The Elephant Man

Figure 1: Film Poster

I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am... a man! ~ John Merrick The touching and thought provoking story of Mr. Joseph Merrick who was struck by hideous deformities from birth and how he finds love and acceptance in a society that he had only know to despise him and abuse him. The Elephant man is a wonderful film and a must watch. The film is driven from the point of view of a medical practitioner who finds Joseph, in the film his name is John, in a circus at the hands or a bureaucratic and abusive man who was using him as an attraction. The film portrays well how morally bankrupt that man was and shows the guises that he portrays when Frederick, the doctor, takes him out of the misery of where he had to live and puts him into a ward in the hospital. The film goes on questioning if he has any right to stay there for he is thought to be mentally handicapped and illiterate. Throughout the film we are proved so very wrong as he gains the confidence to talk, his first words being My name is John Merrick. This is the first steps of John's humanity as he is given an identity, the individuality that was striped of him. He begins to show an amazing mind for art and literature and how throughout the film he creates a cathedral from the spire that he could see from his window and then completes the rest of it even stating that he had to improvise for the parts he couldn't see. He also does a collection of hand drawn portraits. He could be almost compared to Stephen Hawkins in the sense of the incredible mind that wasn't hindered by a grievous disability. The question that arises most clearly when watching this film is that if a large percentage of babies are born with disabilities, are they truly a lost cause? Can it be justified if there is such genius within then, to go though with abortions? Now this is a sensitive subject and not one to me taken lightly so for the case of the review we shall move along.

Merrick is so deformed that he must wear a hood and cap when in public... ~ Wikipedia (fig.4) The story does not however go smoothly and it brings forth the sobering truth that for many, money comes before morality. This is shown by a rather shady security guard who looks to make a quick buck by using him as a point of entertainment like the circus slave driver. This question, however, goes even deeper into the plot and the we are asked who is the really evil man. The Circus owner? He abused him by beating him then putting him on display. The Security guard? Abusing his duty and collecting money to see this new attraction. Or the doctor himself? The one who in indirect ways, sold him to the state. Like Constantine to the Catholic Church.

Figure 2: Film Still Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity. ~ IMDb (fig.5) The film does cover a lot of humanities darker personalities but also some of the better ones. The acceptance of John is what we long for and thus it comes to pass. An actress whom he admired came to him and became his friend, inviting him to one day come to the theatre where she worked and watch her preform. This in the end let John look at his life and think not only of good thoughts of memories but thoughts of fulfilment. It was only then that he could finally, truly, rest in peace.

Bibliography Image: Figure 1 Web, Film poster, dir. David Lynch, 1920,USA, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/ETqe6yqNOh4/Tff4TPKIRPI/AAAAAAAABA4/JpOgn4Ia8Vg/s1600/TheElephantManposter.jpg Figure 2 Web,Film Still,The Elephant Man, David Lynch, 1920,USA, http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RsMklhQbiZ4/TRas5IpIDUI/AAAAAAAAACs/DeUH6YSvB0Y/s1600/ elephant-man-free2.jpg

Quote: Figure 3 Web,Film Quote,The Elephant Man, David Lynch, 1920, USA. Figure 4 Web,Quote,The Elephant Man, David Lynch, 1920, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elephant_Man_(film) Figure 5 Web,Quote,The Elephant Man, David Lynch, 1920, IMDb, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080678/