Queerness in the Original Child’s Play
(Originally written in November 2021)
A lot of people have written about the queerness of the Chucky saga, often referring to Seed and Cult. I want to go back to basics and talk about the original Child’s Play queerness.
I’m a firm believer queerness can be inherent and can live within context, and Child’s Play 1988 is right up my alley. I feel if I had watched it at a tender age (rather than at my current 22), my queer awakening would’ve occurred much sooner.
First, the reason I’m comfortable calling Child’s Play queer in the first place is that I know Don Mancini, one of the writers as well as the creator of Chucky as a concept, is a gay man. Also, because it’s more clear as we go further into the movies, but enough people have written about that better than I could.
In Child’s Play, Andy Barclay is a child being raised by single mother Karen, who has a girl friend she entrusts with her son, Maggie, and I could make the argument for coding with enough rewatches, but it’s two maternal figures nurturing a child.
The argument itself is of a man being put into a body (object?) that doesn’t align with his mind. Is transgender Chucky a thing? When one takes into account the fact he possesses the body of a female (Nica Pierce) and how he interacts with the world as a woman, as well as the fact Fiona Dourif, Brad Dourif’s (Charles Lee Ray) daughter, plays young Charles Lee “Chucky” Ray in drag. It is definitely a thing, specially as the franchise moves along.
Another thing that’s particular about Child’s Play is the stabbing. It’s common knowledge that the repeat stabbings in horror movies are, in a way, symbolic of penetration, the knife a phallic symbol, the man behind it the aggressor. This of course isn’t the case for every single instance of horror slashers, but it’s common enough to mention. In Child’s Play, the stabbing movements are deliberately not sexual in nature, it’s pure violence, Charles Lee Ray might be a full grown man, but his intentions are purely for bloodlust. The way the stabbing choreography goes doesn’t seem to sexualize the women behind the stabs (or the men, for that matter, if we’re strictly referring to the first Child’s Play), the typical male gaze seems to be rather absent in this 80’s film. Credit could be given to Don Mancini, creator of Chucky and gay man.
The original Child’s Play, to me, is a standout in the oversaturated 80s slasher genre, and I’m a firm believer it unfortunately strayed away from its original essence by higher-ups decisions, such as the whole voodoo business. However, it has now come back queerer than ever thanks to Don Mancini and the SyFy network. Child’s Play has always been and will always be queer, and it’s a joy.