I had to comment on this one because I am a huge fan of Tod Browning. He was as interested in odd and unusual people and stories as I am. I saw Freaks when I was relatively young, and had never seen people with most of the birth defects that were highlighted. After the initial shock of a young person, all I could think of was how brave they were and how wonderful were the people who were kind to them and took care of them, especially the lady who played the circus owner who took them to the woods to have an outing. I am old enough to remember the last days of freak shows at the Indiana state fair, though many of them were fakes. The ones who were real would just sit in their little booths and pretty much ignore the staring people and the barker who would shout out his spiel about them. Although Freaks was considered over-the-top when it came out, I think Browning treated their plight with compassion, and also treated them like any other human being with joys, faults and every other emotion. And, the ending was pretty shocking. I always wondered how on earth that awful woman could have ended up that way. Thanks for reminding me of a favorite of mine.
I had to comment on this one because I am a huge fan of Tod Browning. He was as interested in odd and unusual people and stories as I am. I saw Freaks when I was relatively young, and had never seen people with most of the birth defects that were highlighted. After the initial shock of a young person, all I could think of was how brave they were and how wonderful were the people who were kind to them and took care of them, especially the lady who played the circus owner who took them to the woods to have an outing. I am old enough to remember the last days of freak shows at the Indiana state fair, though many of them were fakes. The ones who were real would just sit in their little booths and pretty much ignore the staring people and the barker who would shout out his spiel about them. Although Freaks was considered over-the-top when it came out, I think Browning treated their plight with compassion, and also treated them like any other human being with joys, faults and every other emotion. And, the ending was pretty shocking. I always wondered how on earth that awful woman could have ended up that way. Thanks for reminding me of a favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteIf ever there was a movie that could never be made nowadays, this is it.
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