As Sideshow - Alive on the Inside makes abundantly clear, circus sideshows featuring human oddities and people with rare and disturbing disorders are a thing of the past. But just because you can no longer pay a dollar to gawk at someone with no limbs or covered in hair isn't necessarily a reason to celebrate. Lynn Dougherty, the director of Sideshow makes the case that the sideshows weren't perfect but they were a place where people who society didn't necessarily want could carve out their own destinies, make a living and be around others who understood them. In fact, the film points out that the decline of sideshows, due in part to protests from the disabled, shut down one of the only available sources of income for those with physical handicaps at the time.

But it's in the earlier era when sideshows were huge draws where the filmmaker's heart lies. She traces the roots of the culture from the 19th century and spends a good deal of time on individual personalities from sideshow history. At nearly two hours the film has plenty of room for some of the unique individuals that make up the story. One of the most memorable people in the film is Jeannie Tomaini, the half-woman whose sweet personality and friendly way are as noticeable as the fact that she has no pelvis or legs. Also interviewed at length are the world's oldest siamese twins, Ronnie and Donnie Galyon. At 44 years-old these two are retired (like many of the acts in the film) and they proudly show off the modest house their sideshow years afforded them.

Other performers express mixed feelings about the sideshow. Sandra Allen, at over 7 feet 7 inches the tallest woman in the world, chose to use her stature to teach kids to be more tolerant of differences rather than just shock people. She worked the Guinness Book museum for a while but found it too exploitative. Similarly, the Wolf Boys, a Mexican trapeze act that just happens to be completely covered in hair, don't want to talk about their brief sideshow experience and prefer to emphasize their carefully choreographed routine and grueling training. This is one act built on hard work and not just a birth defect.

Part of that ambivalence must be due to the sideshow's history of displaying oddities like Schlitze the pinhead. Schlitze was microcephalic, a condition that left her with a tiny head, tiny brain and the mental capacity of a small child. While Schlitze became one of the most celebrated sideshow performers (and was immortalized in Todd Browning's classic film Freaks) it's impossible to escape the whiff of her having been taken advantage of. But that's the paradox of the sideshow: Were performers like Schlitze exploited or were they given a far more exciting and varied life than they would have had in a hospital or home? Sideshow obviously respects these performers as individuals but isn't above posing these questions.

It also doesn't shy away from occasional dark spots in the sideshow history. One of these is the fate of Grady Stiles, the lobster man. Stiles had malformed hands and feet that were compared to lobster claws for his act. (The film points out that animals were often a big part of an act's identification.) Stiles, whose children inherited his deformity and were part of his act, was also a notorious alcoholic and his wife claimed self-defense when she and her son from a previous marriage hired a local teen to kill her husband. The trial sparked a bit of a freakshow-like atmosphere with the "lobster family" label used to sell the sordid story.

Even though sideshow history is unsurprisingly filled with complicated moments the film is happy to report on some of the happier times as well, including two couples who found love with fellow performers (both performed as the world's strangest couple) and the modern acceptance of alternate versions of the old fashioned freakshow, like the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow (featuring something called chainsaw football - let's see Jackass try that!) and the ongoing sideshow culture in Brooklyn's Coney Island.

VIDEO:
The full-frame video looks nice. The piece was shot on film and the colorful, grainy cinematography is preserved here well. Little intrusive compression is evident and even the archival footage looks good. The footage from Browning's Freaks looks impressively silky, far better than some home releases of that great film.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital soundtrack is subtle and simple but sounds fine. All the interviews are clear and the score, which evokes classic circus music sounds good. Jason Alexander provides the narration, trying a little too hard to sound like a carny at times, but mostly portraying the tone of the subject matter well.

EXTRAS:
The one major extra is a segment on Frieda Pushnick, billed as the world's smallest half girl. Unlike Tomaini, Pushnick had no arms in addition to having had no legs. Despite that she managed to use her stumps to write and paint. It's a shame this segment wasn't included in the body of the film since Pushnick is such a sweet lady.

A still gallery is also included.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Sideshow is a loving tribute to the kind of subject that usually either inspires revulsion or great love. The filmmaker obviously loves the subject and it shows. The film gets its subject right and really looks at it from a lot of angles.