Freak Show Performers | National Geographic

the freaks have arrived at the
University where they’ll be performing
tonight we resolve you one by one it’s
Ken so Ken will go on but their manager
samantha has a problem university staff
worried that they’re exploiting people
with disabilities the show might not go
on after all they almost canceled the
show on Monday because the disability
needs people here at the University
we’re concerned about us displaying
freaks so the people will come up to us
very uncomfortable do they mind that
you’re calling them freaks
when they’re the freaks are here now
they don’t ask them they have to ask us
people who have strong feelings about
the way people who have disabilities
should be treated might react in a very
negative way towards freak shows we get
paternalistic we’re gonna save them and
in fact their participation in this is a
form of their expression of how to deal
with our culture and their situation two
hours before scheduled curtain the
university decides to let the freak show
go on
Oh
what makes this entertainment and not
exploitation I think there’s a lot of
humor involved so you can go in and
laugh with the people who are on stage
the tone of it is very different than it
was in an earlier time all the freaks
have a role in the show Deirdre the
dancing dwarf takes part in a dangerous
broken glass act the audience who paid
fifteen dollars a ticket for tonight
seems to be warming to them backstage
Eric the giant weights tonight he debuts
as a freak and for the first time in his
life people will actually pay to stare
at him
I definitely feel empowered just to hang
out with other people that look
different the active right that have to
leave different lives it was great fun I
had a blast I want to do it again
the people are great it was just it was
a great spectacle for everybody
everybody really enjoyed it and made me
feel really good
remind people that homogenized society
is not necessarily the norm it reminds
people that 10 fingers and 10 toes do
not have to be the standard it reminds
us that there are many ways to look at
like if you’re a person with
disabilities you want to work at
Goodwill do you want to be working for
Salvation Army or do you wanna be
working for yourself doing what you love
with people who don’t think you’re a
freak I think that there’s enough of a
stigma you know to just walk around
every day and if someone has the you
know the gumption or the balls I dare
say to you know go up and and and do
something with it that’s great
why wouldn’t I want to see that you know
if I had if I had a something wrong with
me I definitely want to show it to
everybody