Genre Analysis Draft #2: IT
Anxieties about conformity and being stuck inside a mental box to fit in are all part of the 
Suburban Gothic genre. Being afraid to step outside the box and be your true self can be hard 
especially when you are surrounded by a community of people who all share the same beliefs 
and values. Many details like preying on vulnerable children, haunting family houses, and 
attacking the bourgeois are all part of the suburban gothic genre. Implementing surprise elements to shock the audience also emphasizes the anxiety the audience can feel when the prey gets trapped into the manipulation of the attacker. The intense music, low lighting, and much more are all combined to create an eerie situation where the protagonist has to escape their biggest fears. Therefore, the suburban gothic genre creates anxieties and brings out the deepest fears in the audience to impose the urge to be aware of the familiar. 
        To continue, children in the suburban gothic genre are the main targets and victims of the 
perpetrators because of their lack of experience in life and their vulnerability. Kids don’t have 
the certain mental tools it takes to determine if a situation is dangerous or not. Most children are gullible and believe that the enemy is trying to be “friends” with them. For example, Pennywise 
tries to gain Georgie’s heart by offering him a balloon and his boat back. Specifically, in IT the 
children chosen as the victims were the outliers of the town which adds another element of the 
suburban gothic genre. It states in the that “They are outliers within a social system that values 
straightforward definition above all else” (Dines 2020). In the movie IT it is very common that 
the kids get referred to as losers for being different like stuttering or weight issues. The other 
kids in Derry were considered “normal” due to their nuclear family and conformity. 
       A recurring theme of the Suburban Gothic genre is the past coming back to haunt you. It 
is stated, “Gothic horrors such as Poltergeist thus moralize that suburban America’s ignorance of 
or disregard for the past will always result in that past coming back to haunt it (Dines 2020). In 
IT the theme of the past is correct since Pennywise comes back to haunt the town of Derry every 28 years. This is a prime example of how the past doesn’t leave you alone and will come back to finish the job. In many scary movies the hauntings are caused by Indian burial grounds or satanic rituals. This can specifically be seen in IT 2 when it shows how the curse of Pennywise 
originated from a ritual. In the article it explains, “Is there anything more to suburban Gothic’s 
preoccupation with the presence of the past than a simple reworking of the biggest cliché in the 
book of American hauntings, the house built over an Indian burial ground? (Dines 2020). This
quote shows how there are certain elements to this genre that come naturally for the viewer to 
catch. Stephen King’s movies and books include common suburban gothic details, but he 
includes a twist of turns into his work of art to keep the story original. Also, his inspiration 
comes from nightmares that he has experienced. For instance, when Stephen King stayed at the 
Stanley Hotel he had a nightmare that gave him the inspiration to create “The Shining”. This 
exhibits how the combination of personal experiences and cliché of the suburban gothic can 
create one of the most successful pieces. 
      Perpetrators in this genre love to use common interests with the victim to form a false 
sense of “friendship” but what the children don’t realize is that it is just a form of mental 
manipulation. It is shocking to see how the predators in the situation don’t force their victims 
into doing something but rather manipulate the situation to have more fun. In IT the character 
Georgie fell for a false illusion that was created by a clown pretending to be genuine. In reality 
Pennywise offering Georgie a balloon and his boat back was a way to win the kid’s heart. 
Combining all of these factors and feeding off of the vulnerability of a young child was the 
perfect combination to trap Georgie without actually forcing him to get into the sewer. Mental 
manipulation is a big cause of how tragic events begin. IT can increase anxiety over the storyline 
because our world has seen hundreds of serial killer clowns that represent the probability of this 
story coming to life is extremely high. Lies can go a long way if the person doesn’t know how to 
detect if the person is being truthful. Also, conformity can be an issue when ignoring the 
perspective of others and wanting others to have the same beliefs and values. The article states, 
“’ has to do more specifically with a disturbance of the familiar’” (Moore 2016). This quote describes the problem with conformity and trusting people that are close in proximity as if they weren’t strangers. Neighbors doesn’t necessarily mean that the people near you are trustworthy and that is how problems arise. People would rather be friends than enemies with people nearby, but it is not always a good idea when they are putting up a façade to hide their true intentions. 
         To conclude, the Suburban Gothic genre has repetitive details that don’t come as a shock 
to the audience but the way they are implemented can cause the audience to get a feeling of the 
supernatural world. It involves using personal fears to gain power and the anxiety of the post war world with the rise of the suburbs just added panic to the people who didn’t belong in society’s 
eyes. The nuclear family can cause emotional dependency and feeling alone because of the 
relationship with the parents and siblings. In modern times, the nuclear family isn’t the norm or 
the generic family structure anymore since divorce rates are high and the cost of sustaining a 
family is close to impossible. Fear and anxiety have increased since the creation of the suburbs 
and after the suburban gothic genre gained popularity the only way for society to placate their 
emotions is to create a false sense of identity so you can fit in with society. 
                                                         

                                                               Works Cited
Dines, Martin. “Suburban Gothic and Banal Unhomeliness”. The Literature of Suburban 
Change (2020): Edinburgh University Press.

Moore, Erica. “Haunting Memories: Gothic and Memoir”. Landscapes of the Gothic 
Mind: Memory and Genre (2016): Department of English , Wheelock College ,Boston , MA , USA.

Changes between drafts are in blue highlighter