MovieChat Forums > Carnivàle (2003) Discussion > Libby's father is also her pimp?

Libby's father is also her pimp?

posted 10 years ago by Regina_Giddens
3 replies | jump to latest

I don't normally consider myself to be prudish and I feel like I can view situations like this within their circumstances, but isn't this just gross? Does everyone in the carnival just consider that normal? Sure, prostitution is one thing, maybe even cooch dancing is one thing, normal in this kind of seedy carnival and no one thinks twice about it. But isn't a Father pimping out his daughter at least a little weird? I thought it was so gross.

Your future is all used up

[–] CyberGhostface-1 10 years ago

Knauf was told by his consultant that cooch shows were often family operations so it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 10 years ago

Supposedly their research showed that these hooked outfits attached to carnivals were usually family run.

[–] Metatron_Fallen 10 years ago

I think it was common back in the day for prostitutes to have daughters who followed them into the trade by virtue of the fact that they were raised in the brothel. You'd have mother and daughter working in the same establishment.

I think our modern way of thinking about things skews how we think about it.

What amuses me is how much producers of a show like this decide to show us and how much not. For example, how common would it have been in that time for average women to shave their legs and armpits? Not nearly as common as today but I doubt they'd want to be 100% authentic in that respect for fear of putting off the modern man.

I think that Carny people have traditionally been a lot more 'callus' and worldly in comparison to straight people living straight lives with houses and static jobs. Burlesque performers and circus people too. I doubt this guying pimping his daughter would have been thought of as so very odd.

'It's a work of art and there's really no "right" interpretation...' RDM