I Am Not a Freak

This film is a fascinating look at some people afflicted with congenital deformities of an extreme nature. Their ability to live with their aberrations while remaining socially involved and upbeat is truly inspirational. While their predecessors were often seen in so called "freak shows" that were part of various exhibitions from Coney Island to traveling circuses, these performers were actually the more fortunate ones in an era of little tolerance for those who were different from the accepted norm. Many became famous and extremely wealthy, such as Tom Thumb (Charles Sherwood Stratton), who worked for many years with P.T. Barnum. Outstanding film; highly recommended.

Compiled here are six stories of physically deformed people, plus footage of some old-time "freaks," as they were labeled. This is a fascinating but creepy video to watch at times. It is an interesting documentary on some of the strangest-looking humans seen in the 20th century. While that gives it some historical value, I didn't find it "fun" to look at these poor people. The deformities ranged from heads sticking out of heads, to Elephant Man-type faces to a man without a lower body to a young teen who looks like an old man, on and on. They used to have these people in "freak shows," sad to say.

What's really amazing is the wonderful attitude on some of these people. They are a wonderful inspiration and lesson for all of us who complain out our troubles, which are nothing compared to these people. For that reason alone, I would recommend this tape for anyone. However, be warned: it's disturbing.

An interesting failure, Kirby Dick documents five people (he claims six, but the material on Chang is clearly archive footage from another film with easy-to-deconstruct narration). This film is excessively short and feels incomplete because of its superficiality. The narration seems to condemn freak shows while Robert Melvin and his family both appear to endorse them as a place where unusual people were accepted and even celebrated. Sandy Allen, the world's tallest woman, has been a big proponent of bringing back freak shows, but she is not interviewed. Melvin's interview does not hint that he felt exploited, and Dick certainly does not insinuate that Mickey Hays playing an alien in _The Aurora Encounter_ was exploitative, and indeed, reunited Hays with Jack Elam, who have a rapport much like Gil Gerard and Ernie Reyes, Jr. did at the time.

The opening, complete with footage from _The Elephant Man_, is awkwardly handled, with the narrator introducing person after person and going into details about the sex life of each, including admittedly unconfirmed data about extra sex organs. Perhaps the best handled part is the portion on Sam Early, whom Dick seems to respect most for his total avoidance of show business, though conversely, Loyce (pronounced like "Lois") Bernal's story seems like he didn't have enough time to deal with properly. Her stomach stapling is mentioned, but he clearly did not have the time for the followup he begs. Mickey Hays's grandmother sounds like she's reading idiot cards with built in afterthoughts for a religious station.

A glaring research error appears in the statement that Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, had neurofibromatosis, which Robert Melvin also has. Even in 1985, that diagnosis had gone by the wayside in favor of the diagnosis of Proteus Syndrome, as Merrick's bones were affected by his disorder, which does not occur in neurofibromatosis.

All in all, there is interesting information here, but the way it is presented is teasingly superficial, heavy-handed, and sometimes saccharinely maudlin. 5/10.