The Inspirational Tears.

Sometimes with writing, all you need to do is take baby steps…

I’m a participant in a private community, one of whose members has been sharing some ingenious writing prompts of late. I’ve been watching what he posts, and the prompts have been really good – if not a little too challenging for me to undertake. I remain in a state of block right now, the result of recent events and an assault on my own motivation. However his prompt this morning was one I felt I could tackle.

Tear Jerker. Watch a movie that makes you cry. Write about a particular scene in that movie.

writing prompt.

For me, the “I am not an animal!” scene in David Lynch’s 1980 film ‘The Elephant Man’ always brings me undone.

The scene takes place roughly 3/4 the way into the film, after John Merrick (John Hurt) has been kidnapped by his former circus master Bytes (Freddie Jones) and spirited away from England to the Continent. The nefarious Bytes, seeking to make a fortune from displaying the freakish deformities of The Elephant Man, is counting on the untested audiences of Belgium to submit to their curiosity. However, they did not take kindly to the gratuitous display of the hideously deformed Merrick and rejected the show outright. Facing financial ruin, the circus master abandons Merrick – stealing what little money Merrick has left and leaves The Elephant Man to an uncertain fate.

Defeated – but not destroyed – Merrick has one last hope in the form of a calling card of his friend, London surgeon, Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins). Having received assistance from several other abandoned circus performers, Merrick risks the unfamiliar and hostile countryside of Belgium to make his way back to London.

He is single minded in his objective. His appearance and significant physical impediments make him vulnerable in this foreign land – let alone any public public. The London Hospital is the only safe harbor he knows. He is assisted by the band of destitute circus performers and makes it to Ostend where he boards a packet steamer for England. Braving a driving storm, Merrick remains topside as he crosses the English Channel, avoiding the other passengers for fear of their disgust.

Merrick exchanges the ferry for a locomotive, eventually arriving at the bustling London station. He alights from the train, hoping to escape the crowds as quickly as he can. But, making his way through the station, he attracts the attention of some local street urchins who begin to prod and poke at him. They interrogate him about his mask and why is his head so big. In trying to escape, Merrick inadvertently knocks over a girl on an elevated walkway. Witnessing the “crime” Merrick is pursued by an angry mob into a men’s toilet.

It is here that Merrick reaches his shatter point. He is exhausted, frightened, at his lowest ebb. Having experienced years of ridicule, mocking and fear because of his deformity; the disgust of crowds, the abuse of his masters. Merrick breaks.

At the moment he is backed up against a urinal, soaking in human detritus, Merrick recruit a final surge of energy and channels it into a cry of protest, of frustration and of grief.

“I Am Not An Animal!

“I Am Not An Animal! I Am A Human Being!”

John Merrick (John Hurt, The Elephant Man, 1980).

The mob is stunned to silence. No one can move. No one can speak. As Merrick slumps defeated against the urinal, no one dares approach him. In the ensuing silence, a pair of English bobbies arrive and, perhaps recognizing the unfortunate soul, immediately disperse the crowd, take Merrick into custody.

They deliver him into the arms of his friend Treves, where Merrick collapses, weeping and spent, his eyes filled with tears.

It is, for me, one of the most powerful moments I’ve watched in a film and I’m reduced to tears every time I watch it. The Elephant Man is one of those films that portrays humanity so well, from its brutality and cruelty, to its compassion and beauty.

Do you have a movie or a scene that moves you like this? Are you reduced to tears? Tell me. I’d like to read your responses.

DFA.