I have heard people with dwarfism on television talk about the way they are treated in society -- that people stare, point at them, pat their heads, make fun, etc. Even so, it was surprising to me to see Fin treated as such an oddity. I assume this was partially because he was in such a remote area of New Jersey, but really, have these people never seen a dwarf before? The woman who took his picture in the convenience store? Fin's reaction was priceless.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Dwarfism
I have heard people with dwarfism on television talk about the way they are treated in society -- that people stare, point at them, pat their heads, make fun, etc. Even so, it was surprising to me to see Fin treated as such an oddity. I assume this was partially because he was in such a remote area of New Jersey, but really, have these people never seen a dwarf before? The woman who took his picture in the convenience store? Fin's reaction was priceless.
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I also wondered whether that was realistic. Sometimes the more subtle ways his size came up were more effective -- being unable to defend the girl from her ex-boyfriend, and getting frustrated when Joe asked him about sex with average- or same-sized women.
This is an interesting quote from an interview with Peter Dinklage:
"A couple of years ago, I was on the subway, and I felt this hand on my shoulder," he recalls. "There's this woman, probably around 65, who says to me, 'I'm sorry, I just needed luck today.' Like, I'm a leprechaun. Ewww. It's so violating."
I think they had to show quite a bit of annoying reactions to his condition, otherwise he wouldn't have had sufficient motivation for being so withdrawn.
I don't think the movie overstated the reaction people have to dwarfism (or anything that's out of the ordinary). I think when you have something about you that makes you different you are aware of even the quickest glances in your direction, not to mention the brazen staring and questions you attract. Probably some dwarves would think that the movie did not do enough to show how awful people can be!
I think the movie did a nice job showing how physically vulnerable Fin was — what courage it took for him to stand up to the mean boyfriend, knowing it was a fight he could not possibly win. And emotinally vulnerable. And why he retreated from society and all the pain it offered. The emotional armor he made for himself was so thick that only someone with Joe's determination could have made a chink in it.
I liked the resolution on that storyline when Fin had the courage to talk with the class -- one kid gets pulled out; everyone else settles down. There's always going to be an asshole in every crowd. Beyond that, the rest will appreciate what he has to offer.
I was a little surprised that Fin didn't stand up for the little boy. He wasn't really being mean, and there's no way a boy of his age could've known any better anyway. I thought Fin had grown enough that he would have been able to laugh off the comment.
I don't recall exactly how that scene went. First he interrupted Fin to ask how tall he was (in a kind of challenging, hostile voice). then the teacher got on him. Fin did reply to the kid. He said he was 4 feet 5 inches. Then the kid said something else, despite the teacher's warning (What did he say?), and the teacher saw that the only solution was to remove him, lest the whole hour become a discussion of Fin's height rather than trains. I think Cleo's saying that the kid "sucked" (or whatever she said about him) was an indicator to us the audience that it wasn't a nice kid with an innocent question but a mean kid who probably always acted inappropriately and ruined things for others. After all, Cleo had had her own curiosity about Fin, but it wasn't expressed with hostility or disgust, as the boy's was.
And I think maybe we were supposed to understand that kid as probably being the child of some of the rude townspeople who never had the decency to teach their children that it was cruel to stare and be confrontational.
It brings up an interesting "Lord-of-the-Flies" sort of point, though, regarding whether kids, absent training, are naturally cruel about differences/perceived handicaps or are naturally accepting.
The second thing the kid said was to point out that he was taller than Fin. It wasn’t nice, but that and more should be expected from kids that age.
I don't know. I certainly wouldn't have pointed out someone's handicap at that age. I would have been curious and probably would have asked my mom "what's wrong with him?" but I knew better than to stare or make a spectacle.
And all the other kids knew better, too. I'm with Christy on this: He was the asshole in the crowd.
Yeah, those kids were at least 11 or 12. They would know better.
But I had the same expectation, Ben, that Fin would respond to the kid and stop the teacher from removing him.
For one thing, he expected it -- I think that’s why he didn’t want to go to the school -- his life experience had prepared him for the blunt approach of some kids. Since he had decided to go ahead anyway, I really expected him to be more prepared for it.
Of course, he may have just not wanted to go because he was a bad speaker.
And while some kids would know not to say anything, some wouldn’t. If adults were treating him badly, how much more would be expected from 11 and 12 year olds? I was surprised that he was the only one. I thought that the kids as a group would have laughed at him. Which they sort of did, when he said, "Tom Thumb."
The kid didn't seem curious to me, he seemed rude. I think Cleo's comment also gave his character some context. Interesting. I will have to watch that again.
You’re right, cl, he was rude, not just curious.
Um, isn't that what I said?
Yes, I agree that both of you that he was rude, but I think in a room full of kids some of that is to be expected.
Yes, one might expect that from kids, and he did. That's exactly what I said much earlier today in my comment on Erin's "Cleo" post.
Like you and Erin, I thought for a moment that Fin would "take on" the kid, too — like intervene in the kid's getting kicked out and try to explain his condition, but I don't think he was up to that. I mean, he answered the kid's ill-toned question about his height, and then the kid decided to taunt him about being taller. Where could it have gone from there? He wasn't a kid with idle curiosity, and his hostility wasn't something that was going to be cured within the hour by explanations from Fin about dwarfism. Fin wasn't there to talk about dwarfism; he wasn't there to help the kid not be a bigot; he was there to talk about trains. That's my take on why he didn't "defend" the kid, even though, like you, I initially thought he might.
I also think some of that was at work when Fin refused to indulge Joe's sex talk, even though Joe was not hostile at all. I think in Fin's mind it was natural to be curious about people who are different from you; but it's (generally) quite rude to express that curiosity to the person who's different. I mean, just because someone is naturally curious about something doesn't mean they have any kind of right to have that curiosity satisfied by the person in question, especially if it's likely very painful for that person to talk about it. Fin was extremely private, and he volunteered information when he felt comfortable and safe and trusting in doing so.
That's what I thought, too. I used to watch a show called "Little People, Big World" about a dwarf couple and their kids (one dwarf, three average-height kids). And the dad on that show was a big political and social advocate, was very involved in Little People of America, did inspirational speaking, etc. And if that guy had been in Fin's position in the classroom scene, he would have seized the opportunity to teach the kids about dwarfism and diversity and help them see him as a human being rather than an oddity. And I think maybe I initially expected Fin to do the same thing because that show has been my main experience with little people. But then I thought, Fin is nothing like that assertive, outgoing guy on that show. I mean, he had opened up to his new friends by that point, and he was obviously more willing to take some risks, but he hadn't changed his entire personality.
You're right, kc, it does make sense that he didn't engage the kid. I didn't really think about it until you said he was just there to talk about trains. I really think there were two parts to his reluctance to go -- one was that he feared the children's reaction to his dwarfism, and the other was that he wasn't comfortable speaking in front of a group. The way he read from the cards showed that he wasn't totally comfortable with speaking to the class, and it was all he could do just to talk about trains -- he wouldn't have been able to engage the kid.
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