History Main / ComeToGawk

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bottomless_pete.jpg]]]]

** Also in Rome, around 271 AD a group of crossdressing Gothic women soldiers were captured as prisoners of war and paraded through the streets with signs hanging over them that mocked them as “Amazons”.

Compare DeadGuyOnDisplay, which can be the same thing for a corpse. See also ATruceWhileWeGawk.

* Sadly, this HAS been TruthInTelevision. Mostly, Indigenous people were brought over to more developed countries and put on display for everything from [[ForScience "study"]] to...well, entertainment. Needless to say, this was ValuesDissonance UpToEleven.

* In Alan Moore's ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', Jim Gordon is locked naked in a cage with a bunch of carnival freaks staring at him while ComicBook/TheJoker makes a BreakingSpeech about how frail and pathetic man is, in an attempt to drive Gordon insane.
* In ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', Flass gets this treatment twice.
** The first time was [[ToBeLawfulOrGood Gordon]] pushing back.
-->'''Gordon:''' He'll never report [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown it]]. ... But he'll [[GoodIsNotNice know]] and he'll leave Barbara alone.
** Then again from Batman as a message to the [[BadCopIncompetentCop precinct]].
-->'''Flass:''' It was little dart things... they paralyzed the felons... but he singled me out.
* ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'': In the album ''Leute voor de Meute'' the government decides to recreate ''bread and games'' activities to keep the people happy. As a result of this initiative, prisoners are tortured in front of an audience for their amusement.
* ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}'' once fought a group of extradimensional beasts called Warwolves who worked for the ComicBook/XMen's old enemy Mojo; after they were apprehended, the team didn't see the point of putting them through any actual legal system, seeing as, despite their intelligence, they were far too dangerous. So they were incarcerated in a special cage at the London Zoo. (And were a popular attraction for a while.) They escaped a few times, and at present, are at large and in hiding.
* Also in ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}'', when [[ProfessionalKiller Arcade]] kidnapped Captain Britain's girlfriend Courtney Ross, he combined this with GoGoEnslavement (same idea as a PlayboyBunny outfit, but a ribbon instead of ears) and a rather unique DeathTrap: She was dumped onto a stage in front of a ToughRoom full of android hecklers who demanded to be entertained; failing to win them over would result in them killing her. (Amazingly, Courtney survived by discovering a talent for impromptu stand-up comedy, much to Arcade's surprise.)

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* The climax of the 1930 German film ''Film/TheBlueAngel'' has the main character, a once-proud ([[PrideBeforeAFall too proud]]) professor, dressed up as a clown and forced to crow like a rooster in front of a crew of his former colleagues, students, and neighbours. It's an incredibly difficult scene to watch. Then he goes [[BerserkButton berserk]].

* 1932 version of ''Film/MurdersInTheRueMorgue'' starts out with the mains character wandering through a kind of exhibit show featuring (among other things) Middle-eastern belly-dancers, Apache warriors, and a gorilla.
* The premise for ''Film/TheElephantMan''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'': When Quasimodo is chosen as King of Fools, at first the people celebrate him, but then a guard throws a tomato and the rest of the crowd turns against him ForTheEvulz. Frollo, angry that Quasi disobeyed him by leaving the cathedral, lets this go on until Esmeralda saves him.

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', Beatrice has already endured the ridicule of the local authorities and others for her story about an alien stealing her husband Edgar's body and is sure that Agents J and K, allegedly of the [=FBI=], are there to do the same. K, however, hastens to assure her that this is not the case, because...
-->'''K''': No, ma'am. We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor we're aware of.

* In ''{{Series/Blackadder}} II'', the title character (as Lord High Executioner) kills a man ahead of schedule, only to have the man's wife come for a visit. In order to get the information Blackadder needs to pose as the dead man, Percy demands she prove that she's really his wife and not just a "Gloater", claiming that the jail is "up to our ears" in people coming by to gloat over those on Death Row. It works, but Blackadder still calls Percy a prat for coming up with such a ludicrous idea.

** ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorTheNationalAnthem The National Anthem]]'' has everyone tune in at 4:00 to watch the Prime Minister comply to a kidnapper's singular demand: [[spoiler:[[BestialityIsDepraved to have sex with a pig]] on live television]]. Everyone who tunes in watches for their amusement or out of pity, and as the kidnapper would know, [[BileFascination they can't look away]].
** The signal in the episode ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorWhiteBear White Bear]]'' has transformed 9/10 people into "Observers" who do nothing but watch our lead female get tormented throughout the episode. [[spoiler: In a plot twist, the trope is played completely straight when it turns out the whole thing is an elaborate punishment for the lead and the audience is voluntarily there as a form of IronicHell.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

-->"Come for the freak, stay for the food!"

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "How Long is Forever?", Starfire time-travels 20 years into the future. She seeks out the 20-years-older versions of her teammates and discovers Beast Boy on display in a cage in a circus.
* In the original ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}'', Mumm-Ra once bound the heroes in MummyWrap so he could "display" them in his burial chamber. (Not exactly a straight example, as ''he'' was the only one to gawk at them. [[BondVillainStupidity This proved a mistake.]])

* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', poor Blackavar is made to stand on display as an example to the other rabbits after he gets his ears shredded for trying to flee the totalitarian Efraffa.

* ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'': [[spoiler: Inside [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Lab Discovera]] is the BigBad Fecto Forgo, aka [[YouAreNumberSix ID-F86]]. The elevator leading to its containment chamber has an announcer that [[DissonantSerenity cheerfully]] presents its backstory like one would see at a museum or a zoo exhibit. Granted, said exhibit contains an [[AliensAreBastards evil alien]] that tried to destroy the titular world ForTheEvulz, so [[AssholeVictim it's not like it didn't deserve this kind of karma]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': When Quasimodo is chosen as King of Fools, at first the people celebrate him, but then a guard throws a tomato and the rest of the crowd turns against him ForTheEvulz. Frollo, angry that Quasi disobeyed him by leaving the cathedral, lets this go on until Esmeralda saves him.

%%[[folder:Web Comics]]

%%[[/folder]]

%%* Galatea, [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080902.html here,]] in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob.''

* WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons: In ''New Kid On The Block'' Captain [=McCallister=] puts Homer on display as ''Bottomless Pete'', the creature with a bottomless stomach. (This is actually part of an out-of-court-settlement for Homer's lawsuit, and while ''Marge'' is pretty humiliated, Homer is fine with it; he gets all the free shrimp he can eat.)

* In the WesternAnimation/TeenTitans episode "How Long is Forever?", Starfire time-travels 20 years into the future. She seeks out the 20-years-older versions of her teammates and discovers Beast Boy on display in a cage in a circus.

* In a Popeye cartoon, Bluto is an EvilPoacher with a zoo full of rare animals, and intends to put Popeye and Olive there; he eventually gets ATasteOfHisOwnMedicine and is locked up in his own zoo, gawked at by his former collection. ("Can't you read?" he angrily shouts to them, indicating a sign. "It says don't tease the animals!")

Compare DeadGuyOnDisplay, which can be the same thing for a corpse.

* Sadly, this HAS been TruthInTelevision. Mostly, Indigenous people were brought over to more developed countries and put on display for everything from [[ForScience "study"]] to...well, [[HumansAreBastards entertainment]]. Needless to say, this was ValuesDissonance UpToEleven.

* The reason the Beast is so nasty to Belle's dad at the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is he assumes he came "to stare at the Beast!"

* Sadly, this HAS been TruthInTelevision. Mostly, indigenous natives were brought over to more developed countries and put on display for everything from [[ForScience "study"]] to...well, [[HumansAreBastards entertainment]]. Needless to say, this was ValuesDissonance UpToEleven.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ota_Benga Ota Benga]] was, after slavers killed his wife and children, made to perform at several events (including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition). In 1906, they put him in the Monkey House at the Bronx Zoo for demonstration, where he shot targets with a bow and arrow and wrestled with orangutans. They made him an "interactive" exhibit two days later, walking the grounds where people could physically and verbally abuse him as they pleased. Needless to say, he took this poorly and became violently depressed. Ten years later, he committed suicide.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saartjie_Baartman Saartjie Baartman]] was forced to exhibit herself around Europe, often nude to show off her "inhuman features" (partially due to her [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatopygia steatopygia]], but you get the idea). Her owner and his brother had sent her from colonial South Africa with a promise of half the profits. When the public lost interest, she was forced into prostitution and died possibly of smallpox at age 26.
* Not only indigenous people were exhibited: people with handicaps, bizarre illnesses, and body distortions were also put on display. In the 19th century and most of the 20th century, this was seen as legitimate entertainment for the ''normal'' people. One famous example is John Merrick, aka ''Film/TheElephantMan (1980)''.

* Shao Kahn seems big on this. In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' games where Kahn's Arena appears, slaves and captives [[GoGoEnslavement (female ones especially)]] are chained up to posts around the place. In Sonja's case in the second game, this might be a case of a prisoner being ForcedToWatch, but for everyone else, it seems the Trope is being played straight.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'', when Jeanne Valois is publicly branded as a criminal, many spectators came to gawk at her.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' -- being about a freak show. Then people SAW it and QUICKLY changed their minds.

--> ''You'll see the horrors of a faraway place''
--> ''Meet the architects of law face to face''
--> ''See mass murder on a scale you've never seen''
--> ''And all the ones who try hard to succeed...''

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', when you visit [[TheRival Edgeworth]] in prison, he asks if you've come to laugh at him. [[ThePowerOfFriendship (You haven't, of course.)]]
-->'''[[CloudCuckooLander Maya]]:''' Nick? Should we laugh?\\
'''Phoenix:''' No, it's a trap. If we laugh, he'll get mad... [[StoicWoobie or burst into tears.]]

%%[[folder:Webcomics]]

** In the criminal justice community this is actually gaining popularity as a form of what's called "restorative justice" since there have been studies that show that shame is an important part of both preventing crime in the first place and preventing recidivism, and throwing people in prison has become glorified in some subcultures, so expect to see more of this sort of thing. It fell out of favor with the rise of easy mass transportation (who cares if you spent a day in the stocks if you can easily move to a location no one has ever heard of you), and come back with the information-spreading properties of the internet.

* The reason the Beast is so nasty to Belle's dad at the beginning of ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is he assumes he came "to stare at the Beast!"

* When Quasimodo is chosen as King of Fools in ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', at first the people celebrate him, but then a guard throws a tomato and the rest of the crowd turns against him ForTheEvulz. Frollo, angry that Quasi disobeyed him by leaving the cathedral, lets this go on until Esmeralda saves him.

-->'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' [[AC: [[HaveYouComeToGloat Come to gloat]]? Go on. Get a goooood, looooong look. Go on! [[YouAreFat Get a big fat eyeful! With your big fat eyes!]] That's right. [[spoiler: [[ARareSentence A potato]]]] [[ARareSentence just called your eyes fat]]. Now your fat eyes have seen everything.]]

* In the ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'' comics, the self-appointed new Emperor, Sate Pestage, fled the Empire to save his life. He'd been planning to strike a deal with the Rebel Alliance / New Republic, sparing his life and giving him about thirty planets in exchange for leaving the Imperial capital undefended, but he was found out and captured. He was held in a prison, and the Rebels broke him out but couldn't flee off-planet with him yet, so they set up camp. While he was there, an ex-Imperial pilot who had [[DefectorFromDecadence defected]] came to [[http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4917/swrsmr311.jpg visit him.]]

* In the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'', Mumm-Ra once bound the heroes in MummyWrap so he could "display" them in his burial chamber. (Not exactly a straight example, as ''he'' was the only one to gawk at them. [[BondVillainStupidity This proved a mistake.]])

In RealLife, [[StockPunishment the pillory and the stocks]] were designed for this, but cages, chains, and even just guards may be used to keep the prisoner in place, or on the route of his enforced procession. It was particularly common in colonial societies, who often couldn't afford the loss of human-power that would come with an extended imprisonment or execution. Though a PublicExecution may have this as an added blow to the death.

Conversely, characters may come to gawk at a prisoner, for much the same effect. When the character has been MadeASlave, auction may bring this on, even worsened by the fact that the purchasers don't care how humiliated the character is.

A defeated or demoralized character, even if not a captive, may greet another with this as a StockPhrase, with accusations of coming to gawk at their shame, with snarls of DontYouDarePityMe, even if the other character wants only to help. They may demand GetItOverWith to avoid the gawking. Similarly if their {{Pride}} convinces them that [[ItsAllAboutMe they came to gloat]] when they did not even know they were there.

* In the ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'' comics, the self-appointed new Emperor, Sate Pestage, fled the Empire to save his life. He'd been planning to strike a deal with the Rebel Alliance / New Republic, sparing his life and giving him about thirty planets in exchange for leaving the Imperial capital undefended, but he was found out and captured. He was held in a prison, and the Rebels broke him out but couldn't flee offplanet with him yet, so they set up camp. While he was there, an ex-Imperial pilot who had [[DefectorFromDecadence defected]] came to [[http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4917/swrsmr311.jpg visit him.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'': In the album ''Leute voor de Meute'' the government decides to recreate ''bread and games'' activities to keep the people happy. As a result of this initiative prisoners are tortured in front of an audience for their amusement.

* The climax of the 1930 German film ''Film/TheBlueAngel'' has the main character, a once proud ([[PrideBeforeAFall too proud]]) professor, dressed up as a clown and forced to crow like a rooster in front of a crew of his former colleagues, students, and neighbours. It's an incredibly difficult scene to watch. Then he goes [[BerserkButton berserk]].

--> '''UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart:''' Take him away! Wait, wait-- put him in the Tower of London. Make him part of the tour.

** This is the subtext of the second season when [[SinsOfOurFathers a parent commits a crime]], their children have to walk the walk of shame. In "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough", Jackie is volunteered to sit as target in the water balloon carnival booth, in a bikini, being pelted with cold water by people who hate her.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Most Toys," Data is captured by a greedy alien collector named Kivas Fajo who wants him as a centerpiece for his series of unique and valuable items (being the only[[note]]publicly-known[[/note]] sentient android in existence). By putting Data into his collection, and showing him off to other thieves, Fajo is using him for a Come To Gawk purpose, claiming it's okay since Data has no emotions and therefore can't find his imprisonment distasteful. At the end of the episode of course, Data is returned to the Enterprise and Fajo is locked up in the brig, his collection of stolen items being returned to their owners. When Data comes by to watch him in the brig, Fajo asks him if he's enjoying watching him being kept captive by the Enterprise, only for Data to [[IronicEcho reply that as an android, he finds no pleasure in such things]].

* "Lucky Day Overture" by Music/TomWaits from ''Music/TheBlackRider'' describes several freak show artists with deformities. Tom plays a circus promoter promising "human oddities" such as a three headed baby, [[BrainInAJar Hitler's brain]], the human pincushion, a seal boy with flippers for arms, the man born without a body, and more!

* ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat TheMovie'': [[PrincessesRule Princess Oriana]] is forced to work in a CircusOfFear after her uncle [[EvilOverlord The Duke of Zill]] conquers her kingdom. Doubles as TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment [[FridgeBrilliance if you think about it]], since there are few things worse for TheHighQueen than becoming a side show.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saartjie_Baartman Saartjie Baartman]] was forced to exhibit herself around Europe, often nude to show off her "inhuman features" (partially due to her [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatopygia steatopygia]], but you get the idea). Her owner and his brother had sent her from colonial South Africa with a promise of half the profits. When the public lost interest, she was forced into prostitution, and died possibly of smallpox at age 26.
* Not only indigenous people were exhibited: people with handicaps, bizarre illnesses and body distortions were also put on display. In the 19th century and most of the 20th century this was seen as legitimate entertainment for the ''normal'' people. One famous example is John Merrick, aka ''Film/TheElephantMan (1980)''.

*** Stephen Levitt discusses a creative example that has found some use in his discussions over incentives. Rather than fining pimps, prostitutes, and johns, the local authorities would post their convictions to a website. Levitt asks what would be more powerful incentive to avoid prostitution: a $500 USD fine or one's friends, family, and coworkers seeing you on [=JoesandHoes=].net?

* In a much milder version of this trope, it's not uncommon for parents to punish unruly teenagers by making them stand in public wearing signs detailing the stupid things they did. It's mostly done to counter-act any 'rebelling is cool' attitude that they may get from their peers by reminding them that the ''rest'' of society will not be so easily impressed.

* The case of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtaran_Bibi Mukhtar Mai.]] She was subject to HonorRelatedAbuse after her brother was accused of having an inappropriate relationship. Mukhtar was gang-raped, then [[ShamefulStrip paraded naked through town]] in order to shame her family. Although she was encouraged to commit suicide to save face, she refused, and even brought her rapists to trial.

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' -- being about a freak show. Then people SAW it and QUICKLY changed their minds.
* The climax of the 1930 German film ''Film/TheBlueAngel'' has the main character, a once proud ([[PrideBeforeAFall too proud]]) professor, dressed up as a clown and forced to crow like a rooster in front of a crew of his former colleagues, students, and neighbours. It's an incredibly difficult scene to watch. Then he goes [[BerserkButton berserk]].

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

[[folder:{{Music}}]]
* The Music/MileyCyrus music video for "Can't Be Tamed", features her as a WingedHumanoid locked in a cage and stared at by rich snobs.
* Part of Music/{{Muse}}'s "Music/KnightsOfCydonia" video includes the hero being placed in stocks and having feces hurled at him.
* [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Dark Woods Circus]] is all about this trope, with a side of NightmareFuel and TearJerker.
* ''Atrocity Exhibition'' by Music/JoyDivision from their album ''Music/{{Closer}}'' (1980) about people who pay to see a barely living man in an asylum. "For entertainment they watch his body twist."
--> ''You'll see the horrors of a faraway place''
--> ''Meet the architects of law face to face''
--> ''See mass murder on a scale you've never seen''
--> ''And all the ones who try hard to succeed...''
* Music/DeadKennedys have the song "Jock-O-Rama" from ''Music/{{Frankenchrist}}'' where high school sport funding and their spectators are compared to gladiator era massacre gawking: ''On the almighty football field/ Beerbellies of all ages/Come to watch the gladiators bleed''.
* "In the Colosseum" by Music/TomWaits from ''Music/BoneMachine'' about spectacle in the arena.
* "Lucky Day Overture" by Music/TomWaits from ''Music/TheBlackRider'' describes several freak show artists with deformities. Tom plays a circus promoter promising "human oddities" such as a three headed baby, [[BrainInAJar Hitler's brain]], the human pincushion, a seal boy with flippers for arms, the man born without a body, and more!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:{{Theatre}}]]

-->''Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shall be shown\\

-->''For whilst I think I am thy married wife\\

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
* Galatea, [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080902.html here,]] in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

[[folder:RealLife]]

[[caption-width-right:350: The least scary and most ethically respectable illustration we could find to describe this unfortunately TruthInTelevision trope.]]