Joseph Merrick: A Study in the Futility of Names
[Imagine, if you will, the black-and-white scene from the 1980 film, "The Elephant Man". Pleasant greys and charming atmospheres abound in the Isolation Ward of the London Hospital, circa 1887. Within said scene, we come across a deeply handsome actor playing an average-looking Victorian doctor/gentleman, coaxing Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed young man with Proteus syndrome, into speaking to him intelligibly for the first time.]
Dr. Treves: Now, just repeat after me: "Hello, my name is..."
Joseph Merrick: Hello, my name is...
Dr. Treves: "John Merrick."
Joseph Merrick: John...-Whose-Real-Name-Is-Joseph-But-Because-Of-Your-Autobiographies-And-The-Objectification-Of-Years-Of-Being-Called-'The-Elephant-Man'-Everybody-Will-Know-Me-As-John-Even-'Experts'-Because-'The-Elephant-Man'-A-Degrading-Freakshow-Title-Is-More-Easily-Remembered-Than-A-Man's-Name-But-The-Hollow-Novelty-Of-A-Near-Man-Allows-People-To-Only-Need-To-Know-The-Freak's-Title-So-There-Ha-Ha-Ha... Merrick.
Dr. Treves: ....
My work here is done.
(No offense meant by this, to Treves or otherwise; I'm just frustrated by the fact that it's permissible for LITERALLY EVERYONE in the media to get Joseph Merrick's name wrong, constantly. It feels like, despite the film and all that, he's still being dehumanized to this day. I mean, don't other historical figures generally become known by their real names rather than any title like 'The Elephant Man'? I know Merrick didn't do all that much in his life-- there wasn't much he could do, with his deformity and without money-- but one might at least attempt to get his name right.)