Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Feb 12, 2025
Table of Contents
David Lynch will be remembered for a long list of contributions made to the art of film. His surreal style, often confusing narratives, strange humor, and overall cinematic voice are all trademarks that few directors can emulate into their own work. But, what must be noted about his style is that as offbeat as it is, rarely does it feel distant from human emotion. Lynch has taken on more conventional projects to prove this and the first, perhaps the most devastating example that fits into this sentiment is ‘The Elephant Man’ (1980), an introspective character study of the real life Joseph Merrick (renamed in the film to John Merrick) who lived with obscene facial deformatives. In light of his unfortunate passing, let’s revisit his masterpiece about the treatment of outcasts in 1800s England which maintains David Lynch’s etherial style while remaining a emotionally engaging experience bound to make the most jaded audience member cry by the end.
All of us like to be entertained, but we should count ourselves grateful to be living in a time where most of our amusement is not born out of the mistreatment of animals or dehumanization of our fellow human beings. ‘The Elephant Man’ takes place in a time where the circus was most people’s version of television or music, only it came at the expense of those performing. Apart from the tricks and laughs, a large part of audience fascination was with the performers themselves who were often presented as strange looking creatures used to provoke a reaction and attract customers.
The real life Joseph Merrick was a part of a London sideshow attraction as shown in the film where his appearance drew in customers as a display of such a monstrous looking man. Even after he is bought out of the attraction and integrated into higher society by Frederick Treves, played in the film to expectedly wonderful results by Anthony Hopkins, Treves cannot help but feel as if he is still using Merrick as an attraction for rich people who are still repulsed by his looks.
Even in today’s world where most dehumanization for people born with defects on a similar spectrum as Merrick has been corrected and given more support, there still can be surprise or closeted disgust over such oddities. For a world where the people in it are meant to judge each other not by looks but by quality of character, we sure do fail often to uphold such a virtue. This is where ‘The Elephant Man’ comes in, showing the more prepared audience members a man whose unfortunate circumstances regarding his mother resulted in drastic deformities to his face and stature. Instead of abiding by the restricting boundaries of basic story and character structure, John Merrick, the supposed protagonist, does not undergo any major changes throughout the story in terms of desires or growth. Instead, it is everyone else in the movie and even the audience watching who undergo the most change as the shock is lifted and it is revealed that Merrick is a human being just as special as anyone else. Lynch almost effortlessly manages to make the audience see past the grotesque appearance and instead come to love Merrick’s intellect and humanity.
Few think of David Lynch films as ones that evoke tearful emotions. Often, the audience is emotionally engaged out of frustration over the confusing sense one needs to make out of his spiraling unexplained puzzles, but not out of genuine touching to the heart. With ‘The Elephant Man’ as well as his road trip film ‘The Straight Story’ (1999), Lynch proves himself not as a stranger to the human race, but as one who deeply understands the human heart and has talent in portraying it through film. He just has a different way of looking at viewing life than most do.
No step is skipped to depict the heartbreaking story of John Merrick. The grotesque features of his appearance would in any other David Lynch film be used to shock the audience, in a similar vein to the baby in ‘Eraserhead’ (1977). Instead, Lynch flawlessly brings the audience into a place where they sympathize with Merrick. They see his struggles of living in a world that is mostly shocked by his appearance and that his humanlike features in terms of emotion and cleverness are what make him a man and not an animal. The film continually stabs the audience by leading in a direction to Merrick’s life being improved where he is taken better care of and seemingly accepted into society only to be later used as an attraction to gawk at by drunk fools or torn away by his abusive owner. Despite the understanding Treves, the hospital staff, and even acclaimed actress Ms. Kendal, played by the enlightening Anne Bancroft, Merrick can never seem to shake the disgusted stares at him that appear and judge faster than he can prove how much of a human he in reality is.
All these unfortunate events regarding Merrick’s life build up to the film’s climax which sees that even when John Merrick is returned to his place of comfort, he accepts the fact that he will never truly be accepted into society and makes the decision to depart. A heartbreaking conclusion to a film that beautifully portrays this real life story with it being in black and white, helming a collection of legendary performances, Oscar deserving makeup applied to sir John Hurt’s face, and a masterclass on depicting human emotion and the struggle of one’s place in a world they feel to be an outcast in.
Yet the true legacy of ‘The Elephant Man’ is in its display of how David Lynch’s talents were not that of limited status. Most will remember David Lynch for his surreal, offbeat style that often serves to shock and confuse the viewer moreso than any other emotion. However, condensing his talent in such restrictive boundaries is unfair as proven with some of his work such as ‘The Elephant Man’, while it contains a handful of scenes reminiscent of his strange filmmaking approach, remains that of a traditionally told story with true emotional value. His understanding of the human condition and how to empathize with such through art and meditation was an underrated trait of his and what more contemporary and aspiring filmmakers should resonate with. Making art with the purpose of bettering people’s lives. Lynch himself may no longer find himself among the living on Earth, but as the final words spoken in ‘The Elephant Man’ by John Merrick’s mother state, “Nothing will die”. Such will be applied to his legacy and we all have an opportunity to apply such words to our own legacies if we make the right choices.
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft
Director of Photography: Freddie Francis
Editor: Anne V. Coates
Producers: Jonathan Sanger, Mel Brooks (uncredited)
Writers: Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren, David Lynch
Director: David Lynch
By Elijah van der Fluit
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
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