I saw human zoos in county and state fairs growing up. They were called "freak shows." Sure, the people in there arguably were there of their own will and were at their best and highest level (which is really sad to say), but they were zoos and virtual animal performances.
I had friends who had to go see. It never appealed to me. Whatever schadenfreude is, I have the opposite of it. It makes me very uncomfortable - really, skin-crawling - to see people humiliated or embarrassed. (It was the reason I couldn't watch Meet the Parents. I walked out.)
Anyway, the depths to which humans subjugate, marginalize, and assert feigned dominance over one another is a tragic consistency through our history.