Friday, May 15, 2015



The Elephant Man




This is a trailer for the David Lynch film, The Elephant Man (1980), which portrays the tragic life of John (Joseph) Merrick, a man who suffered from extreme deformations and ridicule that followed with his plight. He was force into performing in circuses and constantly abused by the unaccepting yet astonished public, much like how zoo and circus animals are treated today.

The famous quote from this film come from a scene where John is nearly stampeded by a group of angry and awestruck ridiculers, and he yells out, "I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!" I think this quote and the film as a whole says a lot about the emotion we feel from seeing a human so horribly brutalized, yet often times we ignore the same treatments toward animals.

I really recommend watching this film if you haven't already yet.

2 comments:

  1. This looks like an incredibly powerful film. I agree and find it very true that we ignore and don't care about our treatments toward animals. Great quote.

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  2. I did some googling and read about his life; it's amazing he lived as long as did considering the strain his body was under from his deformities, not to mention any other conditions. Very sad life.
    I agree also that we often ignore the harm inflicted on animals and look the other way, yet a good portion of society also tends to ignore the treatment of human beings that are homeless, disfigured, mentally unstable, or in some way "less than others". Either way, animals and humans like Joseph Merrick deserve more from us.

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