CINEMA CLASSICS SEMINAR: THE ELEPHANT MAN

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Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm Instructor: Andrew Owen, Ph.D., Lebanon Valley College The “Elephant Man” is a pariah—shunned by a society heralded as the epitome of human civilization, reduced to the level of a sideshow distraction, labeled as a monster incapable of human emotion and desire, placed behind the bars of a circus cage where paying customers can be horrified, repulsed, or thrilled. The ostracization and violence perpetrated against an individual on the basis of their perceived deviance from an established social or cultural norm has often served as the basis for a narrative of revenge within the horror genre—a catalyst for the monster’s war against mainstream humanity. However, David Lynch’s film (1980) employs such a narrative as an antithesis to previous genre dynamics, offering optimism where there was once despair, and acceptance triumphing over rejection. Join us for this seminar, as we explore David Lynch’s hope for the future of the human condition, in which dispassionate scientific inquiry could ultimately lead humanity to dispel the stigmas and prejudices born of superstition and folklore, and where common understanding, love and acceptance triumph over cruelty and hate. Almost half a century after its release, this narrative dynamic may be timelier than ever.