DVD+Project

Group: JarBabies Inc. Film: David Lynch’s // The Elephant Man //(1980)

// The Elephant Man // will work to supplement our trip to the Mutter Museum on several levels, the most obvious, in fact, being that the film was said to be inspired by the museum itself. The movie is about a man with a physical deformity and the museum is about people with physical deformities; the film will give context to what the students see at the museum in a variety of subjects.


 * Literature **

Lynch’s // The Elephant Man //is a piece of literature in and of itself, and in a lesson devoted to understanding gothic elements of fiction or even the absurdist literature, students can analyze the film using those methods previously learned. What are the gothic symbols used? What does the film say about physical deformity and fear? The film was made in 1980; why does it take place in the 19th century? How does it pay homage to English literature of the 19th century, i.e. Dickens, Shelly, or Stoker? It provides a literary context for the kind of images the students will see on the field trip and inspire dialogues during and after the trip. Like most Gothic literature, the characters experience several moral ambiguities, raising the ever-present question, who are the monsters in the movie? Consider when John (The Elephant Man) screams in the climactic moment, “I am not a monster. I am a human being.” How does this relate to other Gothic literature with “monsters?” The character also says “You fear what you do not understand.” The students can take this to consider, why, during this period of time, did Gothic and horror literature become so prevalent in Western Literature?


 * Social Studies/History **

The film paints a very precise picture of 19th century London. It demonstrates class struggle, poor sanitation, and the state of the medical field at the time. It demonstrates the negative effects of the industrial revolution, and how issues in that world actually led to innovations in medical science. It demonstrates social issues and philosophies of the time period—issues of owning human beings, and what constitutes as a human being? With the historical context this film provides, what can students gather about the lives of the people/subjects they are going to see at the Mutter museum? Was their struggle strictly physical or did their conditions make life at the time even harder? It also provides context as to why they weren’t cured at the time, but medical science might be able to help them now.


 * Science **

Like the history lesson, it really provides a look into the foundations of modern science. What kind of struggles did doctors, scientists, and patients go through at this time? What kind of skepticism did they have to deal with, and what kinds of skepticism to we deal with today? The film discusses anatomy and psychology of the physically deformed, and students can even analyze, in an historical perspective, what more we might know today about those we see at the Mutter museum.