The horror icon Chucky is a lot of things. A psychopath, a serial killer, a plastic doll, the star of his own hit franchise, and apparently, the newest LGBTQ+ ally.
While the Child’s Play and Chucky movies have often been infused with queerness thanks to creator and out gay man Don Mancini, this week, fans were pleasantly surprised when Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) confirmed the genderfluidity of his child. That’s right, Chucky the doll has a doll child that he made with his doll wife during the oddest yet sexiest doll love scene to ever grace the big screen in 1998’s Bride of Chucky.
In the second episode of Mancini’s Syfy series Chucky, audiences saw everybody’s favorite homicidal doll express his acceptance for his genderfluid child in a shockingly heartwarming moment for a series about a foul-mouthed killer dolly.
After discovering his latest friend til the end, 14-year-old Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), has a crush on a male classmate named Devon, Chucky tells Jake about his own queer child.
“And you’re cool with it?” Jake asks.
“I’m not a monster, Jake,” Chucky responds.
The irony is lost on no one.
Now, for those unfamiliar with the franchise, the genderfluid child that Chucky is referring to is Glen/Glenda, who was featured prominently in 2004’s Seed of Chucky. When Glen/Glenda was born, Chucky and Tiffany (his aforementioned bride) couldn’t agree on the baby’s gender. Chucky, wanting a boy, named them Glen, while Tiffany, hoping for a girl, named them Glenda. Of course, this led Glen/Glenda to a lot of questioning and confusion on who they were and how they wanted to identify before ultimately deciding they wanted to be both a boy and a girl.
So although the genderfluidity of Glen/Glenda wasn’t really up for debate to anyone who has seen Seed of Chucky, episode two of Chucky is the first canonical confirmation of their genderfluid status. It’s a big step in the right direction for inclusivity, which Mancini has been striving for in his work for years.
Even in 2021, it’s incredibly rare to see the inclusion of characters from the LGBTQ+ community outside of those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual on tv or in movies. The trans, nonbinary, and genderfluid communities hardly get to see themselves represented on screen in the first place but even more so in a way that is loved, accepted, and celebrated. For a horror franchise, specifically a horror icon like Chucky, to come out loud and proud in acceptance of his genderfluid child, he is also coming out in support of all his genderfluid-identifying fans. I can only imagine the joy that comes from being acknowledged for who you truly are by a character that you’ve loved for decades.
Moving forward, fans will have to wait to see if Chucky and Jake will continue these touching father-son moments or if it’s all just one big clever ruse by Chucky to emotionally and mentally manipulate Jake into becoming the killer son he’s always dreamed of. But for now, one thing is for sure: Chucky may be a lot of pretty awful things but homophobic and bigoted aren’t two of them.
Chucky airs Tuesday nights at 10 pm EST on both Syfy and the USA Network.
READ THIS NEXT
It’s Time We Give Queer Teens Their Happily-Ever-After: Why We Need More LGBTQ Rom-Coms
