Politics & Power Quote by Erica Jong

Jong’s line lands like a tossed-off one-liner, but it’s really a diagnosis: spectacle isn’t a distraction from national character, it’s one of its clearest expressions. The word “circus” does the heavy lifting. It’s contemptuous, yes, but also oddly democratic. A circus doesn’t get imposed; it gets bought, cheered, defended, funded. That’s the sting. If you don’t like the show, you can’t blame the clowns alone.

The three examples are chosen for maximum symbolic density. Spain’s bullfights conjure ritualized violence dressed as tradition, a pageant where blood is made meaningful. Italy’s “Catholic Church” is a masterstroke of scale: not a pastime but a civilization-sized institution, equal parts theater, power, and moral narrative. America’s Hollywood is the modern upgrade: mass-produced mythmaking, a factory for desires that pretends it’s just entertainment. Jong’s pairing suggests that each nation’s preferred spectacle is also its preferred alibi: tradition, faith, fantasy.

As a novelist shaped by the post-’60s moment, Jong is also poking at the way societies launder their contradictions through performance. Sex, violence, guilt, ambition, celebrity - all become easier to manage when staged. The joke works because it flatters no one. It turns nationalism into consumer taste, implying that what a country calls “culture” is often just the most successful form of collective self-deception, professionally lit and proudly ticketed.