Conjoined Twins in Popular Culture Susan Kerns University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations December 2013 Propagating Monsters: Conjoined Twins in Popular Culture Susan Kerns University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Kerns, Susan, "Propagating Monsters: Conjoined Twins in Popular Culture" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 701. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/701 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROPAGATING MONSTERS: CONJOINED TWINS IN POPULAR CULTURE By Susan Santha Kerns A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In English At The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee December 2013 ABSTRACT PROPAGATING MONSTERS: CONJOINED TWINS IN POPULAR CULTURE by Susan Santha Kerns The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2013 Under the Supervision of Professor Tasha Oren This study analyzes representations of conjoined twins in the United States to illustrate how historical images are in conversation with biographies, medical documents, sideshows, and contemporary film and television shows about conjoined twins, both fictional and nonfictional. The recycling of established tropes and the privileging of science over humanity results in limited understandings of the fluidity of conjoined twin identity. Separation and individuality are favored, relegating conjoined twins to “disabled” people that need fixing. Studying biographical artifacts of Millie-Christine McKoy’s and Daisy and Violet Hilton’s careers illuminates the interrelationship between biographies, images, and rights. Although born into slavery, Millie-Christine overcame social challenges and were afforded rights beyond what most people of African descent had during the 1800s. Daisy and Violet, however, were born decades later yet were owned for over twenty years and never fully wrested themselves from their tabloid images. The motion pictures they made, Tod Browning’s Freaks and Chained for Life, however, started creating narrative space for conjoined twins in film, and both allow for female conjoined twin sexuality, something no film has done since. Freaks visually and narratively accommodates those with unusual bodies, while Chained for Life lays the groundwork for later films that privilege separation. Building on this history, this study analyzes conjoined twins in fiction and nonfiction film and television, specifically ii fictional two-headed “monsters”—one body with two heads—and full-bodied conjoined twins who remain connected. These narratives insist upon separation if conjoined twins desire romance, or play out a good twin/bad twin pattern, and they favor easily assimilated bodies. Conjoined twins in nonfictional television shows generally become spectacle or specimen via the highlighting of scientific discovery, separation, and independence, while medical knowledge is favored at the expense of conjoined twins. However, several programs about Lori and George Schappell or Abigail and Brittany Hensel endeavor to disrupt medical narratives, overturn stereotypes, and widen perspectives. These offer a first step toward broadening the identity spectrum to account for fluctuating identities and notions of individuality, which could help redefine conjoined twins outside of singleton terms. iii © Copyright by Susan Santha Kerns, 2013 All Rights Reserved iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEDICATION This dissertation has been quite a journey, and though this page hardly seems adequate to thank everyone who supported me over the years, it will have to do. I first want to thank my committee members. Dr. Tasha Oren, my chair, spent countless hours not only reading and offering feedback but also talking me through the many ups and downs of the dissertation process. She also is one of the finest teachers I know, and I am eternally grateful for her shared knowledge. Thank you also to Dr. Gilberto Blasini, Dr. Tami Williams, Dr. Elena Gorfinkel, and Dr. Lane Hall. They are, indeed, a magnificent group who inspire in innumerable ways. Several institutions have contributed greatly to this study, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Center for 21st Century Studies, both of which have provided funding, scholarships, and opportunities to present phases of this work. Additionally, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the Witte Museum in San Antonio, and the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia were gracious in allowing me to sift through myriad files, folders, and photographs. My parents, James and Santha Kerns, as well as my brother, Jason, have listened with immense patience to the trials and tribulations of this study, and I am humbled by their unconditional encouragement. Similarly, I want to thank Lisa Riecks-Soucek, whom I met on my first day at UWM. She became my office mate, then my friend, and she has been a constant sounding board and voice of reason. Finally, my partner Jay Beckman has assisted me in incalculable ways via rearranging office space, scheduling quiet time, delivering surprise milkshakes, and maintaining general good humor. He, like the chihuahua, Gary, that rarely leaves my lap when I write, makes weeks of writing in isolation not just tolerable but pleasurable. I cannot imagine completing this project without their companionship, and I am forever indebted to their support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: The Legacy of the Biddenden Maids 1 Chapter One: Millie-Christine’s “Little Deformities” Made Opportunity 16 Chapter Two: Daisy and Violet Hilton and the Business of Living 69 Chapter Three: Conjoined Twins in Fictional Film and Television 124 Chapter Four: Conjoined Twins in “Real Life”: Representations on Nonfiction Television 174 Conclusion: Dual Individuality within Conjoined Lives 231 Bibliography 238 Curriculum Vitae 244 vi 1 Introduction: The Legacy of the Biddenden Maids Mary and Eliza (or Elisa) Chulkhurst, also known as the Biddenden Maids, are an early example of conjoined twins whose bodies continue to be used for publicity with mythology still circulating about them nearly 1,000 years after their reported birth. They are of the first conjoined twins with “documented” histories. Purportedly born in 1100 in Kent, England, and nicknamed for their birth village, the Biddenden Maids left several acres of land and a large sum of money to the Chulkhurst charity to be used to feed the poor after they died in 1134. In their honor, the charity distributed flour and water “cakes” decorated with wooden-stamp impressions of the twins. Some say the cakes provided a cure for stomachaches; others say they were mere souvenirs, too hard and unpalatable to eat. During the 1700s, the cakes became a consolation prize of sorts: those who did not receive full food baskets “had to be content with the hard Biddenden cakes with the Maids' effigy, which were thrown out among the populace from the church roof” (Bondeson “The Biddenden Maids” 217). Additional souvenirs eventually became available to commemorate the twins, including biographical broadsheets and small clay plaques resembling the cakes, and the distribution of souvenir cakes, now called biscuits, continues today, and this story endures. Their story provides the village with a legacy and a way to promote tourism, and it also turned the twins into a timeless legend. Their nicknames are now interchangeable with a continued village celebration for which they have become mascots, and a sign depicting them still stands. The actual lives of the Chulkhurst sisters, however, remain open for debate. Indeed, they barely matter. As with many conjoined twins who have a life in representations, biographical information about them becomes debatable since their 2 biographies must be constructed via publicity materials, souvenirs, and press pieces—the truth distilled from the ballyhoo. They also seem to be created based on singletons’ (single-bodied humans) needs or contemporary interests. While it is likely that the Chulkhurst sisters lived in the village of Biddenden, some argue that the Chulkhurst charity simply invented the tale of the two sisters during a period when it was losing visibility. If they did exist, it is likely they were born near 1100, but a birth that year would have coincided with the accidental death and possible assassination of King William Rufus (William II), whose death became suspect. He was killed when an arrow punctured his lung while hunting, and though accounts suggest that his death was accidental, speculations of murder lingered. As a result, other unusual occurrences around 1100 were turned into omens foretelling the King’s death, so some speculate that the birth date of the Chulkhursts was changed accordingly from a later date to an earlier one. Other reports claim the twins were born as late as the 1500s, although Jan Bondeson argues that if they had lived between 1500 and 1700, a key period in the development of teratological studies,1 more mention would have been made of them in news and popular literature (220). Even simple facts about the Chulkhursts’ lives, like their birthdate, became questionable over the years as stories about them were employed in ways that suited others’ needs. It is common for singletons to alter the personal histories of conjoined twins, or