I find it interesting that so many people dislike clowns. It makes me wonder if it is because clowns are used in programming.
LONDON (Reuters) - Bad news for Coco and Blinko -- children don't like clowns and even older kids are scared of them.
The news that will no doubt have clowns shedding tears was revealed in a poll of youngsters by researchers from the University of Sheffield who were examining how to improve the decor of hospital children's wards.
The study, reported in the Nursing Standard magazine, found all the 250 patients aged between four and 16 they quizzed disliked the use of clowns, with even the older ones finding them scary.
"As adults we make assumptions about what works for children," said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university.
"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable."
With their big shoes, their painted-on smiles, those braying laughs and their ability to squeeze into small cars with a multitude of their devilish brethren, clowns are not the happy things they appear to be. They are nightmarish creatures with unknown motives and horrifying secrets.
Of course, if you grew up laughing at Bozo the Clown and eating McDonaldââ¬â¢s hamburgers because of Ronald McDonaldââ¬â¢s encouragement, you might think Iââ¬â¢m overreacting, but that just means you havenââ¬â¢t been listening to your children.
A British survey conducted by the University of Sheffield quizzed 250 children between the ages of 4 and 16 on the laughing monsters and found that every single child found clowns to be scary. Even the 16-year-olds, and they wonââ¬â¢t admit to anything.
So why do children find those demonic juggling, pie-throwing, seltzer water-spraying creatures so frightening? The researchers determined that clowns are ââ¬Åuniversally dislikedââ¬Â by children, and that some kids find them ââ¬Åunknowable.ââ¬Â
When I was a kid, there were several distinct sources of clown fear in pop culture, from the cheesy sci-fi parody ââ¬ÅKiller Klowns from Outer Space,ââ¬Â in which the evil alien clowns kill small-town residents with evil cotton candy and other nefarious tricks, to the television adaptation of Stephen Kingââ¬â¢s novel ââ¬ÅIt,ââ¬Â which depicted an ancient, child-devouring entity that often used a clown as a front to lure in children.
The episode of the kid-friendly horror show ââ¬ÅAre You Afraid of the Darkââ¬Â with the evil carnival clown stalking a child scared the mess out of me as a kid and even the clowns in the Disney classic ââ¬ÅDumbo,ââ¬Â while not necessarily evil, were cruel, uncaring people who served as foils for our heroic elephant.
Plus, Batmanââ¬â¢s arch-nemesis the Joker was a clown, and he killed people all the time with joy-buzzers and acid-spraying lapel flowers.
The pop-culture co-option of clowns as evil is easy to understand ââ¬â after all, transforming something seemingly carefree and innocent into a façade for something horrifyingly evil is an old trick for horror movies ââ¬â but Iââ¬â¢m not sure that entirely explains the fear of clowns.
I think clowns, which are seemingly supposed to make us laugh with their friendly antics, frighten children (and more than a few adults, Iââ¬â¢m sure) due to their mysterious, frantic nature. After all, you donââ¬â¢t see a clownââ¬â¢s real face, which lies hidden under all that disfiguring makeup, and all that cavorting around they do is a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
When people do laugh at clowns, itââ¬â¢s almost always when the clown has suffered pain and hardship at the hands of another. We only laugh at the clown when he cries.
Clowns may not be the worst things a child could face, but perhaps we should avoid these awful creatures in the future, before they destroy us all with a laugh on their face.
I do not like clowns, never have and never will, my children also do not like clowns, clowns are programming, the face hidden behind a false smile, the body language and as this article writes, the laughter is from the clown hurting himself or another clown. I am not saying all clowns are like this but what you see of the ââ¬Ëbehind the scenesââ¬â¢ of the real life of the clown, is a person with issues, a drunken man or a man with seriously sick thoughts toward children.
It is like the clown at school or the person who always needs to make others laugh or make fun at others, there is deep issues in that persons mind pattern.
I always think of 'IT' by Stephen King when clowns are mentioned, i hate the bloody things, although i do remember drawing them as a youth and winning an art competition - but thats as far as it goes for glorifying clowns!
I remember that my mom was in love with Emmett the Clown (spelling?). I don't know if any of you remember him - he was from back in the day. But she had pictures of him and statues of him around the house.
As for me, clowns don't bother me one way or the other.
I recall the clown that use to appear on the ORIGINAL Superman TV series and how he was portrayed as an evil character habouring bad intent. Yet after you got to know him he was actually a good person that wanted to help superman quash the bad guys. I loved the gun he use to have that looked very real but was in fact made of some edible material that allowed you to chew a piece off it and eat it.
... and who can forget the legendary BOZO the clown?
FBI agents have come to the conclusion that many murderers, especially mass murderers, use the word BOZO frequently when speaking. This was announced here in Australia when FBI agents came to look into the disappearance of a young asian girl named Carmen Chang. They released a list of 'attributes' that they believed the possible abductor/murderer comprised of and among them was the mention of him using the word 'Bozo' on a regular basis. Now if that's not a sign of how clowns are related to evil intent, I don't know what is. But in reality I know of numerous people that use the word Bozo in a humerous manner... and I know they are NOT capable of harming an ant. You figure.
Many clowns look scary but because of the concept of 'the hidden face behind the false smile' it is hard to trust them or anyone of such ilk and suspisious intent. It should also be mentioned that many people years ago that commited bad crimes would then go on to running away with circus's and spending a very low profile life as a clown.
All this suspious ambiance surround them... it's no wonder they are feared by many on both a conscious and subconscious level.
I remember "IT" by Stephen King it was one of the few books I have read that actually terrified me.
Clowns are very "demonic". I was attacked by one in a dream. It jumped on me and it had a crazy smiling face. When I woke up my chesy hurt whenever I breathed in deeply. It was definitely a real attack.
Andrew, remember that mass murder used to draw and sell his clown pictures from jail? He is from the US. I forget his name but your post reminded me of him.
Andrea: I don't know if this is who you mean, but there was this guy who would play a clown at children's parties and was secretly molesting and killing young boys who were buried all around his yard and house. His name was John Wayne Gacy
DT's right Andrea... that's your man I do believe. He was the ONLY serial killer related to clowns... and YES, I do remember him.
John Wayne Gacy: John Wayne Gacy was convicted of the torture, rape and murder of 33 males between 1972 until his arrest in 1978. He was dubbed the "Killer Clown" because he entertained kids at parties as "Pogo The Clown." He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death. On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Gacy's First Known Attack: The first known account of John Gacy's sadistic behavior began after his marriage to Marilynn Myers in 1964 in Iowa. He was working in management at his father-in-law's restaurant and somehow lured a young boy to the back and tried to sodomize him when he refused to perform oral sex. The boy reported Gacy to the police and he ended up doing 18 months of a 10 year prison sentence on a sexual molestation conviction. Divorced and Disgraced: After prison, divorced and disgraced, he decided to return to his hometown Chicago and start a new life. He remarried but the marriage ended quickly, leaving Gacy alone to feed his sadistic fantasies. By 1978 he was actively cruising for homesexual young men and luring them to his home where he would then torture, rape and brutally kill them. Looking for Work: Another tactic he used to get young men to his home was through posting jobs at his construction company. He would lure them to his house on the pretext of talking to them about a job. Once the boys got inside his home he would overpower them, knock them unconscious and begin his gruesome crime of torture, rape and murder. Care for a Cup of Coffee?: The police became suspicious of Gacy when a mother of one boy who was to meet Gacy about a job never returned home. When the police saw Gacy's criminal record they began to keep a close eye on him. Gacy, in his usual bizarre behavior, invited the police in for coffee. The police accepted the invitation and once inside they became ovrwhelmed by a strong odor which they recognized as possibly coming from a decaying dead body. Bodies Found Under the Crawlspace: The police then obtained a search warrant and uncovered 29 bodies in the crawlspace of Gacy's house. The bodies were all male and ranged in age from nine years old to their mid-20s. Later Gacy admitted to more killings in which he dumped the bodies into a nearby river. In searching for all possible victims, the police excavated Gacy's yard and gutted the house, eventually tearing it completely down. Executed in 1994 by Lethal Injection: After he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1980, he continued to taunt authorities with different versions of his story about the murders in an attempt to stay alive. Authorities were not swayed and on May 10, 1994 his execution by lethal injection was carried out.
