Evil clown
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The image of the evil clown is a recent development in American popular culture in which the playful trope of the clown is rendered as disturbing through the use of dark humor and horror elements.
Many people find clowns disturbing rather than amusing. Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical. At the same time, the clown act is often represented as drunken, reckless, or simply insane -- that of the giggling maniac. An extreme fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia.
Though most clowns are quite wholesome, some sexual abusers of children use clown costumes or similar ruses to attract their victims and to appear as if they are harmless. The 1970s serial killer John Wayne Gacy may well be the origin of the modern "evil clown" stereotype; as well as being notorious for his dressing as a clown at parties, he also painted clowns while in jail.
Major examples of "evil clown" imagery are:
- Pennywise in Stephen King's novel It, and the miniseries based on the book.
- Musical groups such as the Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, and Shawn "Clown" Crahan of Slipknot
- Science fiction films such as Killer Klowns from Outer Space
- The Joker, the greatest enemy of Batman, is a murderously insane supervillain with a disturbing clown-like appearance.
- The clown doll in the first of the Poltergeist movies, which becomes possessed by a ghost and attempts to strangle a young boy.
- Doink the Clown, the stage name of a professional wrestler of the 1990s. He wrestled in clown costume and makeup, but for the most part portrayed a "heel", the wrestling term for a 'bad guy', one who wrestles in an unsportsmanlike manner.
- Buggy the Clown, a villainous clown pirate captain with supernatural powers, from the One Piece manga and anime.
- The serial killer clown named Sweet Tooth from Sony's video-game series, Twisted Metal.
- The clown doll in the video game Alone in the Dark II, which gets animated and kills by strangling. It is very probably based on the Polergeist movie.
- In Middletown, there is a giant metal sign called the "Evil Clown of Middletown," which has scared many children over the years and has been threatened to be knocked down by a town center.
Examples of fear of clowns:
- The television series The Simpsons; see "Can't sleep, clown will eat me".
- The television series Rugrats; the character Chuckie Finster is deathly afraid of clowns.
- The television series Animaniacs; in the episode "Clown and Out" it is revealed that the characters Wakko and Thaddeus Plotz have severe cases of "clownophobia".
- The television series Seinfeld; the character Cosmo Kramer had a recurring fear of clowns.
External link
- clownz.com's extensive 'evil clown' image gallery (http://www.clownz.com/gallery.html)