Public image

I have been following the career of Peter Dinklage recently. He is someone I am proud to have representing me in the public arena. He “gets” it and refuses to compromise his ideals for anyone. He wants to be respected for his talents as an actor and is not lured by the promise of a quick, “easy” dollar by entertaining a crowd by using his stature as the source of amusement or curiosity. In a recent article in the New York Times, Peter Dinklage was quoted as saying;

“Dwarves are still the butt of jokes. It’s one of the last bastions of acceptable prejudice. Not just by people who’ve had too much to drink in England and want to throw a person. But by media, everything.”  He then went on to indicate that media portrayal is, in part, the fault of actors who are dwarves. “You can say no. You can not be the object of ridicule.” Source

I have to admit to taking on costume work. Back in the 1990’s I donned the hairy body and heavy head of the Smith’s Chips Gobbledok, giving out free packets of chips to children in supermarkets and bustin’ a move on stage with the “Dok Squad”. Despite the great pay it was hard, hot, sometimes dangerous work. I was punched, kicked and wrestled, often by grown men three times my size. I doubt if they even considered there was a human being in that costume, let alone a 35kg woman. I didn’t think much about this type of work at the time. It was a job, I needed the money and I wasn’t “me”. I was hidden inside a full body suit so essentially it was not “Leisa the short statured person” doing the entertaining. It was the suit. I do remember feeling somewhat despondent when dancing in that suit, lamenting the fact that I could actually dance and yet no one would ever know because of the suit. I don’t think I’d do costume work again. It’s too physically demanding and I’m trying to work out if I have a particular moral objection to it. The jury is out on that one.

We have some fabulous actors, dancers, acrobats and entertainers in the short statured community. These people have studied, trained and worked long and hard to perfect their artistic talent. They too, have said “No” to roles that are demeaning and highlight their “difference” rather than their talent. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Australian media started featuring these artists because of their delightful talents rather than focusing on their entertaining physicality? One day I would like to turn on an Australian drama series such as Neighbours or Home and Away and see a short statured person in the background. I would like to see this character appear from time to time, just as an extra. Eventually I would love it if one day the main characters could perhaps ask the short statured person a question such as, “Have you seen Alf today?” and have them respond. Eventually it might be good to see the short statured person being introduced as one of the regular cast members and their involvement in the show having nothing whatsoever to do with their short stature. Maybe on occasion there might be an episode about bullying and the person with short stature may have a lot more to contribute to the plot during that episode.

Its possible folks! It can be done! Has anyone seen the movie Mean Girls with Lindsay Lohan? There is a short statured girl amongst the cast. She portrays a student at the High School featured in the plot. Her stature is not even mentioned. She is simply part of the teenage drama unfolding on screen. She delivers a couple of lines to camera, just as many other characters do, all to do with the plot of the movie. There is nothing that draws any type of attention to her stature at all. The camera angles don’t even highlight it. She’s just there. I love it that she’s just there.

Isn’t that what you want to see? Isn’t that a more accurate portrayal of who we are; just regular people, going about our regular lives at a height of under five foot? I don’t want to be anyone’s entertainment. I want to be me and I want the world to see that too.

In the words of Martin Luther King, “I have a dream!”

Mine is a little different to his, but just as heartfelt.

“I have a dream that my four children will be able to walk down the street without fear of judgement and ridicule; that they will not suffer the humiliation of being someone’s entertainment by being filmed on a Smart Phone, their photos uploaded on someone’s Facebook page or by a bunch of drunken yobbos calling out hurtful remarks. I have a dream that people will see my children and know them by the content of their character rather than their physical stature. “

I understand that the physical stature will be the first thing people see, but all of us have a responsibility for making sure that the way we present ourselves in public reflects the people we really are.