Member-only story
Who Is The Monster?
Appearances are deceiving.
In 1834 Julia Pastrana is born, a Mexican woman with serious appearance problems. With hair covering the whole body and the most horrendous face imaginable, she suffered a lot and was ridiculed. Without acceptance from her family, she runs away from home.
At that time, the only way for a person in Julia's situation to survive was … to work in a circus, like a freak.
At least the food was guaranteed and, in a way, its safety as “circus heritage”.
But things can get worse.
Her manager Theodore Lent decided to marry her! Was it for love? Fame? Marketing? We don’t know, but we can get an idea by looking at their attitudes to follow.
Julia got pregnant and gave birth to a normal baby. However, the mother and child died shortly after delivery,
The widower decides to mummify his “wife”, to continue making money from her appearance.
And people pay to see it.
Today, facing a series of discussions by society about discrimination, racism, and other situations that dehumanize people, there are some questions.
What has changed?
What is it to be a monster? what is the difference of having prejudice with the appearance, or with the race or with any other characteristic?
When we will live according to our real vocation, that is, when we will truly love.
The reflection remains.
