It Is Making It Hard
Out There For Real-Life Clowns
PHOTO: WARNER BROTHERS. |
The remake of Stephen King's It is already
scaring viewers with super-creepy previews and eerie photos of Pennywise, the
not-so-friendly clown played by Bill Skarsgard. But the film's release has had
some unexpected collateral damage, too: According to The Hollywood
Reporter, real-life clowns have been taking a
hitand losing gigs thanks to the scary association
they didn't even ask for.
Scary clowns have had something of a renaissance in the past
year. Real-life scary clowns popped up across the country around Halloween of last year. American Horror
Storybrought in a creepy clown character, too (who's set to return for the upcoming Cult season). But it
all stems from the 1990 made-for-TV It, which many see as the
catalyst for the clown-as-serial-killer motif that just won't go away.
But not all clowns are scary. World Clown Association president Pam Moody says that the friendly varieties are getting sidelined
thanks to all the attention being thrown over to the not-so-kind versions
taking over the pop-culture spotlight. The bad press is leading to clowns
losing their jobs and leaving Moody concerned.
"People had school shows and library shows that were
canceled," Moody told THR. "That's very unfortunate. The
very public we're trying to deliver positive and important messages to aren't
getting them."
Moody notes that Pennywise actually has nothing to do with clowning
at all, which she sees as a way to educate kids. As a professional clown
herself, she uses her character, Sparky the Firefighter Clown, to teach kiddos
about safety.
Source: youtube.com
"It all started with the original It," she adds. "That introduced the concept of this character. It's a science-fiction character. It's not a clown and has nothing to do with pro clowning."
While pro clowns everywhere wait to ride out the wave of
negative attention that's coming along with It, Moody has released a guide for clowns on the upcoming movie and what it means for modern
clowning. Pennywise may be scary-as-hell, but that doesn't mean that every
clown is out for blood; some are content just painting kids' faces and making
balloon giraffes.