If Wrinkles the Clown was to ever give Pennywise a run for his money it’s largely because Pennywise isn’t going to be popping out from under our beds because the legend created a reality thanks to highly susceptible individuals. Ryan Scott of MovieWeb is accurate in stating that once a legend is create it’s hard to keep it from spiraling out of control in either direction and grounding it in reality once again. If you’re talking about movie legends then Pennywise likely holds the edge since the idea of reality in a movie is highly subjective, but if you’re talking about Wrinkles and Pennywise in real life, oh yes, Wrinkles has a much bigger likelihood of being a great deal scarier than the mythical clown created by Stephen King. A person in a mask and a clown suit is seen as a terror in the world as it stands today unless they happen to be actively entertaining children, though if Wrinkles was on a stage trying to entertain the kids you can imagine that you might not see a lot of smiles.
The fact that Wrinkles is being made into a movie based on a hint of reality is kind of creepy, but then again a lot of people are freaked out by clowns in a big way. For some it seems like an irrational fear since there’s nothing to fear about a human in greasepaint or under a mask, but that’s exactly what scares some folks. The idea of not knowing who’s under the paint, the mask, the outfit, and what their motivation might be. Clowns have been a part of pop culture for a good deal of time, and yet while they’re revered by some they’re absolutely feared and mistrusted by others, as it’s hard to know just what they’re thinking. You could make the argument that it’s hard to know what anyone is thinking since we don’t come with reader boards above our head scrolling out our every thought, but when it comes to those wearing a disguise of any sort it becomes even worse. With clowns it would seem that the overall look is something that a lot of people simply can’t bring themselves to trust. Leslie Barker of The Dallas Morning News puts it accurately in saying that clowns were never meant to be scary, but that strange issue of trust is something that people can’t seem to fully understand. Those that choose the path of a clown and fall into it aren’t always evil or even inherently bad, but at the same time there’s something that’s difficult to accept about them.
When it comes to Pennywise it’s easy not to trust the creature since from its voice to the manner in which he acts, it simply doesn’t track with what we expect in this day and age. The mere fact that Wrinkles is seen being hired to come and scare children works against him in a big way, and the appearance of his mask, the baggy clothing, all of it acts as a giant red flag that speaks of danger. Of course showing up on the street, in the back yard of various people, and simply standing there in an ominous fashion, all work against him. If he tops Pennywise at all it’s because this is the kind of example that people see that can be emulated in real life. A person won’t be able to extend their jaws like Pennywise, they won’t be able to alter their size, they won’t grow spider legs and be able to kill someone with supernatural powers, but much like Wrinkles it’s not hard to dress up and terrorize people. In the last few years people have been doing this same thing and quite honestly it’s unnerved quite a few people that have reported clown sightings throughout their neighborhoods. At one point a lot of folks were ready to arm themselves and start fighting back against the terror that the individuals were spreading.
So does Wrinkles give Pennywise a run for his money? Yes and no. Clowns are a terrifying bunch to many for a number of reasons, but when it comes to reality they get even more so since there are enough people out there that seem to want to simply terrify individuals for the sheer fun of it. Wrinkles is just one more example of how people think that clowns are a great way to promote yet another horror movie, which in fact it is for the shock factor as well as the terror that can be generated. In real life however there’s a serious trust issue between many people and clowns that simply can’t be put to rest in such an easy manner. So yeah, in real life, Wrinkles is definitely scarier than Pennywise since for the price of a costume a person can give someone a serious complex and phobia that will last for a lifetime.
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