The fourth season of “American Horror Story” takes place within a circus so it is not surprising that there is a creepy and murderous clown afoot in this year’s horrifying plot. But apparently there is one group of people who are not too happy that clowns are once again being portrayed as scary.
In AHS: Freak Show, there is a killer clown called Twisty who as you can imagine is well twisted. And clown fear is a well established phobia that the show is playing on for this season. However, according to a feature at The Hollywood Reporter, a group of professional clowns say that Twisty and AHS is perpetuating the clown phobia.
Glenn Kohlberger, the president of Clowns of America International, the biggest clown club in the country said,
“Hollywood makes money sensationalizing the norm,” he says. “They can take any situation no matter how good or pure and turn it into a nightmare. We do not support in any way, shape or form any medium that sensationalizes or adds to coulrophobia or ‘clown fear,’” Kohlberger says. “Clowns to killers…I choose not to play into any of it.”
He also blames shows like AHS for membership in the organization being on the downfall in the latest years.
However, ask many people where their phobia comes from? Person experience. So, whether shows like AHS or the movie IT are to blame can be unfair.
You can read the entire piece over at The Hollywood Reporter and decide for yourself.