In David Lynch's film "Elephant Man" the main character John Merrick appeared in the circus "wonders of nature" and was treated as a peculiar animal. The appearance of Dr Treves became a chance for the patient to live in more human conditions. Soon, however, it turned out that scientists, journalists and medical circles similarly perceive Merrick as the circus audience - as "an interesting case."

The film inspired the true story of the unfortunate J. Merric suffering from the rare Recklinghausen disease and "Proteus syndrome", which affected the nervous system, skeletal system, skin, monstrously deforming his head and body.

Appearances are always a source of suspicion for those affected. They are a source of both shock, disgust and fascination. They are a departure from the harmonious laws of nature, especially evident in the case of creatures to whom culture allocates masks of freaks, creatures, monsters, etc. "Masks, the physical difference that condemns such beings to banishment from the official image of society is like makeup hiding a real face. Such a face does not have to be as scary as it looks " Lukasz Badula "denigrating the character". Often, great sensitivity is hidden under physical monstrosity. All that a suffering "elephant man" wants is to be treated once in a lifetime as an ordinary human being, and the space of the candy ornament is to make the imaginary bizarre characters imagined become less monstrous. In the perception of physicality negating the established norms of nature, one automatically thinks about denying the established moral norms - if the mutant looks like this, he must be evil and inhuman. Humanity assesses everything else.

Tod Browning's characters in the movie "Dziwolagi" (Freaks from 1932), affected by strange physical mutations, are extremely sensitive and "normal" people. The director makes real monsters, those looking ordinary. The title Zelig Woddy 'ego Allen suffers from a rare mental illness, thanks to which, like a chameleon, he adapts to the context, becomes like those with whom he stays, both mentally and physically.

At what moment are we humans? What if we behave like animals? When do we stop being human? Cultural norms decide about our humanity. In one society, certain behaviours are considered barbaric, immoral, and in others, they result from the history and culture of the area and are most valuable. In our culture, dance at a funeral is something that excludes mourning, and therefore unacceptable, in the Zulu tribes in Africa, naked ritual dance is to worship the dead and provide him with eternal life.

In the work "They Look at Me", people behave like animals, adopt their gestures, manner of movement, and through diseases become more animal - "elephant", they can be human-frogs, human-trees, cyclops. On the other hand, animals are sought and given human qualities, imposed on human thinking, measured in human categories. The personification of animals by humans is often infantile. When it is cold, the dogs are put on the proverbial "sweater" and long hair is put on in a ponytail, often decorated with a bow. It is even the case that vegetarian dishes are served to predators in the name of oddly understood humanitarianism.

What codes do animals use to understand human actions and behaviour? This may not be learned very quickly because according to Wittgenstein's thought "if the lion could speak we would not be able to understand it"

"We get the impression that behind each animal is someone with human characteristics, who mocks us."

(Canetti's parabola about animals)