So this week the theme over at http://gothicarches.wordpress.com/ is clowns. I'm not a fan of clowns. I used to be. Before 1986 if I heard the word clown, my mind would associate words like silly and clumsy and fun. I would think of characters like Clarabelle, Emmett Kelly, Ronald McDonald and Bozo. But sometime in 1986 I picked up the Steven King book titled "It" and now forevermore, the word clown immediately brings to mind one character - "Pennywise the Dancin' Clown." I was a huge Steven King fan back in the eighties and nineties. The characters in his novels always gave me the creeps but the creature he brought to life in this novel and depicted as a sadistic, balloon-wielding clown from under the sewers literally gave me nightmares. Then a few years later, they filmed a television movie based on the book and me, being a glutton for punishment, just had to watch it didn't I. Round two of nightmares. Tim Curry's performance as the nightmarish, demon clown firmly embedded the "Clown equals Scary" synapse connection in my brain.
I'm hoping that in checking out all the other clown-themed arches, I'll start to think of clowns as sweet and silly and just plain fun again.
