the killer clown is a well-worn horror trope, with Pennywise probably being the most famous example. He's far from the only one though, as dozens of movies and TV shows featuring sinister clowns exist, and more are made each year. At this point, clowns may be better known as symbols of fear than merriment.
That said, there are still people who make their living as clowns, and still people who find clowns delightful instead of threatening. In that sense, it's not hard to see why those people wouldn't be huge fans of IT. To be fair to Stephen King though, he certainly didn't invent killer clowns, and infamous serial killer/birthday clown John Wayne Gacy had already done a lot to damage the overall clown image prior to IT's 1986 publication.
While IT Chapter Two didn't prove to be quite as beloved as Chapter One, both films were successful, and have a legion of fans. King himself is included among them, having heavily praised both halves of IT. To real clowns though, Pennywise is a character to be forever loathed.
Why Stephen King's IT Movies Angered Real Clowns
The trailers for the first IT movie were some of the most viewed of 2017, and the film's September release date arrived atop a wave of hype. IT did even better than anticipated, becoming one of the biggest horror success stories of all time. Pennywise was everywhere, and that really sucked for average, everyday clown performers, who saw their bookings dry up the more the iconic character became heavily prominent. Clowns staged protests against the film, and said work got even scarcer after IT hit theaters, after already suffering due to the trailers.
Clowns weren't any happier with IT Chapter Two, which they viewed as simply dragging their profession through the mud once again. While it's somewhat understandable that they felt that way, the fact is that just about every profession has been turned into a horror movie killer. There's been killer doctors, killer cops, killer dentists, killer chefs, killer teachers, killer Santa Clauses, and so on, and so forth. In that sense, clowns don't have it any worse, outside of being in a line of work that many people already find unnerving. With the IT films now seemingly done, maybe clowns will get a break, at least until cinema's next killer clown arrives.
