What had started out to be (in my mind) a funny picture, turned out to be greeted with shock and glairs of distaste. Now, this wasn’t just a poorly thought out joke, but more of an experiment in context. By changing the image only slightly and adding a single word, I was able to create a complete juxtaposition of thought, completely taken out of context (correction: completely taking the picture out of context).
We always say “That you can’t judge a book by its cover”, yet we are guilty of doing just that, every day. Why couldn’t this be just a happy clown, asking you if you’d like some candy? Are clowns bad? (That of course is an argument by some) Is candy bad (Again another argument by some) Fears and Fat aside lets take them at what they are, which is inherently not evil. Clowns are funny, and candy is tasty. However, placed on the same page, in just the right position… you have a demon of some consequence. A man no longer interested in training house hold pets to do tricks for your amusement, but a being so vile, you’d prefer to put a bullet in his head. What does that say about you?
However. Books, have covers for a reason. I don’t recall ever seeing Fabio on the cover of a Tom Clancy novel. Or perhaps an image in juxtaposition isn’t necessarily an opposite, as much as maybe… Completing a circle? An image set in a different view to reveal a truth? Now, I in no way mean to say the respectable Mr. Popovich is a child molesting freak. I’ve seen his show on “America’s got Talent” and it was awesome. All I’m saying is, the eyes of the world are upon all of us, and we’ll never escape our own hidden truths or narrow mindedness.
“Don’t look at me, like other people look at you.” ~ me
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March 9th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Sebastian pointed out that this article isn’t quite clear.
My point to this is:
that the picture I created was in fact exactly what it seemed, a creepy clown with all the makings of everything you might think creepy clown to be.
But that the clown himself was taken… Na, forced out of context.
And that you the viewer, can be easily manipulated by your own preconceived notions.
Mr. Popovich isn’t doing anything differently in either picture, but by changing a sign over him. It completely changes the view you have of him. And that even the word used, in and of itself, wasn’t a bad word. It didn’t say “molester”. That would have left nothing for you to fill in. It said “Candy?”.
But coupled with a clown… suddenly it’s a horrible thing. That’s my point.
Thanks to Sebastian for raising the question. I need to take more care in my blogs.