The Elephant Man

I just finished the David Lynch film The Elephant Man starring Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt as Joseph Merrick.
Lynch uses such poignant cinematography to really push the envelope of emotions during intense scenes.
This real human being who was born completely normal and healthy, by the age of 3 was beginning a terrible deformation of his body. Abused and shunted by society this poor being had only one choice, to become a freak show attraction. Can you imagine being beaten and tormented your entire life because of the way you look?
Yet underneath this monsters skin was a sweet and caring person that only wanted to be loved. After the years of abuse did he really still retain the innocence of a young man? Did he ever wonder what it was like to feel the touch of a woman? Did he wonder what it was like to be some girl's lover?
I would suspect that he had to have wished he had a normal life and that he could have found a wife and had children and worked a trade. Would he have dreamed of living out his life as a mundane clerk for the city or would he have attended a university in London?
Society is so quick to judge what is ugly. I am guilty of it. We all are. Yet in the end we who are the ones who make the monsters and the place that they come from is deep within ourselves.