MUST-WATCH: “CIRCUS OF BOOKS” A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND PORNOGRAPHY

An eye-opening documentary that flips through pages of societal bonds, family ties, religion, and a built community against the current of judgmental views from people.

The documentary film entitled “Circus of Books” follows the trial of the Mason family who lived behind fear, criticism, and belittling eyes of people who sees their business-a bookstore, or so it seems- as a  lampoon of obscenity and sin.

The film throws a ray of light and splashes of colors by featuring Karen and Barry Mason at the forefront of the camera. An average couple living West Hollywood, with three kids, weekly services at a synagogue in the San Fernando Valley, and small business that they can call their own.

Pages will flip too fast as the film unravels the story behind their business that was once the largest distributor of gay pornography and the long-running adult goods store in West Hollywood that closed down in 2019 and has become a cultural haven for the queer community amid the draconian moralism of the Reagan era.

The film features interviews from their past employees, longtime customers, and the stars of the gay porn the store has financed. The material will also highlight a heart-wrenching moment when Barry and Karen recall hundreds of young men, loyal customers, dying of AIDS in a matter of days, and later on, finding out that the person has been disowned by its family already.

“Circus of Books,” debuted on Netflix last April 22, produced by Ryan Murphy and directed by the Masons’ daughter Rachel Mason. Check out the trailer after the jump.