The Elephant Man

[This is a backdated entry to keep things alphabetical. Bought/written March 2012.]

Long before home video, I watched David Lynch's The Elephant Man on broadcast television — possibly even PBS — one Sunday afternoon. Like many films I watched as a child, this film was probably inappropriate viewing for me, but I sat there transfixed anyway.

As an adult, The Elephant Man works differently. My childhood curiosity and fascination with John Merrick's appearance have given way to analytical detachment. This time through, I'm finding myself more fascinated by the monstrous personalities in Merrick's world.

Anthony Hopkins plays a doctor named Frederick Treves, who finds John Merrick, "The Elephant Man" (played by John Hurt) in a carnival sideshow. Freddie Jones plays Bytes, Merrick's sadistic "owner," who beats Merrick and exploits him for profit. Treves, under the pretense of helping Merrick, takes him away from Bytes and out of the squalor and abuse.

But Treves isn't that much better than Bytes (a point Treves eventually sort of realizes). Almost immediately, Treves wheels a half-naked Merrick out for a lecture hall full of medical colleagues, and explains Merrick's physical condition using cringe-worthy terms such as "insidious," "perverted," and "lamentable."

As the coup de grace, Treves finishes his presentation by noting that Merrick's genitals are completely normal and unaffected. Not content to allow his audience to take him at his word, Treves has his assistants remove Merrick's final article of clothing, leaving Merrick to stand there, naked, before the hall. Fundamentally, Treves' capacity for humiliating Merrick is not that much different from Bytes'.

All of this is in the name of medicine, of helping Merrick, to see if he can be helped — or so Treves says. Yes, Treves gives Merrick a cleaner, more comfortable place to live, provides food, clothing, and medical care, and encourages Merrick to speak, but Treves also refers to Merrick as an "imbecile" and an "idiot" — words that are insults now, not clinical terms.

In a way, the film works as a kind of indictment of rich, white, liberal guilt. Treves wants to help Merrick, but he also sees Merrick as an opportunity to help himself. "All you do is prophet from another man's misery," Treves says, scolding Bytes for his treatment of Merrick (not realizing that profit is more than just monetary gain, or admitting his own ulterior motives).

One could make the case that Treves represents modern liberalism while Bytes represents modern conservative views. Treves wants to help — at any cost, mind you — but he also helps himself in the process. Bytes basically holds Merrick captive and sees monetary gain as a primary motivator — the feelings and fortunes of others be damned.

(Note: I realize this is an oversimplification of political viewpoints. It's just a blog, people. Chill.)

But hang on: if Treves represents liberal ideals and Bytes represents conservative ones, then what does Merrick represent, if anything? The masses? A powerless third party?

I wonder if it's a stretch to argue that John Merrick is a kind of ironic representation of a John Galt type — a character who just wants (or deserves) to realize his individual freedom and self-reliance, but falls victim to laissez-faire capitalism and the greed and foibles of the human collective. I can hear my libertarian friends now: "I'm a human being!"

Or, you know, maybe it's just a film about how exploitation of the less fortunate is wrong, and the simple moral stands: Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

I found The Elephant Man on DVD last week. Now out of print on both Blu-Ray and DVD, I was fortunate to find a copy at all. Not that I go around looking for a copy of The Elephant Man, but when I saw the DVD at my local Half Price Books, I felt compelled to buy it so I could put some thoughts down here.

Definitely one of the most depressing and fascinating films I've ever seen, The Elephant Man might well be David Lynch's best film. Certainly, it's Lynch's most accessible film prior to The Straight Story (1999), and far from Lynch's more esoteric work (Eraserhead, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet).

The Elephant Man isn't a film that I've pined to see or even own, but it is an important film — one that I've thought of often since my first viewing all those years ago, but never take time to re-watch — and one that makes a magnificent case for the humanity to be found within us.