A COUNTRY wreathed in pollution, the poor barely surviving, vicious “entertainment” designed to keep the plebs in their place, overwhelmed hospitals and a nation in thrall to a royal family of little obvious use, who continue to blithely exploit their subjects.

And across the pond, a US dominated by greedy, ruthless “robber barons.” To the east, Russia plans expansion, dreaming of ever greater empire.

Britain in 2025?

No, the bleak Victorian England envisaged by the late David Lynch in his classic 1980 motion picture, The Elephant Man, his only movie set in this country. In fact, barring sci-fi epic Dune, it was Lynch’s sole film that wasn’t essentially about the US.

A gallery of grotesques

Closer inspection reveals some other disturbing similarities between present-day Britain and Lynch’s vision. 

For example, is Elon Musk, with his performative cruelty, eye-catching gewgaws, and a desire to hoodwink the masses, merely a supersized version of callous freak show owner Bytes (Freddie Jones) in The Elephant Man? Also, of course, a case could be made for Donald Trump, minus the tech flummery.

And poor exploited Joseph Merrick, star of Byte’s freak show and object of horrified fascination and mockery from the ignorant masses who paid to gawk at him. Not so different then from some of today’s reality-show celebrities, the likes of Katie Price, Jeremy Kyle’s former daily exhibitions of the worst aspects of human nature and more recently C4’s ghastly Deepfake Sex Tape with Vicky Pattison. This show was a spectacular example of the freak show ethos; tutting at deep fakery but at the same time exploiting it for prurient kicks and ratings (only 250,000 viewers tuned in though). 

Channel Porn?

See also the channel’s My Massive C**k, My First Threesome, Naked Attraction, Naked Education, Naked Attraction Hotel (tbc), Mums Make Porn, 100 Vaginas, Me & My Penis, Generation Porn, The Sex Clinic, Dogging Tales, The Really Rude Puppet Show, Gay Pets, Sex Toy Secrets, Sex Toy Stories, A Very British Sex Shop, The Sex Testers, Naked Beach, Sex Box, Adult Material, The Sex Clinic, Sex Odyssey, SeXXXy Tatts, LA Vice: Porn Stars & Hustlers, Gay Sex, Apps & Men, Sex Party Secrets, The Sex Testers and Sex in Lockdown: Keep Shagging & Carry On … and more.

A reminder that C4’s remit is “To champion unheard voices, To innovate and take bold creative risks, To inspire change in the way we lead our lives and To stand up for diversity across the UK.”

Incidentally, returning to The Elephant Man, Queen Victoria herself was a great fan of freak shows, taking a particular liking to the diminutive “General Tom Thumb” (Charles Stratton), who earned himself the demeaning sobriquet “The Pet of the Palace.”

I guess, then, as today, the royal family is itself something of a glorified freak show, full of oddballs, exhibiting strange behaviours and peculiar tastes, reputedly bordering on the criminal, in some cases.

Victoriana redux

In terms of the other characters in The Elephant Man, it’s trickier to find direct comparisons with current political and cultural figures.

I’m sure Sir Keir Starmer would be flattered if compared to kindly but diligent surgeon Sir Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), but in all honesty, the jury is still out on both his essential kindliness and efficient devotion to duty.

Slovenly, hard-partying hospital night porter Jim Renshaw (Michael Elphick) bears some resemblance to former PM Boris Johnson, especially in his desire for easy money. 

Francis Carr Gomm (John Gielgud), strict but ultimately fair-minded governor at the Royal London Hospital? That would be a difficult one — in days past it would have been a retired eminence with a sterling reputation, not too many of those around nowadays.

Dennis Skinner perhaps? The late Glenys Kinnock? Even Michael (gulp) Heseltine?

Warm-hearted Grimsby-bred actress Madge Kendal (rather improbably Anne Bancroft in the picture) is easier; West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, who famously displayed sharp wit when responding to criticism of the off-the-shoulder dress she once wore in the Commons, saying she was, “not a slag, hungover, a tart, about to breastfeed, a slapper, drunk [or] just been banged over a wheelie bin.”

Or barring Brabin, actor Maxine Peake, also known for her extensive charitable work for disabled/ill children and the homeless, something I’m sure Joseph Merrick would have heartily approved of.