Dwarfs have more to offer to cinema

We have not heard from Peter Dinklage in a while.

He seemingly disappeared after Game of Thrones, which is disappointing, because he was brilliant as Tyrion Lannister. A brief Google search shows that he has been quite busy, starring in films like Roofman, Idiots, and Wicker that I have never heard of.

Dinklage sparked a debate a few years back when he criticized Disney’s live- action Snow White remake for recreating the ‘Seven Dwarfs’ trope.

Many think that discussion died when Snow White debuted and spectacularly failed, but that could not be further from the truth. Hollywood and the world are still grappling with the idea of little people and their place in entertainment.

Admittedly, many modern viewers don’t understand why little people are upset or what they even want. It was not that long ago that little people/ dwarfs were dismissed as nature’s defects.

They commonly appeared at the circus, where morally questionable individuals would throw them into cages, presenting them as grotesque freaks for the public to gawk at. Even after they joined mainstream entertainment, stories of abuse and exploitation followed them.

That could not be more different today. Little people have become a mainstay of popular fantasy, typically presented as mythical creatures with a great work ethic, a knack for smithing, and a stout heart that seeks justice above all else.

The average millennial has fond memories of Davies Warwick as Willow or even Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films. They don’t understand why little people like Dinklage would take offense at their portrayal in modern cinema.

Therein lies the challenge. Ideas of what counts as offensive and unacceptable tend to vary from person to person, depending on one’s history and experiences. As an individual of average size (the term little people/dwarf usually refers to anyone of 4ft 10 inches or shorter), you see the dwarfs in Snow White and immediately applaud their generosity.

You can’t help but commend them for quickly embracing Snow White into their community despite knowing nothing about her. Dinklage’s response is quite different. He does not understand why that story infantilizes the dwarfs, turning them into child-like characters for Snow White to mother, even though she is more of a child than they are.

He also takes offense at Hollywood’s habit of treating dwarfs like a novelty. In other words, you don’t care about Snow White’s dwarfs because of their engaging personalities. Instead, people only notice them because of their small size and disproportionate bodies.

This approach has influenced almost every story with a dwarf that studios tell worldwide. They make no effort to turn dwarf characters into three-dimensional individuals with interesting motives.

This is the paradigm people like Dinklage want to change. They accept that parts for little people exist, but no one writes juicy roles for them. You rarely see little people as lawyers, assassins, architects, teachers, and the like. Uganda is no different.

Our music, film, and television industries will only use dwarfs in situations where the public can laugh at them, which is why Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister made such a splash. People flocked to their screens to watch him every week because of his wit and intelligence.

The character’s size was a minor consideration. In that same regard, you have not heard of Dinklage’s recent roles in films like Wicker, because they don’t rely on his size to attract interest. I don’t expect Uganda to follow suit.

We don’t know how to treat little people as anything other than a gimmick. But you can change that. The next time you write a role for a dwarf, ask yourself, is your character still entertaining if you remove his size from the equation? If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board and try again.

mbjjnr8@gmail.com

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المصدر: The Observer (Uganda)