Post 22:
“Circus Man”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal —

November 30, 1982 — FAIR

“A circus man came and gave the sick people his secret powders, which are really fake. He left & Laura wanted him back because Jack was sick. He told her that the powders were phony & she cried. I’ve seen it before.”

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From Tracy —

Anytime I catch myself wondering if I would be happier in an earlier time, all I have to do is think about the progress of medicine and I am once again happily ensconced in 2012. Then I find myself wishing my robot body would hurry up and get here.

Imagine always hoping that just around the corner is some cure, something that will help with the pain and all you’re getting sold is some alcohol with herbs or a sparkling sugar powder. It would have been so soul crushing. The patent medicine industry was such a racket it took decades to finally beat it into submission.

Which brings us to this post’s episode. Praise be to the writers for adding some nuance to the story. It’s not a simple allegory of good vs. evil in typical LHOP tradition. I actually found myself liking Mr. Willie O’Hara. After all he’s practically Professor Marvel from the Wizard of Oz, bringing some mystery and showmanship to the hard scrabble prairie.

Now here’s something that struck me as completely baffling about this episode. If you were a girl on the Dakota prairie, chances are you’d never seen a photo of a monkey much less seen a real live one up close. How come Laura and Mary didn’t faint or start screaming or at least get a bit more excited about “Congrilla”? Instead they seem far more impressed by the talking crow. Weird.

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From Anne —

Indeed, little monkeys on the Minnesota prairie should have been much more exciting! Sometimes this show really belies its mid-1970s southern California reality. In that sense, perhaps a Mr. O’Hara should have been a purveyor of peyote. Sometimes I wish that a member of the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac could have guest-starred on LHOP.

The flat cynicism in my synopsis — the “I’ve seen it before” — makes me sound so sophisticated at age 13. I’d seen this episode, and all the fakes and phonies, a million times before …

Anybody else find Red Buttons about as creepy as the Stephen King “It” clown?