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The Last Days Of The Circus
In society and on film
The films profiled can be seen on kanopy video through public library systems.
A source of unending fascination for me is the stridency of humanity’s and society’s self-loathing. One offshoot of this is the worship of all that stems from the animal kingdom. I have written before of our preference for animals over humans. The moral outrage at keeping animals in captivity belies the fact that there is no veterinary care in the wild.
On Smithsonian and National Geographic programs about zoos and zoo animals, the resident animals undergo sophisticated diagnoses and complicated medical procedures that are not available to much of humanity. This speaks to an equating of nature with moral and natural purity. There is rare moral outrage equal to that of the animal rights lobby around animals held in captivity for human entertainment.
It is with this preference for animals that we find a cultural staple and form of entertainment nearing the end of its lifecycle. I speak of the circus. The following films profile the human side of the circus tent. Each film documents societal and personal factors ushering the circus out of existence as entertainment and a way of life.
