It: Welcome to Derry - Actress Taylour Paige talks about the show’s “complex way” to tackle racism

HBO's It: Welcome to Derry presents the titular town in a new light. Derry has always been one of the most fascinating towns in Stephen King's horror universe. The fictional town is infamously cursed with a supernatural entity, which unleashes its horrific cycle of violence every 27 years by taking different forms and feeding on children.

However, creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti go beyond this supernatural lore and explore another pressing issue plaguing Derry, ie, racism. The show subtly highlights the seeds of racism in 1962 Derry, when Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) moves to the town with his wife, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and their son.

In a recent interview with Variety, Taylour Paige discusses how It: Welcome to Derry tackles racism, through the unjust accusation of Hank Grogan for the murder of the three children. Paige discussed:

''What could be more insidious than racism and people being killed for the color of their skin? It was an interesting, complex way to go about depicting 1962 America Cold War racism. You’ve got so much more to do than just figure out who’s killing these kids...''

More on Paige's comments and the issue of racism in It: Welcome to Derry in our story.

It: Welcome to Derry - Taylour Paige breaks down racism and other pressing issues in Derry

In many of their interviews, the Muschietti siblings have revealed how creating a new Pennywise for It: Welcome to Derry was a task because he is already a popular figure and an iconic part of pop culture. And since the horror is in the unknown, they wanted to give a more grounded layer of dread to the residents of Derry, which was achieved through racism.

After lurking in the shadows and adjusting to her monotonous new life in Maine, Charlotte finally found an interesting case in It: Welcome to Derry Episode 4. She realises the systematic racist injustice in Derry after Hank Grogan is made a scapegoat and unjustly accused of the killing of three children, because of his colour.

Much like with Hank's case in Derry, Taylour Paige feels that every society needs a scapegoat and a Black person always fits the narrative. While the supernatural threat of Pennywise is slowly building and bubbling in the town's sewers, Derry is also tackling the real and pressing issue of racism, evident from Hank's case. Talking to Variety, Paige says:

''The show considers scapegoatism, how society needs an enemy. Every society needs a person or a place or a thing to place the evil things that happen on something. So you have this extraterrestrial entity, but you also have the entity and energy of this weird human condition.''

Charlotte finds her purpose in It: Welcome to Derry Episode 4

While Leroy Hanlon holds a thematic significance to the larger It universe, Paige's Charlotte is an original character, created for It: Welcome to Derry. While her husband goes off on his secret work for the military, she finds it difficult to pivot into her role as a housewife after being an active part of the Civil Rights movement down south. In Episodes 2 and 3, it is even hinted at how she longs to find her community in Miane but the people of Derry are unwelcoming to her family at first.

In It: Welcome to Derry Episode 4, Charlotte finally finds her purpose after she comes across Hank's case and realizes that she can still contribute to the issue of racism in the North. Paige discussed this new direction for her character in Episode 4 as:

''I think you get to really see her in action. You get to see her passion, her integrity, her morale and her relentless spirit.''

She added:

''...Her activism is a product of the boredom and the stirring in Derry. When she was in the South, there was such camaraderie, even though the South was wrought with such craziness. But in Derry, she’s alone and its isolating and she wants to help this other Black family.''

After the latest episode, it's clear that HBO's prequel series is deep diving into Derry's problematic history like never before. While the town is infamously cursed by the supernatural entity It, there are far more grounded and problematic issues at play. Through It: Welcome to Derry, the creators and cast aim to depict the harrowing history of King's town, which gets more thrilling with each new episode.

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It: Welcome to Derry Episode 4 is streaming on HBO Max.

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