This is an amazing experience that proved quite moving to me. I’ve always been fascinated by the Elephant Man’s story. It’s so heartbreaking and yet inspirational. I’ve shared this poem he often recited to remind people that he was still a man despite his apperance.
“‘Tis true my form is something odd,
but blaming me is blaming god.
Could I create myself anew,
I would not fail in pleasing you.
Was I so tall, could reach the pole,
or grasp the ocean with a span;
I would be measured by the soul.
The mind’s the standard of the man.”
a poem often quoted by Joseph Carey Merrick
A.K.A. The Elephant Man
Here’s a good video about the real Joseph Merrick and how factual the movie was.
Here’s the entire special