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From Elephant Man to Jerry Springer

The Rise of the Psychological Tele-Spectacle

Dr. Dechant is a resident in child and adolescent psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA. Dr. Beresin is Director of the Child and Adolescent Residency Training Program at MGH/McLean and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Bostic is Director of School Psychiatry at MGH and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Address correspondence to Dr. Dechant, WAC 725, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114.

In the circus sideshow, people with physical deformities were exhibited for profit and entertainment. The circus sideshow itself is no longer socially acceptable, but it has taken a different form. Television programs like The Jerry Springer Show make spectacles of psychological afflictions and variations in human behavior. On the one hand, these shows provide participants with attention, recognition, an outlet for masochism, and an identity. To the viewer, they offer both reassurance and an outlet for unacceptable thoughts and feelings. They also explore society's collective subconscious. On the other hand, these shows approximate psychological interventions without concern for the result, have potentially negative consequences for vulnerable viewers, and blur the boundary between fantasy and real life.

Key Words: Media

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