Thoughts : Wrinkles the Clown (2019)
There is something really and truly fascinating about the human mind and the way that it connects us all. Humans have inherent fears, and sometimes these shared fears take on forms of their own that grow into folklore and legend. Personally, I’ve never been afraid of clowns, but I can certainly understand how this fear has grown from a niche experience into a cultural phenomenon. Leave it to Florida, then, to present us with the perfect true world manifestation of these fears, who is the subject of the Michael Beach Nichols documentary Wrinkles the Clown.
In the age of viral media and public unrest, Wrinkles the Clown is a bold statement of how many individuals process their fear in a way that makes them lash out. As previously mentioned, Florida has rapidly built itself a history of events and individuals that out downright frightening, thus serving as the perfect petri dish of ingredients to inspire and individual to play on these fears. The choice for Wrinkles to remain anonymous even with the aim of spreading his character’s legend via the internet has made the individual a proper modern day Boogeyman, and having him be an actor for hire that is willing to work with other individuals to grow the legend amplifies the experience in a very unique manner. In many ways, he takes the energy created by Internet ‘monsters’ such as Slenderman, One Man Hide and Seek, Charlie Charlie, Midnight Man, Devil in the Mirror and Bloody Mary, and makes the transmission of his folklore even more explosive by making himself accessible via phone.
These choices have given the individual behind the mask a unique mixture of Internet fame, street cred and media fascination. His provocative nature leaves the imagination to play against itself, which in a strange way, has created a firestorm around him. Many parents tend to actually use Wrinkles in the manner of the Boogeyman, choosing to discipline their kids by calling Wrinkles as a threat. The lines are blurry, and it seems that Wrinkles himself even realizes how twisted this choice can be, but like any clown, there is a man behind the mask and paint that has to take care of himself, and if money is available, the contract between himself and the parents is of no concern to the public at large.
As a character studies, Wrinkles is a truly fascinating individual, and his placement among the pantheon of clowns, fictional or real world, opens many avenues for discussion. Knowingly or not, he holds up a mirror to society that exposes how human nature seems to be resorting to extremes when threatened, as well as the exploitative nature of those who play on public fear and toy with emotions. The choice to take on clowning, which itself is steeped in a long history rich with tradition, is also a unique one, as the inherent mystery behind individuals who clown has always had a dark cloud of fascination behind it. The canon of clowns has always been peppered with undertones of violence, and the line that connects Punch and Judy to John Wayne Gacy to the Joker to Pennywise can continue to, and right through, Wrinkles.
The cinematic elements of this documentary are stellar, with the b-roll managing to stand out at a level I’ve not seen since The Nightmare. The ‘candid’ interviews with Wrinkles that are sprinkled in among public testimony, educational perspective and authority opinion play well, and when the presentation of Wrinkles as a documentary subject is suddenly turned on his head, it hooks the audience for the home stretch in a way I’ve yet to see any other documentary do. The tone that is set throughout the documentary via the visuals and editing is resonant to the point of deep immersion.
I stumbled upon Wrinkles the Clown with no previous knowledge or experience of the project, but I am very happy to have discovered it. I can’t wait to share this one with my friends, screen it when given the opportunity, and hopefully even DJ to it, as it is visually strong enough to be re-scored. As far as documentaries on modern day folklore go, Wrinkles the Clown stands high on the list among the competition.
