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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | You wanted the freak, to show to those doctor chums of yours to make a name for yourself. You my friend, I gave you the freak, on trust, in the name of science, and now I want him back! | „ |
| ~ Bytes threatening Treves after the latter refused to give him back Merrick |
| “ | Life!... is full of surprises. Consider the fate of this creature's poor mother, struck down in the fourth month of her maternal condition by an elephant, a wild elephant. Struck down!... on an uncharted African isle. The result is plain to see. Ladies and gentlemen, the terrible... Elephant Man! | „ |
| ~ Bytes introducing Merrick to Treves |
Bytes is the main antagonist of the 1980 biographical drama film The Elephant Man. He is the cruel, brutish owner of a carnival freak show in Victorian London who frequently abuses his severely deformed "star attraction", John Merrick.
He was portrayed by the late Freddie Jones.
What Makes Him Pathetic?[]
- He works on a Freakshow, making money over disfigured people and exposing them, with Merrick being his main attraction. He would constantly beat and abuse him whenever he was disobeying him, sometimes over the pettiest reasons, or because he was drunk. He would always treat them more like animals and things more than actual human beings with lives. It's also worth mentionning that people end up being more disturbed and disgusted rather than entertained by Merrick.
- He "loans" Merrick to Treves so he could heal him in a hospital simply out of pragmatism and greed.
- When Merrick returns, he keeps asking him questions and starts beating him again when he won't answer, forcing Treves to hospitalize him again.
- When he finds out Merrick is going to stay at the hospital, he confronts Treves and accuses him of "exploiting" him, demanding to get Merrick back. He attempts to threaten Treves but is talked out of it by the head of the hospital.
- He pays Jim the night guard to watch Merrick getting tormented and abused by a crowd.
- He kidnaps Merrick and brings him back to the Freakshow, abusing him even more. When Merrick collapses unconcious on the floor, Bytes kicks him and orders him to get back up. This causes him to get a pneumonia.
- In a drunk fist of rage, he locks up Merrick in a cage next to particularily aggresive monkeys.
- His implied "suicide" isn't even played for sympathy, since he completly abandons his performers with nowhere to go.
What Makes Him a Pinhead?[]
- He's a failed businessman:
- Using Merrick as an attraction ends up more disturbing and scaring people than entertaining them, which leads to the police arriving to shut down his place. This explains why Bytes lives in such poor conditions because there's no enough profit with "the Elephant Man".
- Constantly abusing Merrick doesn't help at all and just worsens his already terrible condition. He would also do it for the pettiest reasons, like when Merrick won't talk after he returns from the hospital. Bytes' unnecessary brutality toward Merrick just adds up to his troubles.
- Is visibly surpised that Treves doesn't want to give him back Merrick despite his need for intense hospital care, not expecting Merrick to be taken away from him to be healed. And when he threatens to sue Treves, the hospital director easily talks him out of it, saying trying to sue the hospital will be an innevitable loss and just makes Bytes lose all of his money for nothing.
- Tries to kidnap Merrick and take him back to the Freakshow, expecting him to rebecome "the Elephant Man" despite the fact Merrick has now been accustomed to civilization, being too traumatized by the brutal change of scenery to get back to his former life. This leads to an embarrasing moment where Merrick collapses on the floor unconcious in front of a crowd, with Bytes being unable to get him back up.