Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Evil clown

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Weak consensus to keep. OR issues can be dealt with through the normal editing process. Ron Ritzman (talk) 22:34, 21 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Evil clown[edit]

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

Unsourced original research essay about "evil clowns". Fear of clowns is already covered in coulrophobia, and any noteworthy examples of evil clowns in fiction are covered in the articles discussing those works (i.e., It (novel), Joker (comics), Killer Klowns from Outer Space, etc.). Sottolacqua (talk) 15:44, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - Article isn't about coulrophobia, but the antithesis of a regular clown, and the culture surrounding it. Most of the articles featuring evil clowns don't mention the reasoning or thoughts behind such a character - they just "are". a_man_alone (talk) 16:15, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Merge a few lines to coulrophobia. This is an unsourced original essay. Carrite (talk) 17:41, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I see that article's an equally dubious trivia dump. Anybody want to get serious on the topic? Carrite (talk) 17:42, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Delete unsourced OR. Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • ^{(Otters want attention)} 17:59, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Comment The article could probably be turned into a List of evil clowns without too much adjustment, by winding back to this revision. The Mark Dery reference is very sound looking and the claimed book checks out at amazon. It appears to be a long-standing popular culture meme. I lean towards keep and listify, retaining much of the existing text. --Tagishsimon (talk) 21:17, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Keep if anything, this is a much better treatment of a common fictional topic than the dreaded "list of evil clowns in popular culture" turd it might have been. The Mark Dery source looks solid and the article could use a bit of expansion and work, but the core of it is good. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 21:26, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Keep - I'm surprising myself by saying this, but this article is actually quite good. The subject is both distinct from coulrophobia and well-cited. It seems clear that the notion of evil clowns is not some bit of original research, nor is this article a disguised list. Dylan Flaherty (talk) 16:13, 17 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It was a disguised list until I removed 7k of crap last week. As to the rest of your rationale, I can't see how anyone would think that. There are only a few sentences of prose and it is just a disjointed chain of factoids and appearances that is seemingly based entirely on single portion of a single pop culture book. It's also not clear why you would assert that the article is well-cited when it in fact contains no cites. Doctorfluffy (robe and wizard hat) 18:35, 17 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for doing such a good job cleaning it up. Dylan Flaherty (talk) 00:46, 19 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. Obvious original research. Magnet for triviacruft. Doctorfluffy (robe and wizard hat) 18:08, 17 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Notable subject as a stock character just like the Evil twin and the Mad scientist. Could use some improvement, like history when the evil clown first became a cultural meme. The 70's? Hepcat65 (talk) 00:28, 19 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.