The Popcorn Stand: Send in the Clowns

The Popcorn Stand takes on a darker side today to cover the pop culture of the weekend, which was all about clowns. From Pennywise to Insane Clown Posse, the weekend belonged to clowns.

Pennywise, the creepy clown in the adaption of Stephen King’s IT continued to dominate the box office over the weekend as the movie brought in $60 million, giving it a total of more than $200 million, which is a record for a film released in September. After a dismal summer at the box office full of sequels and retreads of superheroes, it took a creepy clown to breathe new life into the film industry. Go figure.

I haven’t seen the film IT, but I’m assuming music from Insane Clown Posse isn’t in the movie, because from what I’ve heard that would be pretty inappropriate, although I’ve heard enough about Insane Clown Posse that they’re considered to be violent and psychopathic by many.

Even though IT and Insane Clown Posse have been around for most of my adult life, I know virtually nothing about either one. Although I do think the name Insane Clown Posse is awesome. But Insane Posse is in the news again because their followers, known as Juggalos, marched on Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

A few years ago, the FBI actually classified Juggalos as a gang, which has led to an ongoing and yet to be resolved legal battle. The issue of Juggalos being classified as a gang is actually a serious one when it comes to free speech and many self-described Juggalos say they’ve faced discrimination. One probation officer lost her job because of her love of Insane Clown Posse.

While I know nothing about IT and Insane Clown Posse, I do know enough the two have a huge following because of their dark side.

So when it comes to our darker side — send in the clowns.

— Charles Whisnand