IheartIheartTesla Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 We have two threats this great nation of ours currently faces: One is people being spooked by grotesque individuals spotted around the country saying and doing scary stuff, and the other is CLOWNS. Anyone have any theories about these (I presume not real) clown sightings? Some sort of mass hysteria, viral marketing or just a prank gone bad? It is an interesting cultural phenomenon, and of course the US is not unique in such events. I remember when I was growing up in India there were many sightings of a Hindu god's idol drinking milk spontaneously. Who knows how these things arise or die down. If you cant stand clowns don't click this link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 It's Trump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I'm so confused about this whole clown thing I just don't get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I don't get it either, but if it doesn't stop soon a "man wearing clown makeup scaring passers by was shot last night in..." news are all but certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawkcabi Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 It's just another fad intensified by it being over the internet. Like vampires, then zombies, now clowns. Anyhoo: Clown Lives Matter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Is that fad talking about scary clowns or is it dressing up as a scary clown to scare people? I'm not getting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawkcabi Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 16 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said: Is that fad talking about scary clowns or is it dressing up as a scary clown to scare people? I'm not getting it. I assume for some it's the first one, for others it's the second, for others still it's both. During the height of Anne Rice and such you had people dressing like vampires and talking about them all the time, then with World War Z and Walking Dead people love to talk about and dress like zombies, now it's clowns, there does seem to be an extra creep factor here that some enjoy exploiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 51 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said: I'm so confused about this whole clown thing I just don't get it Clown Zero was in Greenville, South Carolina where some kid first sighted clowns and claimed they were trying to lure him...somewhere. Since then, there have been assorted sightings around the country. Schools have even got into the act, telling concerned parents there was nothing to worry about in their district (I presume where you get a lot of kids together, pranks tend to emanate, in this case the source was clowns, dont know why it took off) Some have postulated though, that clowns signify the Other, and the time now is ripe for such mass hysteria because of rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Don't know why it didn't happen in the UK though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugget1229 Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 My school district has been on lock down all week because a neighboring district has a threatening clown. School was optional for that district yesterday because of some kind of threat. Supposedly there was an instagram post about he/she/it coming to our district soon. I'm not a parent so I'm not completely sure what the hell is going on at the school but one of the women I work with has a high schooler so she kinds keeps us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I'm going to speculate with zero foundation that a populace reaching a lever of material security/comfort seeking distraction and entertainment, enabled and amplified by new and unprecedented connectivity, will be prone to all manner of hysteria. It happened before with the printing press, telegrams, radio, film, etc. The only real danger is if niche silly hysterias get replaced by a more harmful mass hysteria. (tulip bulbs, South Sea and housing bubbles or worse: anarchism, jingoism, nazism, red scare and Trumpism in chronological order) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerPaladin Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 2 hours ago, Nugget1229 said: My school district has been on lock down all week because a neighboring district has a threatening clown. School was optional for that district yesterday because of some kind of threat. Supposedly there was an instagram post about he/she/it coming to our district soon. In my district, parents of one student called the police on another student for saying that the clowns were coming. The helicopter parents of the typically fragile children are making Facebook posts about how it's not funny, breaking my irony-meter. There was no similar outcry over the slenderman a few years ago, and that was way creepier. I hope my dad would have laughed at me if I ever came home whimpering that some kid said the boogeyman or bloody mary was gonna get me back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I'm listening to "Stuck in the Middle With You" right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maithanet Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 8 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said: I'm listening to "Stuck in the Middle With You" right now. Stealers Wheel is coming for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 28 minutes ago, Maithanet said: Stealers Wheel is coming for you. Zombie Gerry Raftery dressed as a Clown! We got an e-mail from the school district about the whole clown phenomenon and that they are on alert for random clowns near schools. My kids know that clowns hate being kicked in the crotch, so if in doubt, they should kick the clown in the crotch and then walk away with a sense of smug self satisfaction in a job well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRider Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 This is an interesting book comparing it to the satanic panic of the 80s. https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Clowns-Benjamin-Radford/dp/0826356664 This is not the first time this has been a thing, BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghadrack Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 If you search the news sites you'll find the links, but there have been a couple people, some teenagers and a lady in her twenties who created social medial accounts and made terroristic threats towards schools in the guise of some sort of evil clown over the past few months, combine that with the unconscious collective of "internet stupid" and a slow news cycle during a 24 hour news drought, post debate and pre-hurricane, toss in the fact that it's October, pre-halloween and you get this year's evil clown fetish. Next stop, evil clown porn, get your pancake make-up and rainbow colored personal stimulation devices ready.. Oh Yeah.. "Caught in the middle with you!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I'm sure it wasn't the first creepy clown sighting, but the latest craze seems to have amplified since Gags, or at least I've become aware of it since then. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/2016/08/10/green-bays-creepy-clown-marketing-ploy/88527696/ In addition to those incidences Ghadrack stated above, I saw on the news a father has been cited for disturbing the peace after he wore a clown mask to pick up his child at the school bus stop. The kids were terrified. That one actually had me chuckling. I suppose it's free marketing and hype for the It remake in another year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Pesci Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Fuck clowns. Fuck the whole lot of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 6 hours ago, Maithanet said: Stealers Wheel is coming for your ear Ftfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Spoiler My daughter told me (without citing her sources) the Clown thing began as a prank, the pranksters were copied by creeps, and then the whole thing blew up from there. Sounds almost plausible. Me? I'm old enough to remember when clowns were seen as funny, not scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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