Being Different

For the 80s, this was a pretty PC look into the lives of what many would call circus freaks. Nothing more than a poke at the surface of how they lived their lives.

BEING DIFFERENT is a Canadian documentary, narrated by Christopher Plummer, and exploring various human, for want of a better word, "freaks"; these are physically deformed people living with their disabilities. So there's the world's tallest man and woman, a guy with half his face deformed by tumours, men with no legs, a woman with no arms. The film has something of a voyeuristic feel to it, and it doesn't help that half of the subjects are being exhibited at sideshows, but overall I found this a surprisingly moving experience. Each person is interviewed for a time while clips of them going about their everyday lives play out. Some of the stuff that they do is quite awe-inspiring, and I didn't find this depressing at all; it's more a championing of the human spirit.

Freak watchers take note, as exploitation-like as this may seem, it does have its sensitivity as well. We head to Florida where a local carnival still uses sideshows to thrill the locals yokels. Siamese twins, midgets, (sorry, "little people") fat folks, rubber men, and an elephant man. That's him on the cover of the box. It looks like half his face had been inflated with a bike pump. I don't mean to be rude, but that's what it resembled. It shows how normal these folks are. They have the same set of hassles as the rest of us. With added stigma. Christopher Plummer does a decent job of narration. And despite the claims, this will only sicken those with Nazi tendencies. Yeah, it's worth it. See these people. I mean SEE these people.