Pennywise

[jgouma0]

Eventhough I in general prefer the books, I have to spam this (profile) picture my wife bought for me as a trofee for the first Stephen King book I ever read and got me hooked! It's by a up and coming Dutch artist. And yes, it's in my bedroom!

[smooth operator]

I hope your wife is not afraid of clowns.

[karend3]

I couldn't do it, ever since reading IT not a big fan of clowns.

[Jula]

I'm not afraid of clowns but I admit that they do tend to have a creepy sinister quality about them, even when it's unintentional.

[Bad Bear]

That's a great picture, Julia! If they could make Pennywise look something like that in the new IT film, it would be brilliant!

[sme30]

I think the original (Tim Curry) Penntwise was great. The real clown look with something sinister underlying. I think thats why Pennywise is seen as a clown. Most people are not afraid of them (although I knew a girl who would scream at the sight of one. Also poeple dressed as bears!), so It was easier to entice children. But the fact that kids could also see the darker side of the clown just makes it all the more realistic!

[Kahllie]

I love to watch Tim Curry, but as a clown, he scared me.

Fear of clowns is not uncommon--enough so that it is named...Coulrophobia. The fact that the "true face" is concealed, distorted by exaggerated makeup, is rather a red flag to many. The concealment is viewed similarly to a bandit mask that conceals identity and avoids recognition for and accountability for any actions taken that have a negative effect.

When in first grade, we had a General Assembly in the auditorium. The first year students got the first rows. I was just left of the middle of the first row.
The man who was presenting the program was dressed as a clown with full makeup and wig. He told us that clowns are just people...just like our fathers...but with funny clothes on. I didn't like the concealed face, and even at that age, I thought...he's not like my father...I can't see his Real Face.
While telling us how funny and nice clowns were and how much good they do in charity work, he was pacing with a bucket casually held in his hand. Suddenly, he rushed straight at me and tossed confetti on me and those near me. I was frozen. He launched into a very detailed explanation of why you don't need to be afraid of clowns, but by that time, I was frozen and barely breathing, and intently watching every move he made, while pressing into the hard wooden seat as much as I could to "get distance." My eyes must have been huge. He came to me and told me that it was all in fun...that I didn't need to be afraid. Bull Feathers! At least he had the sense to see that the best thing he could do was move far enough away that he was not in my "territory."
I went to the circus a few years ago in a large civic center. Gunther Geble-Willams was there. I really wanted to see him and his cats.
In the elevator, some clowns got on. I looked at them, they looked at me, and they quit talking and moved forward and faced the doors while I pressed into the back of the car, holding my breath and watching them. I guess they had seen it before. They didn't move or talk. They simply exited quickly when the car stopped, and I had time to recover.
Clowns are only OK if seen from a great distance (sufficient head-start room), and they aren't facing you.

[leighG]

The clown should not look like that pic Julia posted, sorry, but, that would just look like every other hideously deranged/deformed killer, Pennywise's scariest factor is his ability to goad children in, if you saw that clown from Julia's picture, even if you didn't know IT, would you approach it?, at least with Pennywise you would, if you knew nothing of the movie or book anyway, right?

[thegardenbefore*]

I've always been afraid of clowns but for some weird reason Pennywise doesn't scare me in the least. I think he's hilarious!

[djpaterson]

For those of you in the UK with access to the Zone Horror TV channel, the original IT is on Fri 17th July at 9.00pm.