First off, just a note; loving this board. No arguing or name calling that I've seen, just good old fashioned, solid discussions about our favorite books. Gotta love it.
So one thing I wanted to get other thoughts on (and there may be no definitive answer) is the nature of Pennywise's powers; specifically, how he changes shape.
We know a few things from the book.
Okay. So given all that, how much control do you think Pennywise has over his appearance? In some ways it seems like he can pretty much appear to be anything he wants, whenever he wants. My issue there, or question rather, is if he can change at will, why would he LET himself be forced to appear in a vulnerable form? Richie sees him as the werewolf; fair enough. But the second they shot him in the eye and it damn near killed him, you' d think he would immediately change to something else...something over which silver had no effect. But he didn't; he let them bluff him and actually had to run from them. And in his own inner monologue, he questions whether his power is actually working against him, rather than for him.
Kind of sticky, but a fun thought-problem to work through, I think. I figure his ability to mirror your fear is sort of involuntary. That is, he can choose to turn it "on", but when he does, he CAN'T choose what he looks like. He has to turn it "off", and pick a form by himself at that point...usually the clown in some form or other. So when he's mirroring your fears, he isn't controlling what he looks like. But when he wants to appear as something else - like a clown, or an old woman - he CAN choose it, knowing that whatever it is may not be something the victim is afraid of (and indeed, he seems to do that on purpose).
Thoughts from others? I know, I know...probably way to detailed a bit of minutiae. Just something fun to kick around!
So one thing I wanted to get other thoughts on (and there may be no definitive answer) is the nature of Pennywise's powers; specifically, how he changes shape.
We know a few things from the book.
- He can appear as a clown, and does so frequently through history as a means to lure children close enough to get them.
- He can appear as the thing a viewer is most afraid of, and whatever that form is appears to be dictated by the victim; this ability, then, is somewhat involuntary.
- While "locked" into this form he is obliged to abide by the physical rules that form will follow; for example, being vulnerable to silver as a werewolf.
- His ability to appear as something you are afraid can work differently on different victims at the same time. During their fist visit to Neibolt Street, Richie sees him as the teenage werewolf, but Bill sees him as the clown...at the same time.
- If one person "calls out" a form, however, he may appear as that form to anyone who sees him at the time who was present for the call out. During the second Neibolt visit when the whole Losers club goes looking for him, no one sees him in any true form until Richie yells "It's the teenage werewolf", whereupon Pennywise takes that form for all of them.
- He can appear as something totally innocent; his appearance as Mrs. Kersh was fine until he started to change her.
- He can, however, modify the appearance he takes to some degree to make it scarier, without changing form completely. For example, he appears as a clown, but has giant razor shaped teeth in a couple of incarnations that he doesn't have later. He also changes Mrs. Kersh from a stately older lady into an old hag, gradually while Beverly is with him.
- He can choose to appear with no disguise at all, in which case they see the spider form of him. He only does this "at home".
- The size and number of objects he appears to be are not limited; he can be one big thing (like the bird) or many small ones (like Patrick's creepy flying leeches).
- He can also manipulate the enviroment as part of his power; Beverly's old house, for example, looked like a nice apartment, and then the Gingerbread House from Hansel & Gretel while Beverly was there.
Okay. So given all that, how much control do you think Pennywise has over his appearance? In some ways it seems like he can pretty much appear to be anything he wants, whenever he wants. My issue there, or question rather, is if he can change at will, why would he LET himself be forced to appear in a vulnerable form? Richie sees him as the werewolf; fair enough. But the second they shot him in the eye and it damn near killed him, you' d think he would immediately change to something else...something over which silver had no effect. But he didn't; he let them bluff him and actually had to run from them. And in his own inner monologue, he questions whether his power is actually working against him, rather than for him.
Kind of sticky, but a fun thought-problem to work through, I think. I figure his ability to mirror your fear is sort of involuntary. That is, he can choose to turn it "on", but when he does, he CAN'T choose what he looks like. He has to turn it "off", and pick a form by himself at that point...usually the clown in some form or other. So when he's mirroring your fears, he isn't controlling what he looks like. But when he wants to appear as something else - like a clown, or an old woman - he CAN choose it, knowing that whatever it is may not be something the victim is afraid of (and indeed, he seems to do that on purpose).
Thoughts from others? I know, I know...probably way to detailed a bit of minutiae. Just something fun to kick around!
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