Happy?

 I am honestly surprised at these movies and their story. Not like with other movies and books we've read where I went in not really knowing what to expect. I went into these movies under the impression that they were horror movies. Which they obviously were, but not like any horror movie I've watched before.

When I watch horror movies, I only really enjoy them because I like the creative ways the monster are done. Other than that, I think they're depressing to a certain degree. What I mean is, it's basically nonstop bad stuff where everyone sucks and the world is awful and the monster only exists because of these two things. And in the end, everyone dies, the monster wasn't truly defeated, and the cycle of abuse and misery continues. Which is okay because people watch horror movies for the horror. But since I don't like horror, I just find the stories and worlds so depressing.

With both movies of It, they're absolutely horror movies and really messed up at times. However, they're also strangely hopeful and optimistic. Strange because it's so unusual for the genre. The big thing being that 5 out of the 7 survive and live happy lives afterwards. Plus, they survived due to the power of love and friendship. Not to mention the monster is defeated, like actually dead and gone. The group doesn't tear each other apart throughout the movie and devolve into crazed psychopaths. They band together even after a major fight and even 27 years later come together to defeat a great evil.

I don't know if I'd have considered these horror movies expect I was explicitly informed by others they were. Also all the blood and gore, but that's not necessarily just a thing horror movies have. As for the ending, it was absolutely a happy ending. That's not to say it was a perfect happily ever after kind of ending, but that's what made it good. Yes bad things happened and people died, but things turned out all right. Stanely helped the others with his own calculated death. Eddie conquered his fears and got the last mom joke in with Richie. Beverly and Ben ended up together. Bill got over his writer's block. Mike left town finally. Rich came to terms with his own feelings. And this was all done in an epilogue style with pleasant music, a hopeful message, and bright backdrops.

All in all, I don't know if I'd really call these horror movies in the true sense. At the very least I didn't expect this from a story written by Stephen King. All I've ever heard about him is how messed up his stories are. Yet, I've come to realize the two stories of his I read or watched actually had happy endings. In the shining, all the characters except Jack make it out a live while the hotel blows up and stays blown up. And the bad things that happen in these stories back the good parts all the more powerful in my opinion.