#i don't think exposure therapy is helping that one's fear of clowns

[feytouched]

if i had a nickel for every time i got needle-stabbed this week i'd have 3 nickels which is not that much but it's definitely above the average for me

[magicrainbowkitties]

So (not-so) quick thing... Scarecrow.

Obviously, Crane developed his fear toxin as a way to study fear and its effects on the psyche. He can do this because he's both a master biochemist and an accomplished psychiatrist. In most canons, he's obsessed with using fear to control people, and takes sadistic pleasure in watching people loose their minds while high on his drug.

HOWEVER.

I find this motivation boring as sin. Wow, you use fear to make people do what you want? And you don't even get cool superpowers and a shiny ring (except when he did but that's for another day), you're just some mad scientist with a hard-on for watching people be miserable? Damn, bro, where I seen that before...

*side-eyeing 80% of DC villains, who are mad scientists with a hard-on for watching people be miserable*

Not to say that I find Crane uninteresting, far from it! As with all the Gotham Rogues, he's absolutely committed to The Aesthetic. His motto is clearly "Every day is Halloween," and I completely agree. He's got a relatable backstory (for me at least, whaddup fellow burnout gifted kids with religious trauma?), and uses his villainy as an unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with his trauma (which is the one part of his motivation that is actually interesting to me). Also, I love that while he's extremely academically talented, he relies on his social intelligence far more to carry out his agenda, even though he's very much on the "I hate people please go away" side of things. It's terribly interesting to me when these aspects of his personality work into each other and create a relatable yet threatening villain.

But far too often, he's just written as a one-note sadist whose only job is to go "HAHA DANCE FOR ME PLEBES FOR I AM THE MASTER OF FEAR" while Batman swoops in, beats him up, and saves the day.

Or, even worse, he's given the Modern Riddler treatment of "Lol look at this nerd. He wants to fight the Bat but can't even throw a punch! He's gotta hide behind his gas to win, but Batman's a badass so he can just magically get over it and knock him on his ass cause in reality, he's the one who's scared."

That stuff's just bullshit, y'know? Sure, I'm all for villains pathetically cowering for their lives and all, that's some gud shit, but there comes a point where it's EVERY SINGLE STORY Crane's written in. He has so much potential to be fun, relatable, philosophical and interesting, but in order to do that, writers would have to actually think more about WHY he does what he does, outside of research and sadism. Oh, and they'd have to take their focus off the Clown Prince of Cash and admit that he stole a bunch of Crane's shtick.

Hell, you could even give him a "paved with good intentions" type motivation. Like, maybe he developed fear toxin as a kind of exposure therapy to help people overcome their trauma by experiencing it passively, but because Gotham Sux (TM), he couldn't get the funding and/or the approval from official channels for it because "hallucinogens bad" (reflecting real-world psychiactrics discourse today, as hallucinogens have been proven to help those with anxiety, PTSD, depression, and other related illnesses, but because War On Drugs, most people think all of 'em are dangerous and deadly). So, he turned to crime, using the toxin itself to get what he needs to continue his work. But that's a slippery slope, and before he knows it he's cast as a villain and thrown into Arkham with all the people he was trying to help, forever branded a scary freak the world would be better off without.

All because he tried to help.

Sure, it's cliche as sin, and I'm sure I could find hundreds of fan works describing this exact scenario, but for real... Isn't that way more interesting than "lol he's just a sadist with a god complex?" I like to think so, at least.

Idk man I just really hate it when a side character's potential is absolutely smothered in favor of the main character's, especially in the case of Batman. Like, the most interesting thing about Batman is the villains he fights, and half the time the interesting parts of those villains are funneled into Big Clown. The other half, they're sacrificed altogether because gods forbid Batman be vulnerable or admit that his villains might actually... *gasp*... have a point.

To see the amazing potential of a character like Jonathan Crane be absolutely tossed aside makes my blood boil.

Truly, we live in the darkest timeline.

[clown-blr]

What sort of clown would one seek to get over a fear of clowns? I've a friend who can only think of a specific horror clown like creature and now is afraid of all clowns. It don't help this being has gotten rather popular recently.

:( I’m sorry your friend is afraid. And I know you would never, but I want to insist just in case that you MUST get your friends consent before exposure therapy.

Sad clowns or miniature breeds are going to be the best for someone with a fear of clowns. Sad clowns have a softer nature, and miniature clowns are hardly terrifying!