After 146 years, Ringling Bros. Circus' The Greatest Show on Earth is closing down for good: http://www.seattletimes.com/business...ter-146-years/
Thanks a lot 21st Century. Oh, and animal activists.... fuck you. I hope a tiger kills your ass.
Member
After 146 years, Ringling Bros. Circus' The Greatest Show on Earth is closing down for good: http://www.seattletimes.com/business...ter-146-years/
Thanks a lot 21st Century. Oh, and animal activists.... fuck you. I hope a tiger kills your ass.
Active Member
Blaming animal rights activists for this is idiotic. Fewer people were going because there just aren't enough people who like the circus, and it's not like it something you go to year after year. Once you've seen it, you've seen it, so repeat customers aren't pouring in through the gates. Operating costs were skyrocketing and attendance was falling, at the same time. The circus wasn't some public service that has to continue; it was a private entertainment venture. Businesses close when they're not viable anymore. And this is coming from someone with an awful lot of friends and colleagues who got their start with RB. I know what that circus means to some people. My last roommate owed his entire career to them. In that regard, it's sad to see it go. But it's stupid to say that this happened because a small number of activists were upset about it, and even dumber to literally wish a gruesome death upon them.Originally Posted by thevoid99
Member
Oh and you think these activists are any better?
Active Member
Any better than who what on what regard?
When I was a kid there still was circus on TV. That quickly disappeared. Now there are fewer and fewer of them, and this trend has been going on way before animal activists had their aim set on the well-being of the animals on display. Circuses have been failing since the 70ies at least, even novelty circuses are struggling hard.
As @theimage13 said, it's a matter of market, offer and demand. The public just isn't there, they're just not going, and it's not because they've been guilted into feeling bad for the elephants and horses, it's because they don't give a fuck anymore.
You can hate on animal activists all you want, but they don't need to do anything for circuses to die.
Last edited by Khrz; 01-15-2017 at 08:27 PM.
Member
Look, I'm aware that animals are mistreated and that does suck. I'm just dealing with the fact that something I remembered from my childhood is now becoming obsolete. I actually liked going to the circus as a kid and Ringing Brothers put on an entertaining show. I'm just saddened that there won't be anything like this as there's just too many morons nowadays looking into their fucking smartphones worrying about this tweet or their fucking social status.
Active Member
Still they go to the theater, concerts, museums... So blaming new technologies isn't it either. You'd have to erase a huge chunk of cultural events and places for the circuses to rise again.
They're from an era where they were the only entertainment that actually came to you, to your little shitty town where nothing happened ever, where a rogue cow was the stuff of legends. Things have changed, people had TVs, and games, cities grew, and circuses have become more and more obsolete and out of place. That's how it goes...
Active Member
Huh? Any better than who? Or what? What on earth are you talking about?
Also, for what it's worth: several of my friends from the circus were also animal lovers - the kind whose blood would boil at anything from a poorly run zoo to headlines about some guy abandoning his puppy. They all swore up and down that a specific point of pride for working with RB was how well they treated the animals.
What on god's green earth do smartphones and social media have to do with the circus closing? People didn't stop going because they were afraid that Mrs. Johnson next door would *tisk tisk* them for being some animal hating commies. They stopped going because it's old hat. Been there, done that, seen it. Don't need to so it again and again. The circus was first and foremost a family attraction. Now, think about who's having kids: 20- and 30-somethings. What are they into these days? Not the circus! They take their kids elsewhere; if they can even afford it on top of their six figure student loans and shitty wages.
It's fucking expensive to run that tour. All of the staff on tour, all of the local staff that has to help, the fact that they literally transport their crew everywhere on their own TRAIN. I could go on. It costs a ton of money to make this happen, but people who have already seen it aren't screaming to come back and see it again. You can only soak a sponge so much before it just won't hold any more water. You'd have had to really jack up ticket prices to keep it floating, but if they'd done that, attendance would have fallen even harder. Believe me, I've been on tours that were canceled for just that reason.
I get that you liked the circus and you're sad to see it go. But you can't just go around blaming activists, then accuse the entire population of being narcissistic and paranoid about their social status. I mean, I suppose you can. You'd just be entirely off-base in your accusations.
Reply With Quote
