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Disclaimer: This is not a rant about sex in the movies or the "general fall of moral standards in the modern youth", but genuine question

In the book, all kids from the "Loosers Club" are 11. Beverly is described as a pretty girl, that barely started hitting puberty:

She paused (as she now almost always did) to look at her chest in the mirror, trying to decide if her breasts had gotten any bigger in the night. She had started getting them late last year. There had been some faint pain at first, but that wa s gone now. They were extremely small — not much more than spring apples, really — but they were there. It was true; childhood would end; she would be a woman.

And indeed, in the 1990 movie, the Emily Perkins that played her born at 1977 was around 12. We can definitely see that Beverly is a girl:

enter image description here

The gang (with exception of Ben who is madly in love with her) treat Beverly as "one of the guys".

In the 2017 remake, Beverly is no longer a girl - she is a young woman and so was Sophia Lillis born in 2002 (so around 14-15 when the movie was made)

enter image description here In the same scene as presented above, we can see all boys staring almost open-mouthed at sunbathing Bev.

Now, you could argue that 1989 girls try acting adult earlier than girls in 1956 (the original movie took place in 1956, the remake changes it to 1989), but this would be more characteristic for "girlish" girls rather for tomboy such as Beverly - so it seems that indeed this was a purposeful change made by director.

Has Andy Muschietti commented anywhere why he made such big change to this character?

Edit: I know about the (in)famous sex scene in the sewers where Beverly has sex with all of the boys from the Loosers gang, but it was not supposed to be erotic (most of the boys are too young to archive orgasm) but symbolic - as a sign of a bond and transition into adulthood. Still, that doesn't answer the question, why the "new" Beverly is so sexualised in comparison to both book and the 1990 movie.

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    Do you know in original novel, she had sex with all of them?
    – Ankit Sharma
    Dec 14, 2017 at 10:50
  • @AnkitSharma Yes I do, but King himself pointed it wasn't supposed to be erotic in nature (its done in the sewers, in total darkness, most of the boys are even too young to climax), but rather bonding experience for the group and the facing the fear of loosing virginity to Bev.
    – Yasskier
    Dec 14, 2017 at 19:56

1 Answer 1

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In the novel there is a bit of both - these are children going through puberty. That's what the big scene in the bathroom with all the blood is aimed at. It's Pennywise horrifying Beverly on a number of levels, one of which is aimed at the start of her period.

In the book the kids are often sexualized:

As Ankit notes, Beverly has sex with all of the losers in the sewers, but there's also the tension between the father and her - it's darkly hinted that he is set to sexually abuse her. Also, with regard to Beverly, she catches Henry and his friend masturbating.

This doesn't just end with Beverly though - as I said, the other kids have this dichotomy as well.

I believe it is Eddie who is sexually tormented at several points by Pennywise, who appears to him as a filthy homeless person who is offer Eddie a blowjob for a nickle.

That's just a brief over view, there's other scenes that show this dichotomy as well.

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    "As a Ankit notes". :P
    – A J
    Dec 14, 2017 at 13:15
  • Lol, fair enough. Dec 14, 2017 at 13:54
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    You are mistaken about the Stan: it was Eddie who has seen a homeless lepper that was offering to "blow him for a dime", but since Eddie is afraid of getting sick, he was more afraid of getting in physical contact with a sick man rather than being forced to have sex. Scene in the sewers was not (according to King) erotic but about the bond they share - most of the boys were too young to have orgasm.
    – Yasskier
    Dec 14, 2017 at 20:07
  • You are totally correct Yasskier - I've made an edit to reverse this. As to the scene in the sewer, I'm not saying it was erotic, just sexualized. Maybe we agree to disagree. I don't recall whether or not they had orgasms. I do remember King suggesting that one of the kids was different, or maybe it was Beverly's reaction to the kid? Dec 14, 2017 at 20:28

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