okay so i was just reading your tags on the last it reblog and.... i always thought that he said "clown" because he thinks of himself as one- someone who hides behind the mask, using humor and laughter to hide the pain and pretending to be happy with a painted smile.... that's why when they showed him as a comedian it clicked back in for me. just a thought bc I loved your thought behind it!
Ooooh that’s good too! And ty! Ty for taking the time to read that giant mess of tags lol After seeing Chapter 2, and now knowing what Richie was afraid of (his sexuality and feelings and feelings for Eddie), looking back at the first movie and all of those things, it really feels like a big foreshadow and a lead in to that. In the first movie, the missing poster, the doll in the coffin in the clown room, at first it’s odd and not as specific as the fears of the others so it begs the question so ‘so what’s he afraid of’ and because of the second movie and whats revealed about Richie (being gay and in love with Eddie) and there’s a flashback to him at the arcade during the time of the first movie experiencing the fear of himself, his feelings, his attraction to boys, feelings for Eddie and the fear of being outed and then him first making the R + E carving on the Kissing Bridge, and it, to me, gives an answer to the poster, and Richie doll in the coffin and why he said clowns as his fear where as everyone else’s was very specific and stems from something in their lives. But unlike everyone else, Richie can’t just come out and say the truth because that’s what he’s afraid of so he says clowns, which is the shape of the thing that knows his fear and can expose him. Whis is exactly what the "I know your secret, your dirty little secret" scene in It Chapter 2 is the sloppy bitch clown knowing exactly what Richie's afraid of and tauntining him with it. It makes all these things from It Chapter 1 come together and, to me, make perfect sense. As someone who is still afraid to come out (to family mostly), was terrfied of myself and how I felt in high school and hid from myself, and knows what this feels like, what Richie felt like, this is what I see and what makes sense to me. Sorry for the ramble. I hope it made sense. (THIS is the post in question if anyone wants to read my tags.)
