I’ll probably watch it. I grew up going to the circus every year (it would come through town the week of my birthday, so it was my gift from my grandfather several years in a row).
I’m glad I had the opportunity to see the circus as I did, through the innocent eyes of a child fascinated with animals, and in some ways I regret the fact that my child won’t have the same experience. They are fond memories, if somewhat tainted with the knowledge I’ve gained as an adult.
It will be easy for my kid to visit animal rescues, and watch nature documentaries online and on Netflix, and get his animal fix that way. The circus is a relic of a time when such things didn’t exist, and they absolutely did contribute, I think, to a societal adoration of strange beasts from far-off lands. Would we Westerners be so concerned with the poaching of elephants in Africa if we didn’t know them as the gentle giants they are through the circuses and zoos that showed us?
All in all, while abuse of individual animals is unquestionably wrong, I feel the circus did net a far better outcome for the species overall.