Watch this when
The Elephant Man
'I am not an animal! I am a human being!' Sometimes you have to say it out loud before anyone hears it.
Who it's for
The film shows stigma at its most extreme: Merrick is displayed, beaten and chased, and even kind people keep looking at him.
Guilty / Ashamed→Understood
Feelings it meets
What it is
David Lynch's drama is set in Victorian London, where surgeon Frederick Treves finds John Merrick, a severely deformed man, exhibited in a freak show by the brutal Mr. Bytes. Treves brings Merrick to the London Hospital, where he is revealed to be intelligent and articulate and is allowed to stay.
Where to find it
Rent or buy on major digital stores. Streaming availability rotates; check JustWatch.
Before you start
Heads up: Severe abuse of a disabled man.
Age: PG
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”
