OK- This isn't completely random this week. We're going to the circus tomorrow, so it has it's own relevance. But I have definitely had random thoughts on clowns before!
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I told C tonight that we are going to the circus tomorrow. She is almost 4, so this will actually be her 3rd time going (4th if you count Yakov Smirnoff's Circus show in Branson a year ago!) Between faint memories of past years and what she's seen in books, she has a general idea of what to expect. I've been to this Shrine Circus MANY MANY times through the years, so I *really* have an idea what to expect. I told here there might be elephants, tigers or lions, trained dogs, etc... Her response: "But NO clowns, OK, mama?" I reassured her there may be 1 or 2, but that they would just be people acting silly and that would be OK.
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So WHY do we associate clowns with the circus when it seems so many little kids are freaked out by clowns? I don't even particularly like most clowns. Just NOT my thing, I guess. I used to have a poster of the famous Emmett Kelly clown on my wall in H.S. It was fine until I rearranged my room & could suddenly see it at night. I had to take it down! It scared me in the dark! (Also why if E had been a boy, the name Emmett ended up out of the running.) And do my children not like clowns as well because of my subconscious influences?
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But it's NOT ju
st me... Look at Toy Story 3- the clown is a sad sack & little scary at times. And horror movies with scary clown dolls (don't make me find a reference- I need to be able to sleep tonight). And movies where the bad guys wear clown costumes to pull off a heist or even a murder. It's a cultural icon! Yet, some people LOVE clowns & clowning... I'm trying to think of other items/personnas in our society that seem to have such polar reactions- and I'm not finding too many (but that could be because my brain is tired...) Strangely enough, most I can come up with (OK- I've tried different ways to end that phrase without a dangling preposition & just CAN NOT do it tonight) have to do with things directed toward children.
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I told C tonight that we are going to the circus tomorrow. She is almost 4, so this will actually be her 3rd time going (4th if you count Yakov Smirnoff's Circus show in Branson a year ago!) Between faint memories of past years and what she's seen in books, she has a general idea of what to expect. I've been to this Shrine Circus MANY MANY times through the years, so I *really* have an idea what to expect. I told here there might be elephants, tigers or lions, trained dogs, etc... Her response: "But NO clowns, OK, mama?" I reassured her there may be 1 or 2, but that they would just be people acting silly and that would be OK.
---
So WHY do we associate clowns with the circus when it seems so many little kids are freaked out by clowns? I don't even particularly like most clowns. Just NOT my thing, I guess. I used to have a poster of the famous Emmett Kelly clown on my wall in H.S. It was fine until I rearranged my room & could suddenly see it at night. I had to take it down! It scared me in the dark! (Also why if E had been a boy, the name Emmett ended up out of the running.) And do my children not like clowns as well because of my subconscious influences?
---
But it's NOT ju
st me... Look at Toy Story 3- the clown is a sad sack & little scary at times. And horror movies with scary clown dolls (don't make me find a reference- I need to be able to sleep tonight). And movies where the bad guys wear clown costumes to pull off a heist or even a murder. It's a cultural icon! Yet, some people LOVE clowns & clowning... I'm trying to think of other items/personnas in our society that seem to have such polar reactions- and I'm not finding too many (but that could be because my brain is tired...) Strangely enough, most I can come up with (OK- I've tried different ways to end that phrase without a dangling preposition & just CAN NOT do it tonight) have to do with things directed toward children. ---
Here's the deep, though-provoking part (or not)- Is there something in each person's psyche that relates the fear of clowns to the fear of being SEEN as a clown? We are afraid to seem foolish in front of others, so we fear those who purposely appear foolish? As if it may be contagious? So maybe those who LOVE clowns are also those who have learned to be comfortable in their insecurities and see the world as a safe place where it is OK to let others see the slapstick in their soul? (Oooh- I like that phrase...)
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All righty- that's all this tired little brain can handle tonight. I was thinking of opening this blog up to more friends, etc, but I may have to wait until a better (less random?) post than this one! Thanks for reading anyway & putting up with MY foolishness for the day :)
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