Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Mother Offended By Circus Act With Pimps, Strippers
February 22, 2011
WSBTV.com
ATLANTA -- 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.
“It’s all about the message of our circus which is things do happen, make a go of it, live well,” Ernest said.
Brown admitted to Philips she was so offended that she took her kids and walked out before the end of the show. “I didn’t think that was child friendly at all,” Brown said.
Parents told Philips that there was a disclaimer at the beginning of Monday night’s performance warning parents that some of the content may be too mature for children under 6 years old.
Circus patrons who talked to Philips after the show had mixed opinions. “I was holding their eyes because it was too graphic,” said Itiya Beckam, who brought her children.
“I didn’t think it was too graphic,” said patron Nicole Shaw. “They brought it back around to church and I thought it was good.”
“It was a little graphic, but I mean it's real life. It happens,” said Brian Deforde, who also attended Monday’s show.
The Universoul Circus is scheduled to perform in Atlanta through Sunday.

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