American Experience: The Circus
Hello everyone and happy Sunday!
Do you remember the first time you ever went to the circus? I do. I was 5 years old and I went to “El Circo de la Chilindrina,” which translates to “Chilindrina’s Circus.” No worries if you don’t recognize that name; she was a character from a 1970s Mexican sitcom that became extremely popular in Latin America. I loved this character so much that I even dressed up as her for Halloween one year. I wish I had a picture of my costume, but here, I’ll show you what she looked like:
You can see the character is an adult woman dressed up as a little girl. She looks crazy, and kind of creepy if you ask me, but I loved her! When my grandmother found out her circus was coming to Puerto Rico, she surprised my siblings and me with tickets! I don’t remember much about the actual show, but my grandmother, to this day, will talk about how I did not stop smiling the ENTIRE time.
I was always that kid who loved to entertain my family at parties, and I’m sure a lot of that had to do with everything I saw that night. The circus has not only influenced my life, but it has had a huge impact on all of North America!
“American Experience: The Circus” is a four hour PBS mini series that tells the story of the American circus. It talks about how it all began in the 18th century with Barnum and Bailey, and how they eventually joined the Ringling Brothers creating one of the most famous circuses of all time. What I loved about this series is that it talks about the good—like how it provided entertainment for the masses and created so many job opportunities—and the bad. Part of the series explores a variety of issues, like race, women’s suffrage, and animal rights. It can be hard to watch the negative side of something so wonderful, but the series did a great job of putting it all out there and showing us the impacts the circus has had on modern life.
The circus was the dream of a boy. It was my dream too. And if you can’t run away and join the circus, it’s always nice to know you can escape, even if just for a night, whenever it comes into town.
“American Experience: The Circus” can be found on Netflix and on Amazon Prime.