today I feel like talking about a smart (and yet overlooked) parallel concerning Richie Tozier and his feelings,
which areā¦ also overlooked
What I mean is that Richie is constantly avoiding to deal with his true emotions in the first place. He talks and blabbers nonsense (and occasionally brilliant things) but when he happens to get closer to his true core he immediately adopts self-censorship. So, this parallel is very useful because it shows us what happens when all his mental walls crumble down.
Iām talking about two specific scenes: the rock war in 1958, and in particular the six Losers preparing themselves for the battle, and the well-known part in 1985 when the four survivors leave ITs lair. Iāve read a lot of speculation about the strange gesture Richie does, kicking the wooden door shut. And I think many people got the point.
But have you ever thought of that part in relation to the preparation to the rock war?
Iāll sum it up: the entire(-ish) Losers Club is at the dump, ready to shoot off the firecrackers, when they hear some explosions in the distance. They donāt know what caused them or whatās about to happen, but in that moment they are in the middle of a bigger plan. They donāt know it (yet), but they can sense it. So Bill urges them to pick up some stones, even if they havenāt seen neither Mike nor Bowers and the other bullies yet. But they know itās the right thing to do.Ā
The focus is on Richie now. He starts to get rocks, very serious, not talking. His glasses fall off but he almost doesnāt notice, so Beverly asks him: Ā«Why did you do that, Richie?Ā» (ā¦) Ā«Donāt know, keedĀ», and he goes on picking rocks.
He actually does not know.
Letās get to the infamous part after the final battle. IT has been defeated, but at what cost? Eddie is dead and the Losers get his body out of there. Richie is crying and before leaving him, he kisses Eddieās cheek. And thenā¦
Richie got up and turned toward the door. Ā«Fuck you, Bitch!Ā» he cried suddenly, and kicked the door shut with his foot. (ā¦)Ā Ā«Whyād you do that?Ā» Beverly asked.Ā Ā«I donāt know,Ā» Richie said, but he knew well enough.
Notice that the question is almost the same as the one at the dump, and the person asking it is Beverly, both times. But in the first case, Richie does not know why is he doing what heās doing; heās like a pawn in the hands of Something Else, something he does not understand yet. He is part of a bigger plan, not just a Richie Tozier, heās a we. (Sense8 reference hereā¦ my fault)
In the precise moment IT dies Richie goes back being himself, a single individual. And all the natural human emotions hit him, and he just canāt hold them inside. Pain, rage, despair, guilt because Eddie sacrificed himself to save him and Bill: all in that kick, a useless call. But he does it anyway because he canāt handle it. (I just canāt imagine how devastating would all that feel, especially for Richie, who owns a special sensitiveness)
But the worst is that additional sentence: he knew well enough. For once in his life Richie is aware of his feelings, perhaps not enough to put them in words (after all, itās Richie Tozier weāre talking about), but enough to express them through a physical reaction: a strong kick towards the enemyās door, who killed the man he has always loved. But heās never been brave enough to acknowledge that, and now itās all pointless.
I justā¦ loved the mirroring between the two parts. On the one hand a brave kid led by the infallible universe, on the other a broken man with no hope left and just one unbearable certainty about himself.Ā Ā
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