Elephant Man Legacy

Bree Britton
Riede
Literature and Film
19 November, 2014
The Legacy of a Film Films that are based on true stories about pain, hardship, or disability can be difficult to emotionally process. One example of this is The Elephant Man. It was directed to twist the emotions of the average viewer to make him both curious and sympathetic for a deformed man. This film was very well done and created an opportunity for a deeper understanding of society and one’s identity. Many people argue that the film was rude and offensive because of the misdiagnosis and the harsh treatment, but I argue that it was inspirational, eye-opening, and moving. Most people think that this film is portrayed as rude, and have a negative perspective about it. An academic
article by Joan Ablon offers an opinion from both reactions to the film, but uses sample evidence to support the negative response more than the positive responses.
She opens by describing how society portrays disabilities and explains the original diagnosis given to Joseph Merrick. Media creates the opinions of body image and sets the standard for what is normal, leaving people with disabilities unable to obtain social acceptance. Merrick was diagnosed with an extreme case of neurofibromatosis (NF), which would later be deemed as a misdiagnosis. Next, she points out the details of the story of The Elephant Man as it is written and played in movies. Merrick was the center of all American media; opening these images and ideas up to many different audiences. These different audiences included the population of people that also were diagnosed with NF. The remainder of her article is evidence and quotations from a sample NF population that had an opinion about the film. Much of the responses are negative because people began to have “Elephant Fever”, which was the fear that they would one day progress to something similar to Mr. Merrick. Many people reported that they were scared or irrationally worried about their future. She argues that this story, although statements later went out to correct the misdiagnosis of NF to the correct diagnosis of Proteus Syndrome, left a negative legacy that
“…precipitated fantasies evoking dread and horror for many affected persons and their families.” (Ablon). The first argument to disagree with Ablon can be made by simply comparing the audiences. The NF audience is a minority and negative responses are expected. The general public audience is the majority and are the people that will be positively impacted by the film. Because of the unaware majority, this film created a desire to learn about NF and Proteus Syndrome. It resulted in funding for research and a better understanding of how severe disabilities can be. Society now has a better understanding of the deformities and others like it.
The film displayed the difference between a person’s physical features and heart. The article focuses primarily on the reaction to the film images, but not on Merrick’s character. The Elephant Man squashes all assumptions about disabled people being outsiders to society. This film is a positive message to society encouraging people to be more accepting and open-minded to things that are different from the norm.
Above all things, this film is motivating because it describes hope; there is always a chance to find your identity and overcome pain. I believe that there is overwhelming evidence in the themes and morals of the film that support my argument. Identity is more important than any physical attribute; John Merrick discovered this and found happiness and peace in his life. That is the most positive legacy any film could leave behind.
Work Cited
Ablon, Joan. "Download PDFs." 'The Elephant Man ' as 'self ' and 'other ': The Psycho-social Costs of a Misdiagnosis. National Science Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.