Pennywise the Dragged and Gagged Slaying Queen

By Camille

No one can out penny the wise and one up this slaying queen. From the closet to the rivers, to the sewage, she's a rat that can never be caught by a mere mortal. For Pennywise, the dragged and gagged slaying queen can only be seen with an eye that is keen.

The fearless and fabulous drag queens from Queen Nutica to Katya Zamolodchikova are the two I chose who fit the fearless but scary slaying queens to go up against Pennywise. But more specifically I want to use them as examples of how drag queens use horror elements in their performances to subvert stereotypes, challenge norms, and empower themselves and their audiences. It is no surprise that Katya is an odd woman, but the sombre and dark looks from Queen Nutica will forever be a favorite as it adds mystery to their character.

I think it is safe to say that Katya is a supernatural being who resonates with the weird and odd folx. She reminds me of a more fabulous version of Bella from Twilight if Bella was as loud as she is brooding and awkward. If you listen to Katya's album titled "Vampire Fitness" you will get an idea of this weird, monster-esque, supernatural resonance that I am talking about. It's suffocating with its otherworldliness that draggs me into a state of confusion because of its visuals. But I love it. It's like a combination of Bjork and Die Antwoord if they were darker and mysterious. 

But what is the appeal? Why are the horror tropes and artistic endeavors the most interesting? To simply put it, it allows people to access different parts of themselves that they didn't know really existed until they transformed those dark areas into some form of artistic expression.  Katya takes their real-life experiences and their past and turns it into a work of art through drag. They are open about their substance abuse and turn it into something that is whimsically volatile but real and something that many people can relate to. That is the appeal, Drag Queens are real people who are a part of a community that has historically been brutalized, these are drag queens who were there for the Stonewall Riots, who have watched their loved ones die from HIV/AIDS, and who have watched as politicians and people in power across generations, demonized and categorized this epidemic as a sickness that only affects gay men and women. Drag is more than just creative expression or cool looks, it is life. Art imitating life, imitating art.

Gender is culturally and socially defined. There are not two genders, there are not two sexes, and to say that disregards those who are two-spirited, intersexed, etc. Some cultures regard different terms for certain roles within their society and those roles will not always just be categorized as for men or for women. I myself am not a drag queen or king, I don't possess the pizzazz for that, but I would like to think that when people are in drag they may not ascribe to a certain gender or sexuality, because that may not be the point for them. When you are in drag I like to think that you could become whatever you want. You could become a new embodiment of something or someone because drag is not to be tied down to gender and sexuality roles. Drag is the absence of such but the fulfillment of art imitating life, imitating art. In this, I think it is interesting to see Pennywise as a drag queen. To recognize that Pennywise preyed on fear can be correlated to the way in which drag queens, like Katya Zamolodchikova and Queen Nutica, use horror and the grotesque to confront societal fears and norms. The comparison of Pennywise to a drag queen is apt because both use their dramatic, larger-than-life personas to evoke strong reactions, challenge perceptions, and explore deeper truths about humanity.

Drag queens embrace elements of horror, including monstrous aesthetics, as a form of empowerment by transforming fear into a tool for self-expression and societal critique. Through the subversion of traditional beauty standards, they challenge the idea that beauty must conform to conventional norms. Horror allows them to reclaim fear, turning negative connotations into sources of power and fascination. This reclamation highlights the performative nature of gender and beauty, emphasizing their fluidity and constructed nature. By adopting grotesque and exaggerated aesthetics, drag queens explore and express complex facets of their identities, confronting past traumas and societal marginalization. This exploration is both therapeutic and relatable, fostering a deeper connection with audiences. Monstrous aesthetics redefine beauty, celebrating diversity and the unexpected, while providing visibility and representation for those who feel alienated by mainstream culture. Notable examples, such as Katya Zamolodchikova and Sharon Needles, illustrate how horror elements push the boundaries of creativity and artistry in drag. Ultimately, the use of horror in drag performances challenges norms, explores identity, and redefines beauty, creating a dynamic and inclusive understanding of self-expression and empowerment.

This also brings into the conversation the use of comedy and satire as activism and expression. Katya Zomolodichikova is known for being satirical with Trixie and being out of pocket, but it makes sense for Katya to be that way. I can't imagine watching their videos and Katya not being an oddball. I remember watching a video of them and they mentioned how they struggled with addiction, and if you watch some of their videos you could listen to how she uses her struggles as comedy and that could be seen as a form of release, acceptance, reliability, and reality. Drag queens are real people and they have always been around. Horror is more than just a genre meant to invoke fear amongst the consumers, it is a reflection of real life, of the everyday struggles that people go through around the world. This blend of horror and humor in drag performances challenges norms, explores identity, and redefines beauty, creating a dynamic and inclusive understanding of self-expression and empowerment. Comedy and satire can be used as activism and expression as it allows for accessible and engaging critique about societal norms. This is a way to foster empathy and encourage an open dialogue about complex subjects.

Maybe viewing Pennywise as a hurt person could help explain why he wanted to invoke fear in others. But in that same idea, it also is hard to explain why Pennywise wanted to eat children. I think this same idea can go for the movie Split, I didn't really like it because it is difficult and demeaning to portray dissociative identity disorder because it is widely misconstrued and misrepresented as a split personality disorder. But taking a different approach to viewing that movie could include understanding that he was suffering from a very real personality disorder, but I don't think that portraying his character as a kidnapper was the greatest choice. If you wanted to convey mystery and unpredictability, I think making his character less as a menace to humanity and more as someone grappling with their condition in a way that still conveyed mystery and unpredictability, could foster a more empathetic understanding of DID. The character could be shown struggling with internal conflicts and the impact of their disorder on their daily life, without resorting to harmful tropes. I think if they kept the mysterious side to their identity that was shown towards the end, "the beast" then they could use that to describe how "the beast" is that character's negative affect, and instead of the darkly menacing negative side holding teenaged girls hostage, it could channel that darker facet into something else, like maybe he was a compulsive cleaner and kept cleaning things until his nails fell off and his skin was burning off, something like that, that doesn't utilize harming others to portray horror and fear in the viewers. There is a lot more to personality disorders than them being something that compels individuals to do illegal activities. I think that is oversimplified and disregards the internal warfare that may be happening within individuals who are being pulled in varying directions because of an internal imbalance of perceptions due to their disposition. 

All in all, viewing Pennywise in correlation to drag queens involves reimagining the purpose of Pennywise. Since it is a movie, you can take away and add meaning to it however you would like because when it comes to dissemination of art and artistic expressions, that could be left up to interpretation and can be made valid to your life as need be. Life is not meant to be linear, it can be horrifying like in the movie "It", and it can be like a reflection of the movie "Split" but hopefully without kidnapping and the horrible tropes. These experiences are more real than the movies because they cannot always be contained and captured in a few moments and picture shows. Also, I think it would be interesting to recreate the movie where Pennywise is a Drag Queen and keep all of the same scenes but change the purpose, remove the eating of children, and change Pennywise's origin story to reflect the lived realities of Drag Queens from the Stonewall Histories and the past 50 years of LGBT+ rights and riots. IT could still be a weird movie but that is up to the drag queen, if they were like Katya and Trixie, then maybe you would keep that strangeness in because they are a weird and fantasmic ghoulish duo. But that is the power of imagination.

You have reached your final destination. Beep.