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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Ax01's Avatar
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    The Circus Comes to an End

    i haven't been to the circus since i was a kid. my best memory of it was getting two snowcones (i dropped my first one). i remember elephants, big cats but not much else. i don't even remember there being a side show. i guess it was fun.

    anyway, for good or for bad, a piece of Americana just shuttered it's doors (or tent?) this past weekend.

    UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — With laughter, hugs and tears — and the requisite death-defying stunts — the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus received its final standing ovation Sunday night as it performed its last show.

    "We are, forevermore, the Greatest Show on Earth," boomed Johnathan Lee Iverson, who has been the ringmaster since 1999. His son, who also performed, stood by his side. The show was held at the Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of New York City.

    It was an emotional 2 1/2 hours for those who worked on the circus. Many of Ringling's employees are second, third and even fourth-generation circus performers, while others met their spouses while touring. All spent months on the road, traveling from city to city in Ringling's train cars and describing themselves as a giant family, albeit one with many clowns.
    more here: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rin...D=ansmsnnews11

    what do u think of the circus?
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  2. #2
    BPnet Senior Member JodanOrNoDan's Avatar
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    I think the animal rights people are biting themselves in the butt. I have always thought of the these animals as ambassadors for their respective species. It in many cases is the first and maybe the only exposure people have with these animals in the flesh. Take the animals away... Out of site, out of mind.

  3. #3
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    Sad, Ringling Bros was an American institution. I guess today's youth would rather sit in front of the tv playing a video game than enjoy live entertainment.

  4. #4
    BPnet Veteran Kcl's Avatar
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    Re: The Circus Comes to an End

    I don't believe that it is possible to support elephants in any acceptable way in a traveling circus with the nature of the species. They are highly social animals and we currently are poor at maintaining them even in environments that are far more tailored for their health like zoos. Their average lifespan is still significantly lower in captivity than in the wild although it is improving with zoo's improved efforts. I also don't think that the evidence really supports a change in society's willingness to go to live entertainment- Cirque du Soleil is wildly successful and is a "circus" without animals.

    There has been an overall shift to introducing children to wild animals in a manner that better shows and/or explains their nature in the wild (e.g. zoos are shifting to become more natural with wider spaces, wildlife rehab centers and other entities are doing more and more educational programs with those animals whose circumstances make them unreleasable - lots of children come through on tours, animals are regularly brought out to schools and other locations to do presentations, etc). It puts far more emphasis on why animals are "cool" in the wild and why we should help maintain wild populations than animals poorly maintained for the sake of our benefit ever could. Animals really don't need to do tricks to interest children - they just need to exist. Even if they did, tons of animals are far more suited to it than elephants ever were. Maybe it takes more work to reach people without the circus, but that work is increasingly being done. I'm pleased that elephants are no longer in circuses and the fact that Ringling Bros could not support their shows without them is more of a commentary on their business model than society.

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  6. #5
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    Re: The Circus Comes to an End

    Quote Originally Posted by Kcl View Post
    I don't believe that it is possible to support elephants in any acceptable way in a traveling circus with the nature of the species. They are highly social animals and we currently are poor at maintaining them even in environments that are far more tailored for their health like zoos. Their average lifespan is still significantly lower in captivity than in the wild although it is improving with zoo's improved efforts. I also don't think that the evidence really supports a change in society's willingness to go to live entertainment- Cirque du Soleil is wildly successful and is a "circus" without animals.

    .
    I see your point, but I think Cirque de Soleil and Ringling Bros are worlds apart. Although similar to a circus, it's also much more theatrical. This, I believe is because the target audience is adults, where the target audience for Ringling Bros was children. Yes, live entertainment is alive and well, but it seems like it's being lost on the younger generations.

  7. #6
    BPnet Veteran Kcl's Avatar
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    Re: The Circus Comes to an End

    Quote Originally Posted by craigafrechette View Post
    I see your point, but I think Cirque de Soleil and Ringling Bros are worlds apart. Although similar to a circus, it's also much more theatrical. This, I believe is because the target audience is adults, where the target audience for Ringling Bros was children. Yes, live entertainment is alive and well, but it seems like it's being lost on the younger generations.
    It is different certainly. I thought there were still a decent number of children going but honestly I've never been due to price despite the fact that I really did want to. As a "millennial" I have a hard time sometimes taking the claimed generational differences seriously because 75%+ of "millenials aren't doing this" the actual answer is that millenials don't have the money to do this (see: buy houses). Zoos and botanical gardens are fairly popular with all ages still, people are very into going to concerts (not my thing personally), there's always lots of people at all sorts of cheap or free events like concerts in the park, outdoors programs, and lots more.

    The younger generation has definitely shifted away from some traditions - I just don't know that it's necessarily a shift from live entertainment. The ones that I mostly can think of people stepping back from tend to have some ethical concerns. A shift from "playing outside" freely in the younger generation is a common claim that does seem true though. I was certainly not allowed to do that, and it definitely seems reasonably true as a rule. I think a lot of the video-game playing time comes from that category of free time rather than the live entertainment category. Of course, I don't have kids and am not really a kid person, so there certainly could be a movement that I am missing.

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  9. #7
    BPnet Senior Member Lizardlicks's Avatar
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    I agree that there is a shift in kids moving away from outdoor activities, but I will absolutely dispute the desire to blame it on video games. Same thing happened with TV and even books when they became widely available to the public via mass print production. More relevant contributors are lack of money for paid venues (even camping and fishing require a lot of fees and licensing these days, and some "public" parks are pay to enter, pay for parking etc.) lack of parents having time off available with their kids to go do things (the American work force is putting in more hours for less pay proportionally than the last three generations) and the scare mongering of politicians and media playing up the dangers of drug and gang violence in spite of the fact that most violent crimes numbers are lower than they've ever been in decades, causing parents to keep their kids shuttered inside for safe keeping.

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    I wasn't blaming video games per se, but was citing them as an example of something kids seem to prefer and spend more time doing.

    There's certainly a shift, though. I see kids in my neighborhood getting on and off school busses every day, yet I never see any of the playing outside.

  11. #9
    BPnet Veteran Kcl's Avatar
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    I was citing video games as an effect personally, not a cause. I largely agree with you on the causes- time, money, and the societal requirement of helicopter parenting.

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  12. #10
    BPnet Senior Member Lizardlicks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by craigafrechette View Post
    I wasn't blaming video games per se, but was citing them as an example of something kids seem to prefer and spend more time doing.

    There's certainly a shift, though. I see kids in my neighborhood getting on and off school busses every day, yet I never see any of the playing outside.
    Because they're actively discouraged from it. Kids try to play baseball or basket ball in the street they get yelled at. Kids wandering around minding their own business, they get stopped by cops and given the third degree. I live right across the street from a small park with a baseball diamond and basket ball court, there's a community garden on the corner, and down the street is a public swimming pool. They're absolutely swarming with kids as the first hint of nice weather! But heaven fore fend that they try to play a block over, someone is going to complain to them, or their parents, or call CPS to report abandoned/neglected children.
    Last edited by Lizardlicks; 05-22-2017 at 06:12 PM.

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