Backlash against casting for an upcoming Disney film highlights the work needed to remove stereotypes in film, says Emma Norris.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a childhood favourite of mine; I had a particular attachment to the dwarf Dopey, carrying a soft toy of him everywhere I went. Of course in the contemporary, we can reflect on the portrayal of the dwarfs, all named childishly after their dominating personality traits – Dopey, Sneezy, Happy, etc. -, as not fully people. The characters are defined, named, only by their disability; the concept of dwarfism becomes a strange caricature, a synonym for this fantastical state of being, a stereotype that finds itself seeping into real-life perceptions of disability.
In response to the news that Disney is creating a live-action remake of the film, set to feature the same portrayal of dwarfism as the original film, actor Peter Dinklage publicly expressed his distaste for the casting choices, deeming them as ‘f*cking backwards’. This isn’t the first time Dinklage has advocated for the proper representation and fair treatment of those with dwarfism, using his 2012 Golden Globe acceptance speech to pay tribute to a man with Dwarfism in England who had been the victim of a violent assault, targeted because of his height. But the truth is, we shouldn’t be relying on people with dwarfism to advocate for fair and accurate representation; in the 21st century, characters shouldn’t be defined by their disabilities and dwarfism shouldn’t repeatedly appear as a personality trait...Keep reading on The Badger.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a childhood favourite of mine; I had a particular attachment to the dwarf Dopey, carrying a soft toy of him everywhere I went. Of course in the contemporary, we can reflect on the portrayal of the dwarfs, all named childishly after their dominating personality traits – Dopey, Sneezy, Happy, etc. -, as not fully people. The characters are defined, named, only by their disability; the concept of dwarfism becomes a strange caricature, a synonym for this fantastical state of being, a stereotype that finds itself seeping into real-life perceptions of disability.
In response to the news that Disney is creating a live-action remake of the film, set to feature the same portrayal of dwarfism as the original film, actor Peter Dinklage publicly expressed his distaste for the casting choices, deeming them as ‘f*cking backwards’. This isn’t the first time Dinklage has advocated for the proper representation and fair treatment of those with dwarfism, using his 2012 Golden Globe acceptance speech to pay tribute to a man with Dwarfism in England who had been the victim of a violent assault, targeted because of his height. But the truth is, we shouldn’t be relying on people with dwarfism to advocate for fair and accurate representation; in the 21st century, characters shouldn’t be defined by their disabilities and dwarfism shouldn’t repeatedly appear as a personality trait...Keep reading on The Badger.