Fears of a clown: Pennywise and other scary jesters
‘It’ remake follows screen history of scary jokesters
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Why so serious? At the risk of offending the professionals, clowns are really taking it on the chin these days. Example after pop culture example of scary jesters, sadistic jokers and their ilk have turned the once-jolly image of the traditional circus performer into something malevolent. “It” is about to get worse. Based on one of Stephen King’s most iconic novels, the feature film remake of “It” splashed onto the big screenThursday.The trailer featuring Bill Skarsgard (“Hemlock Grove”) as Pennywise has been buzzed about for months.
“I think clowns occupy an interesting niche in our society today,” said Kevin Bennett, an assistant teaching professor of psychology at Penn State Beaver.
“On the one hand, there is an appreciation for the historically funny/goofy/ friendly clown that is associated more with previous eras in American history,” he said, citing kiddie TV host Bozo and Ronald McDonald.
“On the other hand, there has always been a sinister element to the clown personality and it has been exploited by horror movies and TV to the point where I’m not sure that millennials even connect clowns with innocence and fun, at all.”
On television, comedies such as ABC’s “Modern Family” and NBC’s “The Good Place” have mined the concept for laughs. In the latter, “clown decor” is an interior design choice in hell.
In horror, thrillers and drama, clowns are everywhere. The 2008 film “The Dark Knight” showcased an Oscar-winning performance by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker (“Why So Serious?” became a meme). Bank robbers in that film also wore clown masks.
In the recent AT&T thriller, “Mr. Mercedes,” a mass murderer wears a clown mask.
The coming season of “American Horror Story” is teasing the return of Twisty, a malevolent clown who started out as just a man who wanted to make children laugh. There are other references to clowns in Ryan Murphy’s series — he seems to hate clowns.
This is, understandably, an affront to professional clowns. When a wave of eerie “clown sightings” swept parts of the United States and England last year, the Ringling Bros. circus happened to be arriving in Pittsburgh.
Taylor Albin (Taylor the Tailor, the Boss Clown) said in a Post-Gazette interview that he considered nasty depictions of clowns “insulting.”
“The clowns at Ringling Bros. are dedicated to our craft of bringing smiles to audiences everywhere and the real fear here is, the fear of the unknown. I think it’s important to educate people on what professional clowning is.”
Depictions of creepy clowns didn’t begin with “It.” Unpleasant characters created by Williams Shakespeare and Charles Dickens reportedly were based on performers wearing heavy makeup and Steven Spielberg’s “Poltergeist” clown doll was the stuff of nightmares in 1980.
Even in gentler fare, the creepyclown abides. Jangles the clown is used by Joy in Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out” to scare a little girl awake.
“The big picture, from a psychological standpoint, is that there is something fundamental about the urge to decode and make sense of what is in front of us. Clowns have always posed a challenge in this regard,” Mr. Bennett said.
Is it any surprise that Kennywood Park’s annual “Phantom Fright Nights” has for years featured a section devoted to clowns?
Having studied his share of deviant clowns, Mr. Bennett has a definitive favorite: “That’s easy, the original clown from ‘Poltergeist’ … I was about the same age as the boy in the movie, so it resonated with me.
“To this day, when I’m in bed I have a hard time leaning over the edge to look under it.”