Freaks - June 7th, 2010

Although I have yet to watch Tod Browning's Freaks, I believe the summary by John Hawkins will be sufficient enough to provide some form of analysis. I found Freaks to appear to fall somewhere between the spectrum Geek Love and Nights at the Circus. The film involves a freak show which has been naturally created without any modifications, as was the case for the travelling show in Nights at the Circus. However with the mutilation of Cleo in the film's conclusion as a deliberate interference to create a freak, similarities to the Binewski family in Geek Love are prevalent. Furthermore Cleo's character appears to have vast similarities with characters from both novels. She is an "androgynous creature" quite similarly to Wasler's perception of Sophia Fevvers. Cleo also demonstrates similar personality traits to Al Binewski and Colonel Kearney with her greed and desire to become wealthy regardless of the measures taken to achieve this. In order to produce this wealth, each scenario entails a 'normal' individual using a freak to receive capital gains. This notion of a hierarchy amongst members of a freak show is an indication to how society treats those who they perceive to be different.

Society today is structured around the idealistic desires of the general public. Social construction has corrupted the minds of the public in order to instill in them some form of hierarchy. It is from here that the misguided and belittling treatment of freaks is derived. The characters in both novels and the film abuse their feelings of entitlement they feel over those who are disadvantaged in order to commodify them and produce a profit. Freaks are therefore observed as incapable of releasing themselves from any form of objectification created by society's norms.

Freaks are feared, they are often even compared to monsters, so why haven't they risen up and put a halt on their ill treatment from the norms? This questions may not entirely have an answer. However in both Nights at the Circus and Geek Love, the circus performers never banded together to overthrow their powerful dictators. Perhaps it is because they enjoyed the positions they held in the show or perhaps it is because they enjoyed the feeling of sharing their company with similar individuals. Regardless of the reason, the settling of the Freaks only further contributed to their objectification and capitalization. I believe that if the freaks were able to unite and conquer their leader, they would defy social norms and finally solidify themselves with no longer a feeling of impunity but instead a feeling of superiority