How exactly does the lore of Derry work in Stephen King movies?
It: Welcome to Derry finished airing and I instantly had question. Mainly how the lore of Derry, Maine works in all Stephen King stories. There are a lot of his adaptations that go back to Derry. Does everyone just forget?
In It, the idea is that if you leave Derry, you’ll forget most of what happened to you in the town. You’ll remember that Derry exists but not the people or your experience with the town. Which then brings up questions for other properties. While there are novels that also connect to Derry (like 11/22/63), Derry has become more of a nod to King through the adaptations of his work.
Most recently, The Running Man took Ben Richards (Glen Powell) to Derry, Maine. There, he meets Elton (Michael Cera) who is trying to help Ben survive the entire month of the game. And while the nod to Derry is nice, it makes me wonder some things. Like…when Ben Richards leaves town, is he going to forget everything that happened with Elton? Or is that only reserved to nonsense happening with a killer clown?
Did the curse lift after the adult kids finally defeated Pennywise? All of this is now on my mind after Welcome to Derry and I need to know how it works.
Do you really forget Derry?
A lot of interpretations of It and Derry take the idea of “forgetting” literally. Many people think it is a metaphor for knowing that you can overcome and “forget” your past trauma, much like the kids terrorized in Derry. But I think it is deeper than that. I think the concept of forgetting isn’t a “healing” thing.
Trauma is a fickle thing and I think the concept of forgetting Derry is tied to protecting yourself to the detriment of those left behind. So if it isn’t as “literal” as forgetting outside of your control, then I think Elton is fine. But if you do really forget Derry, how does the final act of The Running Man work?
I think maybe the Network filming Derry might finally break that cycle. But also, I do recognize that the lore of Derry doesn’t have to extend to every reference to the town. It is funny to think about Ben Richards surviving the hunters and then having to defeat Pennywise though.
(featured image: HBO)
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