- Joined
- Oct 6, 2021
Yeah the portrayal of Merrick's early life in the Elephant Man was dramatized to make a better movie, and is probably the main thing responsible for the negative image people have of Freakshows today.It should also be noted that, unlike the movie, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) enjoyed his time at the freakshow. He decided to do that after failing as a salesman and growing more disabled, and then he found out other people in similar circumstances and made money hand over fist. He was ready to go on a grand tour when self-righteous people starting poo-pooing the freakshow and he wound up hospitalized for the rest of his life, relying on charity and no longer being in control of who could visit him and when because the doctor was all too eager to show him off.
Joseph lost control at that point, but I don't think he hated the hospital. It just wasn't the money-maker or community he'd found at the freakshow, and it couldn't help his deformities to boot.
That being said, troons are freaks, and not the cool, business-savvy kind.
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Not to say they were all great places and all owners were like Barnum who looked after his crew, but in a time and society where these extremely rare conditions just weren't understood and Freaks faced huge stigma, they were often the only places they could find work, safe havens that were way better than the only alternative that was often the streets or the poorhouse.
Some of Barnums performers earned upwards of $1000 dollars or more a year, and that's in 1900's dollars, when you think what the average wage for the working class was at the time, well known Freaks in a show like Barnums or some of the big name Sideshows were incredibly well compensated for what, at the end of the day, is an entertainer job.
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