When you think of clown, the very first image that comes to mind is Loonette from The Big
Comfy Couch.
"Wrong"
Just kidding.
It’s THIS guy.
Even when you search up “nice clown”, he’s the very first image, trolling anyone
with coulrophobia.
With the recent wave of interest in clowns, including 2016’s creepy clown sightings,
I thought it was time to dust off the old clown topic.
The new teaser trailer for the upcoming adaptation of IT is hitting us hard.
Let’s just roll that a few more times.
Clowns have become synonymous with the phrase “will murder you”.
They get a bad rap but it’s hard to blame people.
Even when they’re nice, they’re terrifying.
Fresh from the uncanny valley, they almost exclusively now appear as menacing creatures
in film and pop culture.
Even Disney acknowledges this in a scene from the animated film, Inside Out.
And the king of clowns- well he’s been at the top since his film debut in the 90s.
By many, he’s widely considered to be the scariest clown in history.
You don’t even need to know his backstory- his appearance alone frightens enough people
to make him so widely popular.
So just what is it exactly about Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the idea and the character,
that makes him so potently horrifying?
Today we’ll find out on this episode of Darkology.
"My name is Pennywise The Dancing Clown"
"See you in your dreams!"
Coulrophobia as you may already know, is the irrational fear of clowns- coulro in Greek
meaning “the one who walks on stilts”.
According to Rami Nader, a psychologist and director of the North Shore Stress and Anxiety
Clinic in North Vancouver, B.C., the psychological roots of the phobia may be traced to the fact
that clowns are basically wearing disguises (albeit funny ones) while displaying artificial
emotions (even silly ones) that perhaps hide their true feelings.
A study in England surveyed 250 youth patients at a hospital on their opinion of clowns.
The result?
All 250 reported that they generally disliked clowns.
It was unanimous.
But interestingly enough, coulrophobia doesn't appear as a mental disorder in the DSM-5,
the official psychological handbook of mental disorders- which indicates that there isn't
really an official or effective way for treating this fear.
The “evil clown” archetype was solidified by the 1980s, as a result of the influence
from real life serial killer John Wayne Gacy, as well as fictional characters that popularized
the idea like The Joker and most notably, Stephen King’s novel, IT.
While older generations may remember clowns as party entertainers, the current generation
of youth really only know clowns as evil and creepy.
Hell, I remember seeing clowns at birthday parties as a kid and I wasn't too particularly
fond of them myself.
Some of you might remember the time of Blockbuster, where you could run down to a video store
and pick and rent a tape to watch at home.
These stores always sectioned their selections based on genre, and as a kid, I remember being
extra cautious around the horror section, for fear of setting my eyes upon the image
of a certain nightmarish clown that appeared on a movie cover which had two big red letters
that simply read “IT”.
But for me, this fear of clowns eventually evolved into a morbid fascination that I think
applies to many of you out there as well.
So let's take a deeper look at Tim Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise the Dancing Clown-
the image and behavior as well as how people respond to him.
Here are four pictures of clowns.
Be honest, which one caught your attention first?
Was it possibly one of the ones in red?
There's a point to this I promise.
Pennywise's bright red lips accentuate his malicious smile.
If we look at the psychological properties of colours, red happens to be the most powerful.
It appears to be nearer than it is, and thus grabs our attention first, evoking a powerful
sense of fight or flight.
This is why the most important traffic lights are red.
It is stimulating and lively, very friendly.
And at the same time, can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown has a spherical elongated head, which makes him look almost
human, but at the same time, very much not.
In fact, it's this gap in the theorized “uncanny valley” concept.
He’s realistic enough, but also so clearly not human that it’s dead-on creepy.
In our first glimpse at Pennywise in the film, the girl is initially happy to see a clown
in her front yard, but then we see the gradual change in her expression as the absence of
a party and the ghastly look on his face begins to finally sink in.
For clowns in general, the pale makeup makes them appear extremely ghostly.
And in combination with his abnormally long forehead, Pennywise’s glaring white makeup
highlights his entire head, like a sun, directing your eyes straight to his face.
And what about hair?
Ronald McDonald has bright red hair, but it’s in natural locks that scream shampoo and conditioner.
Pennywise’s hair is fried and juts out in all directions, giving him a disheveled look,
as well as pointing more line emphasis, like rays from the sun, towards his face.
From his nose, to his lips, to his big and wild hair, Pennywise’s head immediately
grabs your unconscious attention.
Above his eyes, are two blue triangles that accentuate his eyelids.
Where red is a physical color, blue is an intellectual one.
While blue may evoke a sense of intelligence and calmness, it is also indicative of unfriendliness-
a primary reason why it’s a rare color to see on a clown who isn’t wearing it ironically.
Speaking of his eyes, have you noticed that they’re usually always bloodshot?
This makes him look wild and manic- brimming with deranged excitement and energy.
If you saw someone with this appearance in any setting other than at a party, there’s
probably something very wrong.
Say for example, a sewer.
Throughout the scene, we can clearly see that even someone as young and naive as Georgie
begins to grow suspicious.
This is what we can infer from his image alone.
Now with context into the character- well, that’s a different story.
Pennywise is a shapeshifter, mind-controller, and teleporter.
It’s ominous to think that the blood he leaves behind can’t be normally seen by
others.
That he might disguise himself as your loved ones, even when they’re dead, and if that
wasn’t enough, also read your mind and take on the form of your worst fear.
"RAAAAAHH!!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Stan!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"You saw it too."
"I didn't want to!"
Scary gets scarier once you consider that the laws of physics don’t really apply to
him.
The shower scene goes down in my mind as the worst- specifically because it revealed the
absolute hopelessness in running or hiding- even if it looks safe.
Finally, Pennywise is evil.
What do I mean by that?
It gets pure enjoyment from terrorizing its victims.
Sure it could probably kill and eat our protagonists whenever it wanted.
So why does it opt to terrorize them so relentlessly?
Pennywise enjoys the taste of fear itself.
"BE AFRAID!"
"YOU ALL TASTE SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU'RE AFRAID!"
"I am ETERNAL, child."
"I am the EATER OF WORLDS, and of CHILDREN!"
Pennywise is scary because not only is he a clown with a particularly twisted visual
appearance but his jolly appearance is too far of an extreme in the wrong direction to
where it’s unnatural and fishy.
The bright and colorful clown persona is just a front for something much more malevolent
and sinister, and unlike all the other clowns imitating him, Pennywise’s appearance doesn’t
give off the impression that he’s trying hard to look scary- and it’s that subtle
creepiness about him that goes the extra mile.
The idea of what his character really is, brings about the harsh and scary realization
that unlike with most clowns, perhaps logic doesn't apply here.
With a new adaptation of Stephen King’s IT coming in late 2017, a new version of Pennywise
is on the horizon.
And so far, he looks very different- and while I love Tim Curry’s version, to me, that’s
a good thing.
Skarsgard's version looks like it might be more violent just because there's no blue
and it's completely red and yellow.
Tim Curry's Pennywise would probably appear more balanced in comparison.
But it’s still too early to judge Bill Skarsgard’s interpretation of the creepy clown, so for
now, we’ll just have to trust what we’ve seen from the new 2017 IT Teaser Trailer.
And from what we’ve seen so far, I’m excited.
Are you?
What do you think of clowns?
Let me know in the comments below.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Bluelava6 to stay up to date on the channel or to just
say hello.
And as always, thanks for watching!
What’s one of your best memories about IT?
For me, it was this time that a friend and I walked past a DVD rack in a grocery store.
I pointed at Pennywise and ironically stated that I wanted that for my birthday.
Sure enough, I walked into English class later that year to find Pennywise’s mug staring
back up at me from the seat of my desk.
It scared the crap out of me but it was the main reason why I saw the movie at all.