In Stephen King’s IT, the villain takes various forms to scare its victims, but the most iconic and frightening figure is his Pennywise form. The clown created by Stephen King was brought to a nightmarish life by Tim Curry in the 1990s ABC miniseries. Now, Bill Skarsgard is the new actor playing Pennywise and early reactions to the new movie claim that it’s among the terrifying version yet.
Because IT looks like it is going to terrify homes around the world, real life clowns are preparing for the upcoming bad press coverage and scared children. In fact, the World Clown Association has prepared a press kit called, WCA Stands On Scary Clowns!, which is to serve as damage control and a form of reassurance for people afraid of clowns.
Here’s their statement:
We at the World Clown Association are proponents of positive, family-friendly entertainment. We believe the art of clown is something to be treasured and enjoyed by audience’s worldwide. We bring a happy, joyful, creative, caring, positive, and fun experience to our audiences.
We understand that some people enjoy the “horror genre” of entertainment, but we find that many people are confronted by images of horror characters (impersonating clowns) and are startled by them…which is obviously the goal of these horror characters. In my opinion, these horror characters are not clowns.
Even the character in the movie “IT” should be understood to be a fantasy character – not a true clown. Just as a Haunted House event may have a “doctor” wearing surgical gear, carrying a bloody chainsaw, people need to understand that this character is NOT a real doctor. He is a person portraying an evil character in order to scare people. In the same way, people dressed as horror clowns are not “real clowns.” They are taking something innocent and wholesome and perverting it to create fear in their audience. Please understand, just because someone wears a rubber Halloween mask, that does not make one a clown! The horror movie character, “Jason,” wears a hockey goalie mask. But, people would be mistaken if they actually thought he was a hockey player!
We disavow any relationship with these “horror characters.” We stand with our safety officers who call for an end to the traumatization of individuals and communities by horror characters in public. Anyone making a threat of violence should be arrested, whether this person is wearing a mask or not. This clearly is not the act of a professional clown.
The World Clown Association shares laughs and “comic relief” everywhere for the positive, wholesome, enjoyment of their audiences. It is true that various horror clown portrayals work against our goal. We hope our audience realizes that there are different categories in entertainment. We stay on the positive side of things providing fun, grated, child-friendly entertainment. We also recommend that young children not be exposed to horror movies which are intended for mature audiences.
It is important to point out that there were “evil clown” sightings throughout 2016. These “Evil clowns” were ultimately pranksters dressed as clowns who stood in quiet places in random locations throughout towns and cities.
The clown hysteria got to a point where schools banned clown costumes, and armed vigilante groups were formed to track them down and bring them to justice. In fact, it started an online movement called “Clown Lives Matter”, which aims to clarify the difference between evil clowns and good clowns.
With the upcoming release of IT, clowns and the members of the WCA are preparing for the worst and hoping to minimize the bad publicity their line of work could receive as a result.
