Bozo the Clown

i find their bright colors and goofy over the top attitudes intimidating. specifically, as a child at my younger cousin’s birhtday party, a clown chose to dress me up and put grease paint on my face. they made me into a frowny hobo clown, the kind with the 5 o’clock shadow. immediately after the party my mom took me to a large grocery store with her and i had to walk around while people pointed and laughed at me. quite traumatic. Source – I Hate Clowns

Bozo the Clown’s alter ego is dead. The man behind the red nosed, orange haired, big foot fellow that entertained adults and kids and scared the bejesus out of countless others, died at age 83 of congestive heart failure.

Larry Harmon purchased the copyright and trademark for Bozo back in the 1950’s. He was instrumental in bringing Bozo to literally millions of kids via the Bozo Show, plus 156 Bozo cartoons. Harmon also trained 200 “Bozos” for local tv stations. Was Harmon also instrumental in perpetuating the phobia known as coulrophobia, or clown fear?

According to About.com, coulrophobia is relatively common even though there has been very little scientific research. About cites an article written by the BBC where a University of Sheffield study of 250 children found clown motifs, “frightening and unknowable”.

Clowns just have an inherent evilness. I went to the circus last year, just to test my fear and see if I was ok with them… let me tell you, once one got about 2 rows away from me I almost pissed myself, so NOPE, at 27 I was still scared of those evil bastards. They are like dogs in the way that once they smell the fear they come after you. Source – I hate clowns

Ronald McDonald

While Bozo was famous back in the 50’s and 60’s, it was another clown, Ronald McDonald, who has become an international icon as the mascot of the fast food hamburger chain, McDonalds. Every time a kid enters a McDonald’s restaurant he’s bombarded by Ronald statutes, pictures, cheap plastic toys, and videos.

And then there are the so-called “evil” clowns of mass media. Their numbers far outweigh the kinder, gentler Bozo or Ronald.

The list of mass media “evil” clowns include Pennywise, the clown from Stephen King’s novel and miniseries, It, the movie, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, the clown doll in the movie Poltergeist, and the movie Clownhouse.

While these movie clowns perpetuate the myth of the so-called evil clown people who suffer from coulrophobia or fear of clowns often report that it was a personal encounter with a clown when they were a child. The website, I Hate Clowns, an anti-clown community, lets people post their own personal experiences that led them to come to the conclusion that they hate clowns.

It’s not normal for someone to smile all of the time. You just know that beneath the adipose greasepaint and the multi-hued ribbons, a bitter man is waiting for his cigarette break. But he’s waiting with a smile on his face. It’s the kind of smile that deceives children and deflates balloon animals. Source – Why Shouldn’t People Be Afraid of Clowns?

Someone from the forum, I Hate Clowns, wrote a list of reasons as to why they hated clowns:

Personally (and thank you Eris for telling me about this tribe) there are a lot of reasons I hate clowns, but none because of something tramatic happening to me. Lets see…let me list the reasons why I hate clowns…

1) The makeup…you are suppose to believe that this is a happy person, with a grin always planted upon their face…but beneath the makeup could be the world’s most evil man/woman you will ever know. They are hiding…and it is frightening to know that they aren’t what they are trying to put forth. Well at least to think that.

2) “Clownhouse” – an old movie, made in the 1980’s – about three clowns that escaped from prison…well three men and they killed three clowns and placed on their makeup, then followed three young boys home…of course their parents were gone and because these evil evil men were dressed as clowns, they were thought to be good. I still can’t watch that movie alone and I love horror movies.

3) Someone else said this…and I totally agree. They sense fear…not kidding. If a clown knows you don’t like them (at carnivals, circuses, etc.) they attach themselves to you. You cannot get away from them. AT ALL. Why is this???

4) John Wayne Gacy – although I don’t really…well connect him to clowns as much as I should…but he is a perfect example of an evil man, pretending to be all happy, cheerful and SANE behind makeup.

5) The damn shoes…I don’t know what it is about those shoes but they scare me. Man, they freak me out.

So now that you all know that I am whacked beyond belief…I shall go…

And yet there also those who actually love clowns. The website, I Love Clowns, is a community forum where members can post various topics relating to their love of clowns. Since I, myself, find clowns and also mimes creepy, then it’s hard for me to relate to those who actually love clowns. It would be interesting to research whether people actually found clowns to be funny or whether people found their experiences with clowns to be “scary”?

Clowns, acting as clowns, or clowning around, try to come across as funny, but are usually scary and they have to know this to be true. It’s a kind of passive-aggressive behavior on their part. It’s not hard to imagine that the clown, while clowning around, is having more fun than those being clowned. It’s no wonder that many hate clowns without knowing why.

Bozo, whose been around since the 1950’s, is considered passe these days. Ronald McDonald, whose been McDonald’s mascot since the 60’s, is eligible for an AARP card. The clowns in vogue these days are the “evil” clowns in books and movies.

While people are supposed to scared of the evil clowns it’s the people who are afraid of the average, every day clowns that mimic Bozo, that fascinate us. The clowns hired to do kid’s birthday parties, the clowns at the circus who stuff themselves into small cars and perform slapstick and stick to you like glue. The clowns like Bozo or Ronald, the innocuous clowns. How is that we are afraid of those types of clowns? After all, all they are trying to do is make us laugh. At least that’s what we’ve been led to believe. The evil clowns make no pretense, they’re not even trying to be funny.

There doesn’t seem to be any kinder, gentler younger clown waiting to step into Bozo’s extra large shoes. Perhaps out there in the clown landscape some young clown dreams of someday hitting the clown limelight, to make a million children squeal… with hopefully delight and not horror.

By LBG

Source – Phobia Secrets Revealed
Just a small part of The Carnival of the Insanities
Source – Bozo the Clown’s Larry Harmon dead at 83
Source – Wikipedia
Source - monstropedia
Image – Clown 1
Image – Bozo
Image - Ronald McDonald