7. One of Us: On Human Identity and Freaky Justice

Advertising print by Fritsch (1751) for the menagerie Blauw Jan, available at http://www.beeldbank.amsterdam.nl/beeldbank/indeling/detail/start/4?q_searchfield=blaauw+jan

‘Hypertrichosis’, or abnormal hair growth on the human body, is also called the ‘Werewolf Syndrome’ or the ‘Ambras Syndrome’, because the Ambras collection has portraits of members of the ‘Ambras family’ suffering from this illness. The paterfamilias, Petrus Gonsalvus (1537-?), used to live at the court of the French King, Henry II, and was portrayed in Altrovandus’ Monstrorum Historia (1642).

The menagerie was also visited by members of the elite like Czar Peter the Great (in 1698), the Dutch Prince William V and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II (in 1781); the Blauw Jan supplied animals for their collections. The Blauw Jan also attracted famous artists and scientists, like the botanist Linnaeus. Linnaeus advised the Swedish king to buy monkeys from the menagerie for their amusing monkey antics—‘the Creator has made the world a theatre; much had been lacking there, if only a few people and no one else had played Harlequin’ (Hagberg 1952, p. 119; also see Kwa 2007). In the taxonomy of Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae (1735), men and apes figure side by side as ‘anthropomorpha’ or creatures with a human shape. When Linnaeus read a description of an orangutan (literally ‘man of the woods’) living in the Dutch East Indies, he classified it as a second human species, identifying it with the Troglodytes or cave-dwellers described in ancient sources as Herodotus’ Histories 4.183 (They ‘use a language which resembles no other, for in it they squeak just like bats’); Plinius’ Natural History VI 169 and 189; and Plutarch’s Life of Antony XXVII (reporting that Cleopatra could fluently converse in the Troglodyte language; she was not exceptionally beautiful, but the charm of her conversation was irresistible and ‘[t]here was a sweetness also in the tone of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased’—Plutarch 1920, p. 197).

See Sliggers (1993), p. 25 ff. Many of the curious plants, animals and humans that were on show at the Blauw Jan and the competing Amsterdam menagerie The White Elephant have been portrayed in the drawings in the album ‘Wonders of Nature’, by Jan Velten between 1695 and 1709. See Veldhuijzen van Zanten (1998).

See Baljet 1993, p. 9. During their short lives, the Hungarian Siamese twins, Helena and Judith (1701-1720), toured many European cities; they were billed in London as ‘the 8^th Wonder of the World’.

See Romm (1992) and Wittkower (1942).

See Wallace and Wallace (1978).

Joseph Merrick, ‘the Elephant Man,’ believed that his elephant-like appearance had been caused by a shock his mother had experienced just before his birth, when she was knocked down by a circus elephant. The film The Elephant Man (Paramount Pictures 1980) starts with this scene, a nightmarish stampede of elephants overrunning the mother. In 1830 Chang and Eng, on tour through Europe, were denied access into France because the officials were afraid that ‘maternal impression’ might produce the birth of similar monsters.

Medical science is not necessarily beneficent, however. In accordance with Hitler’s 1939 ‘euthanasia decree’ (actually an informal letter), in psychiatric hospitals and extermination camps involuntary ‘merciful death’ was granted to the ‘mental and physical cripples’ for the sake of racial eugenics. After all, they were unworthy of life. Nazi scientists like Mengele put all their energy into gruesome experiments on midgets and other handicapped people before killing them. See Leroi (2003), p. 140 ff.

Augustine suggests two alternatives: These monstrous races do not exist at all, or upon closer inspection they may still turn out to be subhuman (Augustine 2003, pp. 663-64).

See Pallister (1982).

For a discussion of racist tendencies in Barnum’s show business, see Cook (1996), p. 139.

The teratologist Willem Vrolik (1801-1863), following in the footsteps of Nicolaes Tulp’s 1641 ‘Book of Monsters’ (Observationum Medicarum), collected, and published about, malformed humans and other animals (see Baljet and Oostra 1998). Commenting on an engraving of an orangutan, Tulp stated that, if satyrs existed, this must be the ‘Satyrus Indicus’.

See Allegaert et al. (2008).

Leroi opposes value-free science with the Christian moralism of Bosch’ monstrosities that caution mankind of its fate in the afterlife.

Freaks (1932): The Circus Side Show, N. Y. Times, July 9, 1932, available at http://​movies.​nytimes.​com/​movie/​review?​_​r=​2&​res=​9E07E6D61031E333​A2575AC0A9619C94​6394D6CF&​scp=​1&​sq=​Tod%20​Browning%20​Freak%20​Rialto&​st=​cse. (accessed 29 March 2016)

See Hawkins (1996), p. 266.

The Hilton sisters performed in circuses and vaudeville acts as musicians and dancers. They also played leading roles in the 1951 film Chained for Life.

At Barnum & Bailey, Eck performed acrobatic acts like his one-armed handstand.

The armless Charles Tripp and the legless Eli Bowen complemented each other’s handicaps while riding a tandem cycle, the former pedalling and the latter holding the handles.

In fact, Schlitze was born in the United States.

See IMDb: The Internet Movie Database, Freaks (1932), http://​www.​imdb.​com/​title/​tt0022913/​ (last accessed 28 March 2010).

Meanwhile, the normal artists also have shifting love affairs. Venus leaves Hercules to fall in love with Phroso, while Cleopatra takes care of Hercules.

In real life, Robinson married his fellow entertainer, the ‘fat lady’ Baby Bunny Smith, 467 pounds, with whom he had two children. Marriages between complementary freaks were often arranged for publicity reasons.

In 1926 the Hilton Sisters performed the romantic love song ‘Me Too,’ which included the lyrics ‘anywhere that she goes you’ll find/Haho! Ha ha! ME TOO’.

Within the narrative, some normal persons express mild opinions of the freaks. In the second scene, Freaks reflects the perspective of the local community and explores its reactions to the strange circus that has just set up tent in the village. A villager alarms the landlord: ‘At first I could not believe my own eyes. That horrible twisted things, you know, crawling, gliding (…)’. The freaks’ companion pleads that they are not scary monsters at all, but rather resemble innocent, playful children. In her eyes, freaks are equally children of God. Amused, the landlord allows the circus to stay. During the shooting of the film, the environment reacted less hospitable. After complaints from MGM employees, the freak actors were banned from the MGM canteen and had to eat separately (with the exception of the Earles).

See Hawkins (1996), p. 265.

See generally Drimmer (1973).

Browning started his career in sideshows, carnivals, and circuses, performing as a talker, a clown, and as ‘The Living Corpse’ who was buried alive. See Skal and Savada (1995), pp. 22-26. In Browning’s earlier film, The Unholy Three (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios 1925), Harry Earles played a midget who is disguised as a baby. He is in a criminal plot with his ex-circus mate, the ventriloquist Echo (Lon Chaney). Dressed up as a lady, Echo fools customers into buying parrots that appear to talk; as a ventriloquist Echo actually does the talking. When customers complain, ‘Mrs.’ Echo makes a house call carrying her ‘baby’ in a buggy. Once inside, the midget climbs out of the buggy to rob the clients. Browning’s silent movie, The Unknown (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1927), expresses a similar fascination for things freakish. In a gypsy circus ‘Wonder of Wonders,’ Alonzo the Armless (Lon Chaney) acts as an armless knife-thrower who uses his feet for throwing. He is in love with Nanon, the circus girl around whom he throws his knives (Joan Crawford). A bizarre plot develops—see Maris (2010), p. 1149 at note 58.

The Mutations quotes from Freaks’ wedding dinner. The mad scientist’s monstrous servant Lynch is invited to a birthday dinner of the circus freaks. Lynch: ‘You expect me to sit down with a bunch of freaks?’ Freaks: ‘We don’t mind if you celebrate with us, do we?’ ‘No, he is one of us’. ‘We accept you’. ‘He is one of us’. When Lynch keeps on insulting them, the freaks retaliate and kill him.

The second scene of The Elephant Man introduces the main character, who is shown in a circus tent with a large signboard that reads ‘FREAKS’ on top. Id.; see also Hunter (1998).

See Gamson (1998).

See Freud (2003), p. 151.

In Professor Pierre, Pianiste à Pied de Paris (2016), Louise Pierre concentrates on Fielder’s approach in a psychoanalysis of Freaks. In this fascinating biography, Pierre describes the travels of her great-grandfather, the armless foot pianist professor Pierre, through 19^th century Europe—Ms Pierre wrote her biography with her feet. Professor Pierre may have met Freud when he performed in Vienna. In her analysis of Freaks, the author ingeniously associates the fate of the midget Hans with the case of Little Hans, the subject of Freud’s Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy. According to Pierre, Freaks essentially depicts the Oedipal myth. In her view, the story of Little Hans’ misalliance expresses the basic fear of all adults that they may still fall short of the standards for a full-grown human being. For more, see Maris (2010), p. 1147 ff.

See Bogdan (1998), p. 285 (referring to Goffman (1959) and (Goffman 1963)); see also (1996), p. 23.

See Bogdan (1998), p. 104.

As a publicity stunt, their managers used to organize fake marriages between them. Even protests against the degrading character of freak shows were often arranged for publicity reasons. See Bogdan (1998), p. 100.

Bogdan (1998), p. 268.

See Bogdan (1998), p. 268 (‘During its prime the freak show was a place where human deviancy was valuable’).

Also see the distinction between ‘straight’ and ‘stoned’ thinking in Chap. 5 on Dutch Weed and Logic.

For Aristotle on slaves, see Chap. 8 on Slavery and Public Reason.

However, critics of Freaks object that Browning’s message is equivocal. In ‘One of Us’: Tod Browning’s Freaks, Hawkins (1996) maintains that the first half of the film ‘normalize[s]’ freaks, while the final chase scene transforms Freaks into a horror film: ‘But if the freaks’ revenge inscribes the film as part of the horror genre, it also reinscribes the freaks as monsters within that genre’ (p. 269). Hawkins points out that, in the chase sequence, the freaks exactly live up to the dark portrait a horrified villager sketched of them in the film’s second scene. Now they have changed into ‘horrible twisted things,’ ‘crawling and gliding’ through the mud (p. 269). Moreover, murderous revenge seems to be a custom among freaks, required by their retaliative code of honour. Hawkins’ critique, however, seems excessive. The freaks’ revenge on Cleo and Hercules can be justified as an act of corrective justice, equivalent to the latter’s attempt to murder Hans. After all, the ‘code of the freaks’ is only defensive. In a context of distributive injustice, they have little choice but to strike back when they are cornered.

Also see Chap. 2 Can we learn from history?, and particularly the section on the Scientific Revolution; and Chap. 4 on proof in incest trials, and particularly the section on coherence and correspondence.

In the non-metaphysical sense of Political Liberalism: a person is rational if he is able to design a rational life plan; he is reasonable if he is able to take account of the life plans of others in a fair way.

By analogy, rights may also be ascribed to animals and plants, in proportion to their degree of similarity to human beings. It is conceivable that a sub-human missing link might exist, which would raise the embarrassing question of how to treat ‘it’: as animals, as humans, or as a species in-between? Fortunately this is not the case.

See Rawls (1973).

See Dworkin (2002). For critical amendments to Dworkin’s insurance model in the case of unequal endowments, see Rakowksy (1993).

Article 1: ‘The purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’.

For an overview of legal reactions to dwarf-tossing, see McGee (1993).

Fielder seems to express the same sympathy. He adds that it was Selo the Seal Boy and Poobah the Pygmee who challenged the prohibition, insisting ‘on their right to earn a living as their kind had done for centuries’ (Fiedler 1978, p. 258)—‘Where are they gonna send me? Back on the farm? No, thanks, I’d rather be dead!’).

See Bogdan (1988), p. 281 (‘Their exhibition presents the disabled as so different that they have to be set apart, so incapable that exhibiting is the only way they can make a living’).

A similar argument could also lead to a prohibition of films that show freaks. In Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies, Martin Norden does not draw this conclusion. Yet he argues that ‘movies have tended to isolate disabled characters from their able-bodied peers,’ to the effect that ‘it enhances the disabled characters’ isolation and ‘Otherness’ by reducing them to objectifications of pity, fear, scorn, etc. . . . in short, objects of spectacle’ (Norden 1994, p. 1). As an example, Norden refers to the revenge scene in Freaks.

On the other hand, Bogdan rightly calls for a ‘sociology of acceptance’. See Bogdan and Taylor (1987). Bogdan reacts against the one-sided emphasis that followers of Goffman and Becker have put on the stigmatizing, labelling, and rejecting of deviant people. He points to the many cases of accepting relationships between ‘normal’ persons or groups and deviant individuals, who are suitable subjects for sociological research. As motives for acceptance he mentions family ties, religious commitment, humanitarian reasons, and friendship. Bogdan also refers to the trend of integrating into society ‘different’ (for instance, mentally challenged) people who used to be locked away in custodial institutions.

On the other hand, Chang acted as the leader, Eng as his follower. In the pasquinade Personal Habits of the Siamese Twins (1869), Mark Twain suggested further discord: ‘The Twins always go to bed at the same time; but Chang usually gets up about an hour before his brother. By an understanding between themselves, Chang does all the in-door work and Eng runs all the errands. This is because Eng likes to go out; Chang’s habits are sedentary. However, Chang always goes along. Eng is a Baptist, but Chang is a Roman Catholic; still, to please his brother, Chang consented to be baptized at the same time that Eng was, on condition that it should not “count.” During the War they were strong partisans, and both fought gallantly all through the great struggle—Eng on the Union side and Chang on the Confederate. They took each other prisoners at Seven Oaks, but the proofs of capture were so evenly balanced in favour of each that a general army court had to be assembled to determine which one was properly the captor and which the captive. The jury was unable to agree for a long time; but the vexed question was finally decided by agreeing to consider them both prisoners, and then exchanging them. At one time Chang was convicted of disobedience of orders, and sentenced to ten days in the guard house; but Eng, in spite of all arguments, felt obliged to share his imprisonment, notwithstanding he himself was entirely innocent; and so, to save the blameless brother from suffering, they had to discharge both from custody—the just reward of faithfulness’.

Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus by John Arbuthnot, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and other Scriblerians (1988) broaches a similar problem. In chapter XIV, The Double Mistress, the hero marries Lindamira, a Siamese twin, while her sister Indamora has a secret marriage with an African dwarf. This leads to a trial to determine who belongs to whom. If the sisters have but one vagina, they could be guilty of adultery. Did not Martinus rape Indamora when he slept with Lindamira? In the end, the Court decides that this is an invalid double marriage.

See Chap. 3 on Sex, Morality and Law.

For ‘hypertrichosis’, or abnormal hair growth on the human body, also see note 3 above.

Nowadays, the mummies are preserved in the Oslo Forensic Institute. See also Miles (1974). Julia’s life has inspired Marco Ferreri’s film The Ape Woman (La Donna Scimmia, Compagnia Cinematografica Champion et al. 1964), with Annie Girardot playing the hairy lady.

On Lee Miller, see generally the 1985 biography written by her son Antony Penrose.

A similar tragic fate befell ‘The Elephant Man’ Joseph Merrick (1862-1889). See Graham and Oehlschaeger (1992), and Howell and Ford (1980).

Standards of beauty are partly universal: Relative youth and a symmetrical face are admired all over the world. Tastes for hairiness, colour of body and hair, and perhaps also body shape vary.

‘However beautiful the average Dutchman may believe himself to be, some of his compatriots will be more beautiful yet’ (Leroi 2003, p 353).

To be sure, in exceptional cases freaks may be able to compensate somewhat for their deformities with their wealth. A striking example is ‘The Villa of Monsters’, a baroque palace with distorting mirrors and statues of monsters, built by the hunchbacked prince of Palagonia (Sicily). Most freaks, however, lack the power and wealth to transform the world according to their will. As the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (RKO Radio Pictures 1939) shows, beauty and love are scarce goods among freaks. See Maris (2010), p. 1166.

All the same, midgets and giants, such as Lolkes and Cajanus, had a good life as well-respected Dutch citizens. See Sliggers (1993), pp. 69-87. The same goes for Chang and Eng, in spite of their being both conjoined twins and Siamese immigrants.