At their absolute best, clowns are creepy. At their worst, these jesters are absolutely horrifying. Maybe it's their wide smiles, their pale white faces or the idea that nothing in this world should be that unconditionally happy. Whatever it is, clowns have been, and always will be, unsettling for many. It's just a fact of nature.
American Horror Story: Freakshow is certainly taking advantage of this, as one of the show's main antagonists is a horrifyingly twisted clown. While the series' recent season premiere was almost universally loved, it seems that one group in particular wasn't exactly pleased with its portrayal of clowns.
The Clowns of America International, a group dedicated to the clown arts around the world, has voiced their opinion on FX's horror anthology. Glenn Kohlberger, the group's president, recently spoke with THR on the matter: "Hollywood makes money sensationalizing the norm. They can take any situation no matter how good or pure and turn it into a nightmare."
From Kohlberger's point of view, it makes sense: Twisty the Clown, the antagonist of Freakshow, is a psychotic clown that murders adults with a pair of scissors and traps kids in a dilapidated school bus. It doesn't exactly make for good PR if your line of work happens to be performing as a clown.
Unfortunately for Kohlberger, society's hatred of clowns runs far deeper than a simple TV show. Clowns have been scary for centuries, and John Wayne Gacy solidified America's fear forever. During the '70s, Gacy worked as 'Pogo the Clown,' and used the persona to begin raping and murdering young boys in his neighborhood. Obviously, normal clowns are not in the least bit like the murderer, but it was so horrific that the idea of a 'killer clown' has burned itself into the minds of Americans everywhere.
As for American Horror Story: Freakshow, Twisty seems to be doing a fantastic job because the season four premiere saw the series' best numbers to date. It is currently the most watched episode in the entire series' history. The show has been growing steadily since the first season premiered back in 2011, and it seems that the introduction of Twisty is just helping that along.
What's most surprising out of all of this is the fact that a nationwide network of clowns actually exists. Globally connected clowns...now that's scarier than anything FX could ever produce.
