The Elephant Man

This film is Elephant man directed by David Lynch and it expresses the different sides of humanity due to how they react to the character John Marick known as the elephant man. There is real comparison between Hopkin's character and the carnival owner because one tries everything within his power to help John overcome his fear of society and embrace them by forgetting his disformaty. Whereas the carnival owner wants to use John for money showing him to the public as part of a freak show. The link between the characters is that they both show off the elephant man infront of the public for exposure. A review from Graph paper press at http://www.wordpress.com/  "The scenes where he meets Treves’ wife, when he reads Romeo & Juliet with Mrs. Kendal, the train station, and the final scene made me cry because of how amazing Hurt is. This is definitely one of the best performances I’ve ever seen."

The character of John Marick is interesting because he is not predatory and viscous like other hybrid characters from the other movies but he is actually terrifyed of humans because of the cruel way he has been treated. There is a sad emotional background with his mother and how women shriek in fear at the sight of him. The story continues with the sad atmosphere because he fights for acceptance and freedom to try and live a normal life and gets to a point where he gains friends and society accepts him. However the disformaty finally begins to kill him and sleeps like a normal person.




The effects of the disformaty shows how painful it can be and how some parts can become useless so we haven't got anything to complain about. Bridget Marie at http://www.fast-rewind.com/  agrees with this point "…It is a greater reminder for all people to realise they shouldn’t feel so sorry for themselves and complain about small things because there are people out there fighting much tougher battles." In the beginning people believe he is stupid but they learn that he is not a dumb animal but has the creativity and intelligence of a normal human being. John Hurt really captures the role of John Marick how he struggles to speak and respond but with an air of intelligence, the line where he proclaims 'I am not an animal I am a human being' was a strong scene because it determines the point where he is no longer afraid of society and they should treat him with respect. Vince cable at http://www.nytimes.com/ speculates "The Elephant Man uses some of the devices of the horror film, including ominous music, sudden cuts that shock, and hints of dark things to come, but it's a very benign horror film, one in which "the creature" is the pursued instead of the pursuer."