MovieChat Forums > A Boy and His Dog (1975) Discussion > Why the clown faces?

Why the clown faces?

posted 15 years ago by lvd_orders
10 replies | jump to latest

This must be obvious to everyone except me because I don't see any threads about it?

I figure one of these must be true: 1) the 'clown face' is put on because there really isn't anything to be happy about, but they can't all just be living in a cave sulking. 2) Their society has become so much about rules (any sign of independent thinking seems to result in being sent to 'the farm') that people are wearing the face paint to hide emotion. 3) Living in a cave all the time, their faces are rather pale anyway, and they are covering up (there is no evidence this is actually true.)

Anyone know?

[–] pbdye 15 years ago

I sort of took it to be something far simpler, and just a mix of them identifying with each other and sharing in their own collective madness.

[–] nohope83 15 years ago

i took it as a mockery of society and the illusion of social order. with the decayed upper post-world in its state, the underground "topeka" mimics humanities concepts of proper appearance, cleanliness and order. the clown make-up exagerates the concepts of fashion and society.

[–] retributive-justice 15 years ago

Maybe there's no deeper meaning other than the fact it was "different"/wacky.

[–] xtopherson 14 years ago

I read an interview with LQ Jones in a sci-fi horror mag of the late '80s -- I don't recall the name. Anyway, your #3 supposition is correct -- their skin is supposed to have become so pale that everyone began wearing lipstick, rouge etc. At least that's what he said in the interview, but I actually feel your #1 and #2 are better explanations.

[–] onecat-1 14 years ago

my theory was that it was this dug up idea of makeup they read in a book about the past and saw a picture of a clown and figured that was how it looked, so they accepted it. for them it was just another piece in trying recreate the old civilized humanity. the paleness thing was a thought i had too until i saw how tan most of their necks were.. but hey whatever the director says i guess. i still like my theory better :)

[–] oldgal3 14 years ago

On Saturday night, April 17, 2010, at the Kansas City Film Festival, L. Q. Jones, the director, spoke and answered, in his own inimitable words, your question, much in the way you expressed it, describing it as a gradual process starting with just a bit, and escalating to the state we see in the movie. He also said Jason Robards helped do lots of the extras' makeup one day when they had many to do.

[–] mmablaster 14 years ago

That scene where they are washing Vic was really weird.

They have this movie on Netflix on the Wii now.

http://coolblaster.blogspot.com/

[–] hthrlancaster 14 years ago

I wondered this same thing myself. I couldn't figure out why they were doing it, except that they were trying to imitate something they saw somewhere. It gave me the CREEPS though!

[–] criztu 9 years ago

Jung tells us about the collective unconscious. What dat mean is whatever conscious explanation the makers of this movie had for that "clown face" makeup, there is a deeper explanation:

Make up is used to make the face appear more fertile, younger, healthier, more attractive, more symmetrical, more pleasing, etc.; positive attributes.
The "clown face" makeup is a signature of the decrepit, decaying, decadent, rotten feudal upper class culture. Kings and marquises of the 1800 wore this very clownish makeup.

The use of this 'clown face' make up in the film, is to accentuate the lifeless state of the society trying to shut itself away from the hazards of the outer world.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 9 years ago

When I saw this in theaters, I was told they wore it to protect themselves from radiation. Now I think it was to distinguish the downunders from the terrain dwellers so outsiders could not come in. Also a sign of their conformity.