The Butterfly Circus
Some people get a butterfly tatooed. Do you know what symbolic meaning it may have?
Recently, someone on Twitter posted a link to a short video, The Butterfly Circus.
It won First Place in the “2009 Door Post Film Festival.” It’s only 20 minutes, but it packs a powerful punch.
Watch the short film
You can also find the film with subtitles in Spanish on YouTube if your level is not high enough to understand the film without them.
After watching the film DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS IN TEAMS:
Discussion Questions:
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How do you think Will felt when he was part of the sideshow in the first circus?
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In the film, Will stowed away in Mr. Mendez’s Butterfly Circus. What differences did Will discover between both circuses?
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What groups of society do the circus performers stand for? What do they have in common?
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The film shows these members of society were seen as unproductive before joining The Butterfly Circus. What happens in our society with the weakest? Is their human dignity and their right to participate in society recognised?
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In what ways did some of the other circus performers change when they joined The Butterfly Circus? Why?
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What effect did it have on Will?
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How did Will change after he joined the circus?
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In what ways did Will begin to possitevely affect the lives of others?
Reflect:
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Will’s life changed after he met Mr. Mendez. Why?
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Can we change that which is negative in our lives? If so, how?
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What can we do to show others they can also transform their lives?
Individual writing task
Question: What did you take away from the movie?
GIFTED MINDS 
The movie “Butterfly Circus” wants to teach about confidence, about friendship and about solidarity. Confidence is important to achieve the things you want in your life, a close friendship will always help you when you think you can’t do something, just the nice words of a person can help, and solidarity, being mean to someone won’t take you higher.
In this short movie you can appreciate the importance of the confidence. At the beginning of the film you see how Will feels like useless and his opinion about himself it’s just a creation based on the opinion of the public and the people who laugh at him. Along the story he learns how to believe in himself, to trust that if make an effort to achieve the aims you have you can have them. If you think you’re going to lose, your lost, if you think you can’t do something, you won’t, and if you don’t believe, you’re finish. You have to fight for the things you want.
Mr. Mendez is a good person, and a good friend that helps the other start trusting them. I think in life you always need a close person who has the value to tell you when you’re wrong and applause you when you’re right. Just a person to be with you in your ups and downs is all you need, if you see that someone believes in you it’s easier to make the same. In this case, Mr. Mendez is the only one who tells Will his not going to help him because he needs to start doing things alone, if a person tells you that, I think it is only for your best.
Normally streets are filled with homeless persons, and the most common reaction is to look away and move forwards. The Butterfly Circus is a second option, a second life and a second opportunity for these persons that don’t receive any help by the society. Sometimes you should be more solidary and help the ones who really need a shoulder to cry on or someone who’ll listen.
Your life can change very easily. You just have to believe and fight for your dreams and never ever give up on your aims. Belief is a beautiful honor and it’s something we all should have. A few words can change the way you see all your life and seize every opportunity you have because maybe it could be the last.
The butterfly circus
The butterfly circus is a film that shows how anyone can have a normal life even having some kind of incapacity. It shows how you don’t have to make fun of others.
The film shows how a limbless man learns how to walk and swim and is able to participate in the circus without being made fun off. It shows how he could participate like any other member and other people wanted to be like him.
In the butterfly circus the main character is not made fin of whereas in the first circus he is treated like a freak. People only visited the circus to make fun of him but on the butterfly circus he is admitted.
Overall this movie shows how we should treat people and give opportunities to people like Mr Mendez does.
This film talks about a man called Will, who had no legs and arms. He was shown in a circus as if he were a funny thing and people always laughed at him just because he was different. Fortunately, a man with a hat took him to his circus. This circus was called “The butterfly circus” and it was really different compared with the first one. The people working in the circus had a past similar to Will’s one. In the past, they felt just like if they were nothing, until the man with the hat appeared in their lives. The man with the hat made them all happy, just by making them useful in a really simple way, making people smile because of something they do. At the end we can see the son of a circus’ member letting go his worm become in a beautiful butterfly, just the same thing the man with the hat did with the circus’ members.
Yes, indeed is a good summary of the short filma but shouldn’t you be focusing on Essay structure ?
The Butterfly Circus.This video is about the story of a circus, but focused on a limbless man and his struggle to drastically chsnge his life.
It starts showing a group of members of a circus going to see another one. In that one they find a sideshow, where twins, a fat woman and a man with his full body covered by tatoos as if they were animals. And at last and main show is the limbless man, Will, at with people laugh or even throw tomatoes. They are treated as animals. Later, Will manages to get on the truck of the Butterfly circus and it later explains his life there and how he accidentally discovers a show he could do in the circus.
This video is very emotive. How a completely disabled man manages to have his own acrobatic show in a circus is great, and the meaning is even better. It tries to encourage people to fight to change their lives, to metamorphose as the butterfly of the metaphor.
I specially found interesting the part in where the old lives of the circus members is shown. I dont know if this short film was at first made for encouraging people or to win a contest but its obvious that it actually encourages people.
The butterfly circus
Feeling like nothing isn’t a great feeling, I love the way Will changes his mind, he feels so useless at the beginning, but after he realizes that its worth to believe in himself, so he achieves things h never thought he could do.
The script takes us to evolve and realize the cruelty that drives the human being. The superiority will get us nowhere. But we can’t give everything chewed to the weak they need to work hard and let them learn on their own, while showing them that we will be there for them. The characters develop with the story and its great acting, humanize us and we feel identification and projection on this characters. Who has not ever felt like the weirdo? Who has not appreciated the help of someone?
The butterfly circus
This film teaches as lesson concerning self-confidence and respect. It shows how people should be treated regardless their condition. It shows how giving a second oportunity to people can lead them to improve grately.
To be able to do things people have to belive they can do it, have self confidence. They have to be respected, and only then, they can be proud of themselves and admired by others.
People have to be respected in order to have self-confidence and a better life. Everyone has the right to be respected and be treated as a freak.
In the film Mr Mendez gives a second oportunity to missfortuned people, These people improved their lives and they joined the circus helping Mr Mendez and others.
The movie is a great moral reference that teachs how someone that seems useless can do great things and be admired by others.
The video “The butterfly circus” is about the history of a circus, but especially focused on Will, a limbless man who feels totally useless and can’t benefit at all.
it starts showing us a horrible circus that the main attraction it’s see a fat woman, a man who has all his body tattooed and finally Will, the limbless man. The public at first was shocked to see him but moments later starting to luaght, and someone throw tomatoes at him. His reaction is not doing anything, Seems as he hate everyone and no one can not laught at him.
In second part we can see how Will get to another circus witch is call “The butterfly circus”. People in there was happy to having him whith them, in this circus the way how entertain was different, they show their habilities impressing the public.
Will finally trust in his self and make a performance in the circus. And you can see how that help in the moral of childrens that have problems that ones he has.
The butterfly represent the evolution, the change. And that its what the video want to show.