Pimps, Prostitutes And Drugs…At The Circus?

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by Tara Pringle Jefferson | on February 25th, 2011 | 17 comments

Hat tip to What About Our Daughters for this one:

A metro Atlanta mother said she took her children to the circus and was outraged by a skit that portrayed strippers, pimps and other adult themes.

Kristen Brown told Channel 2’s Eric Philips she took her 5- and 8-year-old children to the Universoul Circus Sunday night and was stunned by the final act.

“There are ladies pretending to strip, men throwing money at her, then a pimp comes on the stage and the woman’s boyfriend sells her to him and the pimp slaps her when she refuses to cooperate,” Brown said. “They’re pretending to smoke marijuana and sniff cocaine.”

A circus spokesman defended the act, saying it has a message. “Our show is about positive messages and sometimes to get to those high you have to go to those lows,” said circus spokesman Hank Ernest.

Ernest told Philips the gospel-themed finale ends with the main female character giving her life to Christ and starting over. {Full story + video here}

If you ask us, it’s pretty weak rationale for content that isn’t appropriate for children (who we’re guessing make up the majority of the audience for the performances).

And what about a warning for parents? They’re pushing the envelope with this, and we’re afraid they pushed too far.

BMWK – what do you think?

About the author

Tara Pringle Jefferson is managing editor of BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com. She’s also the author of Make It Happen: The Young Mommy Guide To Creating The Career You Crave. Follow her on Twitter or check out her blog for her insights on what it means to be a mom, wife, student, writer, and about three other labels she’s too tired to remember.

DrMelei

This is performed in youth ministries all over the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSwCOs-uXzU

Look familiar?

http://twitter.com/LamarTyler Lamar Tyler

So do you agree with it? Just curious, couldn’t tell from your response.
http://twitter.com/LamarTyler Lamar Tyler

So do you agree with it? Just curious, couldn’t tell from your response.

http://firstgenerationwhitecollar.com/blog L. Marie Joseph

I agree, when you see something out of terms. call them out on it.
Pingback: Tweets that mention Pimps, Prostitutes, And Drugs...At the Circus? | Black and Married With Kids.com -- Topsy.com
http://twitter.com/AWWMF A Week WithMy Father

Good idea, horrible application, even worse venue…
Tonya C.

I hate the Universoul Circus with a passion. It is a poorly done, ‘hood’ spectacular. Went once and NEVER again. Like a ‘club’ version of the circus.
http://www.leleanajohnson.com/ L. Eleana

My thoughts exactly! I’m glad this story is getting attention. I blogged about it to in support of the mother that brought this to the media’s attention. At the end of the day, it’s about this circus making money like any other business, so they will continue pushing this inappropriate material on our children unless we speak up. A different venue, maybe? A parental disclaimer, of course.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GC374RIAM7ISPNIKWAYU7GDQ5Q Anjel

I’m kind of suprised because I took my kids to see the circus when it hit Tennessee, and It was nothing like the article it was a nice show that was funny and entertaining. I’m very shocked and kind of disappointed because I actually supported the circus at first. Sad, the extremes people go to to make money I will never take my kids to another Universoul circus. Thanks BMK for the post.
N. Angail

I was done fooling with the Universoul circus years ago when I was a teen. It was fine the first time I went, but the second time, they had a man walk out at the end that was supposed to be Jesus. I’m not Christian, but I was super offended. I’d imagine Christians would be too.
TheMrs

The first time I went to the Universoul Circus it was nice so the following year when they came I jumped on getting tickets and was completely disappointed. The circus should be a family arena yet it didn’t have that. My family will never go again…
http://twitter.com/MommyFactor Nikki @ Mommy Factor

I’m shocked. I’ve seen the Universoul Circus when it came to Brooklyn and saw no last act like this, when the heck did they add this craziness. What are they thinking?! It doesn’t matter if the “female character giving her life to Christ and starting over.” It doesn’t blog in a circus act for young children and their families. Dang
Kristenbazellabrown

Thanks everyone. My intentions were not to bash the Circus. I just felt that if they were going to do that skit they should have warned me of the graphic material first to give me..the parent…a CHOICE whether or not I wanted my kids to see all that. Now, at the beginning of the show I think they say that “the finale may contain mature content not suitable for children under six”. Our church did a similar skit. 1) We were at church 2) Pastor had everyone take the small children to nursery before the skit 3) We knew what it was about because it coincided with the message.
http://funkidivagirl.com Funkidivagirl

Wow. We were just saying that we should have taken our kids to see this circus, but I’m so glad that we didn’t! We saw it the first year it came out in NY and it was great. Fantastic, different shows and nothing hood about it–just great shows with R&B music (that was the only difference from a “regular” circus). Too bad that it has come to this.
http://funkidivagirl.com Funkidivagirl

Wow. We were just saying that we should have taken our kids to see this circus, but I’m so glad that we didn’t! We saw it the first year it came out in NY and it was great. Fantastic, different shows and nothing hood about it–just great shows with R&B music (that was the only difference from a “regular” circus). Too bad that it has come to this.
Anna

I’m all for shock value, but this is not only offensive, but how can one defend the meaning behind it? These parents were not taking thier kids to see a play to scare them straight in becoming GOD fearing kids. The Circus is suspose to be family fun time for entertainment. SMH. There are so many things we as parents choose to shelter our children from, for as long as we can. This was on called for. I am not one to always be “Politically Correct” to spare someones feelings, but this is just an example of ppl not using good judgement.
NotAFan

I know this is off-topic, but: When I went to the Universoul Circus a few years back, the thing I found annoying was when the ringleader railed on the audience preaching that anyone who was not on their feet clapping should be ashamed because we were not supporting black businesses. Um, I thought we were supporting their business by buying tickets and showing up…?! As a black business owner myself, I was doubly perplexed.