Friday, February 16, 2007
Fear of Clowns
Despite the title this is not a post about politicians. It is about children's fears of things adults find funny.
On America's Funniest Home Videos they showed a family video where dad on Christmas walks into the living room dressed as Santa Claus. His daughter, not recognizing dad in the monster (to her) getup, immediately gets off the sofa and walks across the room. She then starts crying and says, “I'm afraid”. When “Santa” offers her presents she says, still crying, “I don't want any presents. Thank you.” It was a howler.
And the ineluctable Seinfeld reference must follow: There was a Seinfeld where Kramer admitted that as a kid he was afraid of clowns. When “Crazy” Joe Davola, dressed as a clown, asked him if he were still afraid, Kramer meekly said, “Yes”.
Trivia requires footnotes:
- A fear of clowns is a recognized phobia called Coulrophobia
Two comments from a Google search about fear of clowns:
Perhaps clowns frighten some because the painted smile and silly mannerisms suggest the inauthenticity and denial in an attitude of forced cheer as an escape from painful reality, a stance I remember as popular in the 1950s.
They're big and loud and they have painted-on faces so you can't tell their true expressions. For starters, that's pretty creepy.
- “Crazy” Joe Davola is a real person — a TV producer. I think I saw his name on the sign-off scroll for Smallville.