The Elephant Man: Difference between revisions
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* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|Merrick dies. But he dies on the happiest day of his life, and dies doing what he wants to do: to sleep like he's normal.}} It does not count as a [[Downer Ending]]. |
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|Merrick dies. But he dies on the happiest day of his life, and dies doing what he wants to do: to sleep like he's normal.}} It does not count as a [[Downer Ending]]. |
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* [[Body Horror]] |
* [[Body Horror]]: Sort of. Merrick's physical anomalies become ever less-repellent as his agreeable personality is revealed. |
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* [[Circus of Fear]] |
* [[Circus of Fear]] |
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* [[Come to Gawk]] |
* [[Come to Gawk]] |
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* [[Creepy Circus Music]] |
* [[Creepy Circus Music]]: The soundtrack (in places), and it's heartbreaking. |
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* [[Deliberately Monochrome]] |
* [[Deliberately Monochrome]] |
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* [[Dream Sequence]]: Provides the surreal, since most of the film avoids the [[Mind Screw]] Lynch is known for. |
* [[Dream Sequence]]: Provides the surreal, since most of the film avoids the [[Mind Screw]] Lynch is known for. |
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* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]] |
* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: Averted, with the big mean baboons at the circus. |
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* [[The Grotesque]] |
* [[The Grotesque]] |
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* [[Heel Realization]]: Dr. Treves is shaken by the Head Nurse's observation that the arrangement he set up for John Merrick, which include receiving respectable callers, means he is still being treated as a freak on display, albeit in a high class cushy style. |
* [[Heel Realization]]: Dr. Treves is shaken by the Head Nurse's observation that the arrangement he set up for John Merrick, which include receiving respectable callers, means he is still being treated as a freak on display, albeit in a high class cushy style. |
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{{quote|"Why did I do it? Am I a good man or a bad man?" |
{{quote|"Why did I do it? Am I a good man or a bad man?"}} |
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* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Merrick in the train station. See below for [[This Is Sparta]]. |
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Merrick in the train station. See below for [[This Is Sparta]]. |
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* [[Humans Are Bastards]] / [[Humans Are Special]]: The whole movie questions "What does it mean to be human?" |
* [[Humans Are Bastards]] / [[Humans Are Special]]: The whole movie questions "What does it mean to be human?" |
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* [[Oscar Bait]]: A partial aversion. It was a tragic biopic about a physically disabled man shot in black and white, which certainly covers several typical [[Oscar Bait]] traits, and was nominated for seven different Oscars. However, [[Award Snub|it won none of them.]] |
* [[Oscar Bait]]: A partial aversion. It was a tragic biopic about a physically disabled man shot in black and white, which certainly covers several typical [[Oscar Bait]] traits, and was nominated for seven different Oscars. However, [[Award Snub|it won none of them.]] |
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** Also averted in that most people agree a [[Raging Bull|different tragic biopic shot in black and white]] should have won most of the Oscars that year (and indeed, it did win two). |
** Also averted in that most people agree a [[Raging Bull|different tragic biopic shot in black and white]] should have won most of the Oscars that year (and indeed, it did win two). |
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* [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]] |
* [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]]: Executive producer {{spoiler|[[Mel Brooks]]}} deliberately kept his name off the film, for fear people would expect it to be a comedy. He did the same with ''[[The Fly]]'', among other films in the early 80s. |
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* {{spoiler|[[Suicide Is Painless]]}}: See [[Bittersweet Ending]]. |
* {{spoiler|[[Suicide Is Painless]]}}: See [[Bittersweet Ending]]. |
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* [[Take Our Word for It]] |
* [[Take Our Word for It]]: For the first chunk of the movie, we never get a good look at John. |
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** It helps build the suspense as we only see the reactions of others to poor Merrick's [[Body Horror|physical deformities]]. |
** It helps build the suspense as we only see the reactions of others to poor Merrick's [[Body Horror|physical deformities]]. |
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* [[This Is Sparta]]: "'''I'''! AM NOT! AN '''ELEPHANT! I''' AM NOT! AN '''ANIMAL!''' I! AM A '''HUMAN! BEING!''' I! AM! ...a man." |
* [[This Is Sparta]]: "'''I'''! AM NOT! AN '''ELEPHANT! I''' AM NOT! AN '''ANIMAL!''' I! AM A '''HUMAN! BEING!''' I! AM! ...a man." |
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** "Where - ''is'' - he?" |
** "Where - ''is'' - he?" |
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*** In the men's room of a London train station, where he's just been cornered by an angry mob. |
*** In the men's room of a London train station, where he's just been cornered by an angry mob. {{spoiler|This exclamation works; the mob immediately becomes more sympathetic.}} |
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* [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story]]: Bytes is a [[Composite Character]], with evidence indicating that Merrick was actually well-treated in the British sideshow. The Belgian one was probably about as bad as the movie suggests. |
* [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story]]: Bytes is a [[Composite Character]], with evidence indicating that Merrick was actually well-treated in the British sideshow. The Belgian one was probably about as bad as the movie suggests. |
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* [[Victorian London]]: The setting for most of the film. |
* [[Victorian London]]: The setting for most of the film. |