Most people who I’ve met who claim to be afraid of clowns like horror movies. Yeah, no, there wasn’t any event that precipitated that statement. I’ve been concerned about my unnaturally linear thinking of late and so I’ve been trying to let my mind wander. As random as that statement, and likely following entry, might seem, it’s grounded in actual experience.
People tell me often enough that they are afraid of clowns for me to have an opinion. I used the word ‘claim’ because in my half a century plus on this planet I have never seen anyone actively afraid of a clown. I’ve seen a lot of kids start crying at Disneyland and other theme parks when a guy/girl in, say, a goofy costume, or any full body furry costume approaches them. I have seen people uncomfortable with looking a street performer in the eye (like a guitarist who is singing and looking out in the crowd, with a case of hat for tips) and I’ve seen people leave a movie theatre upset with the content on the screen, but I’ve never seen anyone being overtly afraid of a clown.
If I were uncomfortable with a clown or a mime at any age it would probably be because they look like people but don’t act like people; they are very confident in their odd behavior and ugly costumes and their make-up is unusual. Neither clowns nor mimes scare me but I can’t recall ever being amused by either one.
Sometimes when people say they are afraid of clowns it’s followed by a self-depreciating chortle or smile. That gives me the impression that it’s not true but they think it’s an interesting quirk. If I had to guess at the frequency of fears that people have admitted to me I’d say clown was in the top three of most common next to spiders and snakes. I don’t believe that anyone who has told me they are afraid of spiders thought that it’s an interesting quirk. I’m of the impression that people who are afraid of spiders don’t quite believe people who say they aren’t afraid of spiders. I feel the same way about spiders as I do clowns or mimes with the exception that I can remember being entertained or at least fascinated by a spider or two.
I don’t know how to qualify or quantify the whole afraid of clowns/into horror movies thing, but, and again in my experience, those two statements seem to follow one another more often than not. What’s interesting, assuming anything in any of this is interesting, is the notion of fear. I mean even a serial killer in clown outfit is not going to attack in the middle of a crowd at, say, a circus or kids birthday party. Horror films market themselves as bloody and terrifying and yet you know when you buy the ticket you are going to have to suspend your disbelief to get any entertainment value at all (e.g. two dimensional images projected on a screen, non interactive, the smell of popcorn and sound of teenagers making out, air conditioning all going on while it’s supposed to be a swamp with a guy with no motivation hacking up campers with a machete).
One could argue the merits of the genre’s entertainment value, well, it’d take two at least for an argument, but, you know, it’s hacking up campers with a machete, a small thrill at vicarious violence and disregard for social mores. Given that you’d think that a fear of clowns would draw you in, have you showing up at clown venues for some live action adrenaline by spectacle rush. People who are afraid of spiders don’t get the same rush as a horror movie; they are convinced that the spider means them harm, the spider is not playing a role for their amusement.
Loading comments...