Irony of Clowns
Drawing back onto the monster that we wrote about for our paper on Friday, I talked about Twisty the Clown - a silent, murderous, and quite angered clown from the show American Horror Story. One of the ideas that I brought up in my paper was what makes Twisty the Clown so fearsome, is how he uses no words and says nothing. During the shows television run, Twisty the Clown made an appearance during almost every episode of the first half of the season and the viewer didn't even hear him speak until his final episode where he surmises the reason he became so "crazy". Comparing that with what Cohen states in his seven theses, are that the monster always escapes. Just as Jason, Michael Myers, and other killers before them always seem to return for the next sequel, Twisty the clown always reappears to wreak more havoc. Although Twisty is subsequently brought to the other side as he faces death, his character and his spirit never die. Twisty manages to create a child prodigy who he leads to be the next serial killer in the show's series for the second half. Twisty's evil ways never die - and even though they may show up in a different form, the evil is always there. As Cohen states "the monster's body is both corporal and incorporeal", giving way to the idea that even if their is no physical body present, the evil that surrounds the monster is always there and is bound to return again whether it be in another form or spirit. Twisty the Clown is also a perfect example of a "category crisis" as Cohen puts it. Clown usually represent happiness, fun, childhood joy, and innocent fun. When that image is taken and given ragged clothes, dirty makeup, and dulled out colors (versus the normal bright colors clowns wear) we end up with a broken image of what would normally be harmless entertainment and turn it into terror. Think of it, clowns are meant to symbolize carnival fun and Twisty is that complete opposite.
I'm a huge fan of the American Horror Story series. When I was choosing my fave/scariest monster, I was wondering whether someone was going to choose twisty. There is no doubt that Twisty is the scariest monster among all the monsters. He's silent and vicious. He kills people without a clear motivation. Just like what you said in your post, he is quite a contrast to what people perceive clowns to be. He definitely raises a category crisis.
ReplyDeleteI like your application of Cohen's theses to Twisty. Truly, Twisty lives on and reincarnates in Danny. Thus, the monster is beyond "corporeal and incorporeal". Meanwhile, I think Danny also exemplifies Cohen's six thesis, the monsters are for our pleasure and we want to be them, as Twisty's evils witness. Danny enjoys it very much and desires to be Twisty. At the end, his dream comes true and he becomes the new Twisty.
With that being said, very nice job on the post. I like it a lot.