"Fear of clowns is called Coulrophobia"
When DePaul sophomore Alyssa Padilla watched the horror film “It”,
Pennywise the dancing clown haunted her dreams and intensified her
already poor perception of clowns. The heavy make-up disguising the
human identity beneath, and horrific intentions against a group of
children, added onto her belief that clowns could do no good. Padilla
can’t explain her fear of clowns, or what it is that frightens her but
she knows one thing: she can’t even be in the same room as one. “It could be a clown with little to no make-up and I’ll still freak
out,” she said. “I feel uncomfortable when they are around me and tend
to freak out when they get near me.” The cultural perception of clowns has evolved over the years. With
recent creepy clown sightings terrorizing neighborhoods across the
country, clowns have gained a bad reputation being seen as creepy
killers, bad omens and mysterious figures, causing people like Padilla
to despise them immediately. Associate professor of media and cinema studies Paul Booth said the
art of clowning has been around for centuries in various formats. “We might think that clowns are a recent phenomenon, but every
culture has some type of clown,” Booth said. “There are differences
between types of clowns, though — the clown image we have today is a
combination of many different types of clowns, including the circus
clown, the jester and the ‘Pierrot’, a type of clown from French court.” Booth said that clowns have been portrayed in a variety of ways including as mean and angry or figures of trickery and mischief. “The clowns we see today are actually just an evolution from the earliest depictions of clowns,” Booth said. “Fear of clowns is called Coulrophobia, although most people just
think they’re creepy rather than having an actual phobia.” Booth said
that clowns are a cultural symbol of where we stand as a society today,
acting as a mirror to ourselves. “What changed is not the clown itself but the fact that our culture
today is more sensationalistic, voyeuristic, and extreme than in the
past,” Booth said. “The clown reflects culture back at us.” The Chicago Tribune reported sightings of clowns armed with weapons
including knives and guns attempting to lure children into the woods.
Clowns have also been reported to chase nearby bystanders as well as
stand outside homes and schools. DePaul senior Michelle Cahill attributes her poor perception of clowns to past actions made by criminal clowns. Cahill understands that not all clowns are killers or creepy but
thinks that their unknown identity comes from a history of mystery. “To do terrible things dressed as a clown is especially terrifying
because it’s the antithesis of what’s considered normal behavior” she
said. “I actually feel sorry for them,” she said. “Just because I’m not a
fan doesn’t mean that they don’t have fans and this weird warped aspect
of their identity just hurts their overall appeal. Especially because
some of it is intentional, like when people dress up like clowns to do
bad things. I don’t think people who dress like clowns to visit kids in
the hospital deserve to be lumped in with people manipulating the image
for nefarious reasons.” Booth also attributed public perception of clowns to marketing in the media in horror films and Halloween stories. The DePaulia
