The Elephant Man Essay example essay topic

HOW DOES THE DIRECTOR OF THE ELEPHANT MAN ESTABLISH JOHN MERRICK AS AN OUTSIDER? The director David Lynch establishes John Merrick as an outsider, in the opening sequences of his film ' The Elephant Man' by using several devices that gain the audiences' attention and raise the audiences' expectations of the nature of deformity the main character suffers from. The atmosphere is created by the use of monochrome, lights and sounds (of a mostly dark nature only) to enhance the main point, why was Merrick an outsider? The director uses several close up shots of characters faces to emphasize their reactions. The dialogue used in the film degrades John representing him as a subhuman creature and the music used in the film reinforces John's position as an outsider.

The main theme of the film is outsiders, the director David Lynch has made many other films on the subject. The Elephant man's life is a perfect example to express the position of an outsider in Victorian Times. The director has chosen this because the subject reaches out to us by making us think about how we treat other outsiders today and compare modern day views with the views of Victorian society. The film credits inform the audience that the story is "Based on The Elephant Man and other reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves", this is important because the story of the Elephant man does not seem tangible because his deformity is so extreme that it can be compared to a character in a horror movie.

The first image we see is a close up shot of John's mother's facial features. The tone is immediately established as dark and eerie due to the lighting which include, bright flashes of light, fading back to a dark background and the sounds of a herd of elephants on the march, ending with a sound of a train. The sounds of the train indicate the historical setting because trains were a new and important form of transport in that time. The images on the screen are both disturbing and intriguing because the images presented suggests that John Merrick was conceived by a sexual relationship between an elephant and a woman, this leaves the audience puzzled and confused because there is no explanation for the scene until later in the film. The scene makes the audience confused because they do not understand the relevance of the scene towards the subject matter but at the same time, the viewers are interested because they have a compelling need to comprehend the relevance of this vague scene. I think this scene was placed wrongly because it comes across un clearly to the audience so they cannot fully appreciate the meaning of this scene and its impact is substantially reduced.

The director uses a linear narrative, this means showing something in a sequential order, he included this to show the development of the Elephant man's life, it is an effective narrative form because takes the audience through a timeline of how Merrick is exploited. The camera shots used in the fairground are constructed to make the audience see signs such as 'FREAKS' and 'NO ENTRY', through Frederick Treves' point of view. The tone and atmosphere in this scene are very eerie; we become drawn into this world by the prospect of the freak show because such a degrading display would not be tolerated in the modern world. Freak shows were an acceptable form of entertainment in Victorian times, just like the gladiator fights in the Roman Empire; it was acceptable to find enjoyment through other people's pain, emotional or physical. Treves looks to the signs and becomes fascinated by the idea of finding such an interesting specimen to study, but later in the film, he finds John an intelligent being, who is worthy of love and friendship and not just a rare medical find. Treves is probably the first to realize Merrick's pain the more he knows him and is the first to befriend him.

The camera follows him into a door with a no entry sign and proceeds down into the exhibit observing many other freaks, but he passes them by to seek the real treasure by following the policeman through a gaslight atmosphere resembling a labyrinth. It is an allusion to the labyrinth of the Minotaur, as Theseus went seeking a monster, half-man, half-bull, so has Treves gone seeking his 'monster', half-man, half-elephant. Before he reaches the fairground attraction, he passes a woman crying in terror. This only makes him more anxious to see how extraordinary a case this is, driven on only by a thought of the acclaim in finding such a rare prize. The audience is also driven on by the dim lighting and the long shots, making the freaks exhibit look like a maze, driving the viewer to follow Treves' to the mazes end. The lack of music and dialogue has the effect of an eerie silence.

The director has purposely omitted these devices to intrigue the audience further. The dialogue in the first ten minutes may be sparse, but it is important. The language used to describe John is derogatory and offensive; this raises an expectation in the audience that the elephant man is such a spectacular example of extreme deformity. The policeman speaks, "This exhibit degrades everyone who sees it and the poor creature itself". This shows how even people of authority degrade John by relating him to an animal or circus act. My Bytes replies, "He is a freak!" This derogatory dialogue discriminates John by saying that his only purpose is to be a subhuman circus exhibit.

This establishes John as an outsider as it shows people's attitudes towards him. How, in Victorian times, society accepted that if a person looked differently, he should be treated differently, badly. It was a time where men were not judged by mind but by appearance. Another scene where the language is important is when Treves is operating on a man who had a machine accident. The scene clearly establishes the historical setting by the lack of hygiene in the hospital and the condition the patient is in.

The scene identifies how human life was held second to progress back then. A boy enters and Treves ask him if he found 'it', as if referring to a commodity not a human and the boy replies with, "Yes I found it". The word 'it' degrades Merrick as a commodity because it seems more likely that the boy is referring to an object rather than a person. The attitude Treves and the boy have towards Merrick is the equivalent of our attitude today towards a garment or animal.

The audience has not seen or heard John; the director has done this to build up suspense about John's appearance. By the time Treves visits John Merrick, the tension has risen to such an extent that the audience is entirely engrossed into the final unveiling of the Elephant Man. Treves leaves his work place and walks into a street filled with noise and happy people. He eventually leaves the street filled with 'normal' people down a narrow street that leads to a deserted, urban wasteland, which has no sound and should house no one. He enters Bytes' place of residence, it is a disgusting dump and the atmosphere is created by dripping water and dim lighting. The object of this scene was to create the maximum amount of suspense for when you finally see the Elephant Man.

The light is fixed on the characters' faces so people will focus their attention solely on the characters. Treves focuses on a sign saying 'The Terrible Elephant Man' until Bytes walks out. Treves asks him 'are you the proprietor's uggesting that John is a commodity not a person. Bytes gives his usual speech before unveiling Merrick to Treves, he speaks as if talking to a crowd, not just to one person, this makes the viewer feel more involved in making John an outsider and makes the audience listen attentively as Bytes talks. 'Struck down in her fourth month of her maternal condition by an elephant on an uncharted African Plain. ' This is Bytes story of how Merrick has come to be so deformed so his show has more effect.

The director chooses to show this so the audience can piece together the opening sequence. This speech finally pieces together the dream sequence for the audience. The curtains lift and we see John being treated like a animal as he is told to take off his shirt and turn around by a boy. The camera focuses on Merrick as he is unveiled like a showpiece at an art exhibition and further emphasizes his position as an outsider and then focuses back to Treves and with a close-up of his face; we see tears fall down at the sight of such an abomination. This device makes us feel sorry for John and the way life has treated him. We also understand how degrading it must be to be judged by people as they pay to look at you for their entertainment.

John Merrick is a symbol of the unfortunate side of Victorian England. A symbol of how people can quickly forget about others in the face of progress. He represents a class in Victorian society that suffered from the mistreatment, prejudice and exploitation. His story is so powerful because it is inspiring to see such an unfortunate individual make it in a world ruled by prejudice. I think Lynch successfully established John Merrick as an outsider because just the first ten minutes managed to show the reactions and judgments people had towards Merrick. Whether it was a baker, doctor or factory worker, the reaction is always the same, one of disgust, disregard and disrespect.

Throughout the first ten minutes Merrick was exploited tremendously. He is talked about as if he is sub-human or a commodity.