Oftentimes we see our heroes suffer or killed in horror films and with Stephen King known for putting his characters through the ringer, this was one trope he didn’t want in ‘It‘. King’s goal in bringing us The Losers Club was to develop a set of leading characters that you wanted to root for and make it through the end, so any setbacks that they might suffer would really hurt and no death would just be a throwaway.
King’s goal for the kids was released as a special feature in the Blu-ray of ‘It.’ King stated:
“One of the things that I wanted to do in the novel, in all of my novels, is to create characters who are fundamentally decent by and large. That way, you don’t want them to be spam in a cabin. You want them to live and you want them to win.”
This is very true. While many of his characters have died or gone through great suffering, you don’t actually want them to. They are so fully developed, realized, and sympathetic in one way or another that you really do want them to pull through. I mean, Pennywise is scary but when you’re rooting for a group of kids for an entire film, he can be downright terrifying. We’ve all seen too often how characters are created just to be killed off in original or interesting ways, and King’s goal is to have ones that you’re invested in. So, if they do get hurt or killed there is an emotional impact as well.
Do you agree with Stephen King that having characters that you’re invested in give you closer ties to a movie or novel? When it comes to horror, are you more into the thrilling moments if you’ve made a mental connection with these made up characters? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Cinema Blend
