What a viral photo of Leonardo DiCaprio holding a ‘baby in a jar’ can teach us

A seemingly decades-old photo of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, in which he appears to be holding a jar with a dead baby inside, has recently gone viral on social media. The image was shared by Dom Lucre on Twitter, who wrote, “Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, you have been selected to be exposed.”

Under the image, it states, “DiCaprio is seen holding a ‘pickled punk’, a malformed fetus named Junior preserved in a jar belonging to artist Joe Coleman. Coleman bought Junior from a Carney and keeps him in his ‘Odditorium’ along with other bizarre artifacts and art pieces.”

“Junior” was allegedly “adopted” by Coleman during the 1980s when he went to Coney Island and saw what carnival workers refer to as a “pickled punk” — a baby in a jar.

“And of course I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him,” said Coleman, “and I paid the man exactly whatever he wanted and I took little Junior home on the subway — of course, we got a lot of stares — and Junior has had an honored place ever since. He is like my alter ego, he’s my son. It’s funny because he represents a more positive or optimistic side of my personality. That deformed little guy there — he’s so happy.”

According to Vice, “There’s a small chance Junior is actually a ‘bouncer,’ as the wax or gutta-percha re-creations (created to avoid the law against moving bodies between states) were called.”

While it is unclear if “Junior” is a real human being, if he indeed is, then the treatment he has been given is tragic.

Every human being deserves to be treated with dignity, not as a sideshow attraction or party conversation piece, but as a human being with intrinsic value. Prior to the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, people with disabilities struggled to find work due to social stigmas. As a result, they often turned to sideshows in places like Coney Island, where they were treated unethically as subhuman.

“Up until the 1940s and especially during its Victorian heyday, the sideshow — or ‘freak show’ — was one of the only sources of gainful employment available to people like me who had unusual or extreme physical or cognitive disabilities,” explained Kim Kelly, known also as Greta the Lobster Girl. “Some were able to hold down ‘normal’ jobs, but for many, the only other options were to rely on charity, to live in poverty, or institutionalization.” The “best option” for some people, she said, was to join “the freak show.”

Kelly, who has ectrodactyly, added, “It has taken us a long time to be recognized as human at all.”

It appears “Junior” may have been a victim of this cruel treatment as well. And though he seems to have died before he was put into the carnival circuit, he still deserves respect, as does his body.

The same is true of aborted children, who are not only killed inhumanely, but disposed of in inhumane ways — including being carted off with medical waste and in some cases even bizarrely burned for energy. Some aborted children are placed in dumpsters, others are flushed down toilets, some have been kept in jars like “Junior,” and others have been found in the garage of an abortionist. As the use of the abortion pill versus surgical abortion procedures continues to rise due to at-home abortions, more bodies will be flushed — treated like human waste.

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“Junior” isn’t a “side of [Coleman’s] personality.” He was his own unique person. If Coleman truly loved “Junior,” as he claimed to, he would have recognized his dignity, given him the respect of a proper burial, and let the child rest in peace.

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