P.T. Barnum: In Praise of the
Contemporary American Freakshow

As the founder of P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome, the Greatest Show on Earth, and the circus known today as the Ringling Brother Bran and Bailey Circus, I know a little something about freak shows. I used to baffle audiences with the “Fejee” Mermaid, General Tom Thumb, the Siamese Twins, and dozens of other sideshows. But pop culture today has me in awe.

Starting at the top, there’s reality TV. Someone figured out how to capture, on camera, human beings at their absolute worst, and sell those videos to other viewers for maximum profit. Imagine that! Decent, average citizens paying assholes to act like assholes! I never could have imagined it.

Everyone seems to have a tattoo, a body piercing, a drug addiction, a foot fetish, a lip load of collagen, a pet with a diaper, a friend with a dog collar, or a high-grade psychological disorder.

Meanwhile, you have celebrities whose sole job is to attend social functions and act outraged when their sex tapes are “accidentally” released. A handful of other famous people participate in charities and adopt babies so the rest of us feel a little less guilty about doing little or nothing to give back to society.

Even war has become an entertainment commodity. Only explosions and American deaths boost the ratings on the 24-hour news networks, so that’s all they report on. If you want to know anything else about Iraq, you’ll have to look elsewhere. The current U.S. President seems to agree that war is to be taken lightly, judging by the lighthearted way he attends various dances and plays in Africa while his soldiers expose themselves to great risk. Wow! Who’d a thunk it?