it is oddly enough still kinda insightful on Warthrop's POV, highly recommend checking it out:
me and the awesome, beloved by all @turthead had a BLAST with the reddiesance spring fling event!! our prompts were historical au, and we decided to give each other historical artworks to recreate reddiestyle :) SO much fun 10/10 would do again
CHECK OUT THEIRS!!
Here’s the artwork I gave them and they gave me :)
My piece for the reddiesance spring fling event!!!! Me and superbly-talented-awesomed-and-sauced @birdhousesinyoursoul prompt was Historical AU- so we decided to give eachother some classic artworks to redraw 🌞
So this got a lot longer than I thought it would, and I didn't reread what I wrote cuz I'm on mobile, so sorry if it's all over the place but here's my thoughts on Eddie and the movie's portrayal of his abuse.
This is probably a topic I'll cover if I ever get around to my essay/video/yap session on my love and hate for the movies
TW Mentions of emotional incest, parental abuse
Something I've said that's bothered me before is the fans/audience's lack of care or understanding of Eddie's abuse from his mom. So so many people say that she's just overprotective or overbearing, something that a lot of moms do. And this, for many reasons, bothers me a lot but at some point I can only blame the audience's perception of this so much, because of how it is framed in the movie, which is how most people consume the story.
For some reason, the movie uses Eddie's trauma as primarily comedic. While a lot of the scenes with his mom are appropriately uncomfortable, Sonia asking for a kiss, her not letting Eddie leave the house, etc., they still have a layer of comedy to them. Richie is laughing and poking fun of Eddie when he kisses his mom on the cheek, taking away a lot of the seriousness of the situation. Eddie calling his placebos gazebos when confronting his mom, which while admittedly funny and it was originally a blooper, inadvertently leviates the tense situation of Eddie again. Eddie's mother is feeding him placebos under the guise of him being sick, making him take an inhaler he does not need in order to control him, now is not the time for jokes.
Now, IT is a funny horror movie, that's one of the reasons I love it. Horror and comedy are my fav genres to blend. But it still does know when to take the content of this story seriously, and I think a good example of this is Beverly. Every scene of her father is uncomfortable, scary, disturbing. Everybody knows what's going on in that man's head and everyone is rightfully upset and scared by his behavior. Everyone is concerned for Bev's safety and we understand the gravity of her situation. There is no jokes told in these scenes, nothing to laugh at, because this is the true horror of IT. Contrasted with Eddie's scenes with his mom, it's why I almost can't blame the audience for not picking up on it.
Similarly to when they're adults, Bev is in a very serious and dangerous environment with her husband who is a direct parallel to her father. We're not joking, we're not laughing, we are hoping she gets out safe. In contrast, Eddie's relationship with Myra, a literal carbon copy of his mother, is introduced as a joke with them arguing over whether Eddie should be driving after it had rained. When she calls him back cuz he didn't say he loves her, and he gets distracted by Mike's call, he says "Okay I love you mommy" out of habit. Which, again, is a joke. Eddie's trauma response is played as a joke throughout the franchise.
This issue bothers me even more because this amount of jokes surrounding Eddie's trauma isn't in the book. The scene Eddie is introduced as an adult he recognizes that Frued would have had a field day with him, but that's about it (from my memory, lmk if there are other instances). But even that joke, in my opinion, is more appropriate because it still recognizes what is happening to Eddie. Eddie and Beverly and their relationship with their parents have direct parallels to each other in the book. Eddie's trauma is more than an overprotective mother and it's even more than the munchausen by proxy. Eddie is being subjected to a gross form of emotional incest by his mother, who sees him as both a little baby and her husband, so she does everything she can to keep him with her after Eddie's dad passes away, which she does through lying and manipulating him and making him believe that he is weak. I genuinely don't knlw why Muschietti chose to go the comedic route for Eddie when it comes to his mother, I don't know if it was intentional or subconsciously, though I theorize it's the latter. But after reflecting on the movie's treatment of Eddie and his trauma, I'll give the casual fans and viewers a bit more grace, but I'll still side eye them. Especially if they make Richie's parents abusive instead but that's another conversation.
Tumblr is rolling out a new reblog/notes system that completely disregards creators. In their new system, they're taking a twitter-style approach where reblogs will have their own notes that DO NOT contribute to the original post's notes.
Because of this, creators will no longer be able to see an accurate display of likes/reblogs/etc. This is completely altering the way feedback and responses to works are going to be received on this website.
If you come across a fan work that you enjoy, please take the extra step to go to OPs original post, and leave your comment/like/reblog there. Or go one step further and send an ask to OP directly to tell them what you liked!
I really hope Tumblr staff reverses course and reverts to the original reblog system for the sake of the large base of creators who use this site to share their works, but until then, please be considerate and make sure the creators here see/feel the love.
