Send In The Clowns

Recently in the state of North Carolina police reports have surfaced of a person or persons dressed as a clown who attempted to lure small children into a forest by promising candy and other sweets. Yuk!  It' one thing to try to molest kids, but the idea of dressing like a clown to do it is over the top and another injurious assault on the image of clowns.  The fact is, many of us do not like clowns. Even kids find them creepy. Studies have shown that very few children today like clowns. They are seen as unfamiliar figures that come from a different era. To most kids today they just don't look or act funny. Instead they just look and act odd. That make-up and those clown outfits they wear does not endear one to a clown. It's not a contemporary look.

My own view of clowns does not fit that idea. I have no negative feelings or any feelings at all about clowns. To me they have always seemed to be people  dressed strangely who work a little too hard in order to make me laugh, often without success. I don't fear or dislike them, I just don't see what is funny about them or what purpose they serve beyond a lame warm up act for those small traveling circuses we all saw as children. Perhaps my current old age matters in this, as I grew up in the time when clowns were a normal circus act and when clowns appeared on kid TV shows regularly ('Bozo the Clown' was a long running kind hearted TV show clown loved by most kids). Too, I don't ever remember my own daughter fearing or disliking clowns when we made so many trips to the circus when she was a little girl.

Clowns, as pranksters, jesters, jokers, and tricksters have been around for ages. They have appeared in almost all cultures. (but I can't imagine an ISIS clown today)  But that former clown perception has changed now. I wonder if Hollywood has made the clown into an evil or scary figure. Countless movies have been made in recent years that show the clown as creepy, even murderous. How about the bizarre clowns in 'KIller Clowns From Outer Space', 'It' (Stephen King's book about demons disguised as clown who attack children), or 'Clownhouse' (a film about escaped mental patients masquerading as circus clowns who terrorize a rural town)? That's just a few films that make clowns scary. Google the subject and you will find more.

Psychologists say that a vicious circle of clown fear has been created by showing so many creepy clowns. More scary clowns means diminished opportunities to create good associations with clowns, which creates more fear of the clown. More fear gives more credence to scary clown images, and more scary clown images become the norm.  I guess we should accept the new clown image and stop fearing it. Perhaps we could change that old Judy Collins hit song title to "Don't send in the clowns".   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6KGuTr9TI