Week Two Blog on "Freaks"

The movie "Freaks" shown in class really was a eye opener to how freak shows were run.  During the beginning of class when we were talking about  who was cast in the movie, I was very shocked that the director hired actual people in freak shows rather than actors.  This made the movie more realistic than planned.  When viewing the movie, it was very hard to understand and follow.  The sub plots involved in the regular plot were hard to sort out into my head.  The love and marriage between Hans and Cleopatra reminded of the story Jeff told us about the couple that "fell in love" so he could sell his wife's body to science.  This movie reminded me of the readings on Venus Hottentot as well.  I find it very interesting how people with disabilities had no choices and everything was decided for them.  In today's world, this would have been extremely frowned upon.  I am interested in this Thursday's discussion on these topics because they are highly controversial.

Leslie Walter

P.T. Barnum: PR Pioneer & “The Ultimate Showman”

I noticed Phineas T. Barnum (commonly referred to as P.T. Barnum) has been popping up a lot in our readings. Being a Public Relations major, I recognize his name from my Communication courses – he was an early pioneer in the PR field. He was the master of what historians call the pseudoevent – a planned happening that occurs with the intention of being reported.

Barnum made a public relations event out of the marriage of two midgets. He was also instrumental in the success of Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale.” Lind was famous in Europe, but Americans were unaware of her beautiful voice until Barnum took her on a national tour and made her a pop icon prior to the Civil War. He managed to get full houses on opening nights in each community by donating part of proceeds to charity. Barnum also gave free tickets to celebrities in the hope that they would attend his events.

- Josh Steffen

week two about freaks

The movie that we watched today dealt witha different way of looking at freaks. It showed how even within the "freak" world there are freaks among the freaks and how the ones who seemed normal in the circus didn't want to be like the other people that they considered freaks. It also shows how people are afraid of freaks just like the world today is scared of people who seem different from the norm. The film also showed that the circus was like its own little community where they all looked out for eachother. This would relate to today's world because we form little groups of people who have more in common with ourselves and we stick up for eachother and to other people we may seem like freaks just because we may be different from them. Another part of the movie that also relates to today's world was at the end of the movie how the freaks started to act how the "normal" people in the circus treated them during the whole movie. This is relevant to today's world because if you treat someone one way because they are different they will eventually live up to how you treat them because they are so used to being treated that way.

"We accept her! We accept her! One of us! One of us! Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble!"

I found Tod Browning’s Freaks to be a really interesting film, and it is going in my movie collection. The first half consists of the characters and their day to day life. We see them eating, drinking, doing laundry, basking in the birth of a child, and even an armless and legless man lighting and smoking a cigarette (somebody said this was really powerful, and I definitely agree). Perhaps their daily routine is not the most exciting thing to watch, but it demonstrates that "they" are deep down no different from "us.”
On the other hand, the Freaks do think of themselves as being different and are subject to isolation from the world – as a disabled person I would be lying if I said I’ve never felt this way, it is something I’ve dealt with my entire life. The "normal" people and the Freaks themselves constantly reinforce this “separation” throughout the film. There are a lot of references to animals, sometimes as insults to a particular character. For instance, Hans is called a bug or an ape. At the wedding party, the "We accept you, one of us" chant also shows how they are a distinct group of people.

- Josh Steffen

Singing Freaks

I decided to look up "freaks modern day" in Google. I found some very strange things, but I discovered this from one of my favorite musicals, Side show. Side Show is a musical about Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins, who make a change from being a circus act to becoming famous stage performers in the 1930s. The show is about their struggle staying together and how they want to go their seperate ways. Its a very heartbreaking show and really captivates audiences. I honestly feel that people in similiar situations have this problem. We all want to live and create our own lives and futures, but imagine trying to live your life with someone who is attached to you. We have the technology to do this , but back then was a little difficult. I highly recommend looking this show up and reading more about it. This is a beautiful song from the show. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tStUnyvr8gQ

~Kyle Landers

The Hottentot Venus

If the Europeans found this woman such a “curious animal” why was she baptized?  It is my understanding that the Catholic Church does not believe that animals have souls.  If this is true of their beliefs, why did the Bishop of Chester agree to her being baptized? 

According to what I have learned in my African/American studies classes, a baptized person being a fellow Christian could not be enslaved it was only acceptable to enslave a heathen.  Saartjie Baartman, according to the article, was owned by Alexander Dunlop thus a slave. 

Joyce Abbott

The Popularity of Freak Shows

Freak shows have been a popular form of entertainment for a long time.  It can be said that a reason for this popularity is because of the curiosity of the human race.  Humans have always liked to study things that are out of the normal of every day life.  This is the same even when humans are the test subject.  Therefore, if there are certain things about people that make them different from "us" then we want to look at them and figure out why.  This includes investigating their differences scientifically and through medicine.  There are many different explanations for the various traits that made some of these people freaks such as different diseases, physical and mental disorders and more.  It was necessary for us as humans to make these scientific connections so that we can further differentiate ourselves from the "deviants" of our society with the knowledge of what makes them different from us.  All in all, freak shows allowed you to stare at the societal misfits without it being frowned upon because the freak shows were being used as a source of entertainment.