Clowns are getting a lot of publicity these days, not all of it necessarily good ...
Politics notwithstanding, evil clowns are a going concern nowadays. Sad, entertaining clowns like the famous Emmett Kelly are few and far between ...
But why is it that a clown - someone supposed to bring laughter and fun - has managed to become a symbol of evil? There are a lot of theories. One of them is spelled out in Sophie Gilbert's recent article from the Atlantic Monthly: How Clowns Became Terrifying. She writes that clowns traditionally are anarchic figures who defy the boundaries of normal social conduct ... they can act crazy and ignore normal social rules because they're expected to do so. From there, it's not too far a jump to the sociopath who does the same thing, with or without the makeup, such as Batman's arch-enemy The Joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger ...
As for myself, I have no particular problem with clowns, which is a good thing. Were I afraid of clowns, I'd have a hard time selecting ass clowns every other week ... for reasons other than the fact of the generally despicable behavior that led to their selection for the award.
So - if only for a little while - let's give the clowns a break ... send some in today:
Bilbo
4 comments:
Would waving at one from a distance be enough! Thanks for the shout, Bilbo!
I used to work with a gal that was a clown as a sideline. And if you ever met her without her clown outfit on you would never believe it because she did not have a clown personality in real life.
I ran into her at an event she was clowning at on her break. We started talking and obviously talk turned work. She was cutting our work cohearts up one side and down the other for about 15 minutes. Then she put her clown persona back on and went back to clowning.
After she left, somebody that was standing near us walked up to me and said, "I thought clowns were supposed to be happy."
To Mike's comment...how about comedians who cover their sadness with clowning? I'm not afraid of clowns, but one has to wonder what is going on inside that head?
Linda Kay is right. Some comedians have a bitter edge to their comedy. Or a cruel one.
Post a Comment