#please let me know if there is terminology i should change
Cara Reedy’s Being a Little Person in America: ‘We’re Still Treated as Less Than Human’ details the discrimination that people with dwarfism face, and the history that fuels it.If you’re looking to learn about the lives of little people today, I highly recommend this short documentary!!
“There is violence in objectifying people and their bodies. It’s not inspirational that we had to trade on our appearance in order to make a living”
“The oppression of little people deeply rooted in American culture is one of the last accepted forms of discrimination”
Video description start.
A video by The Guardian titled: Being a Little Person in America: ‘We’re still treated as less than human’. The video follows and is narrated by Cara Reedy, a Black woman with achondroplastic dwarfism.
The opening sequence follows Cara as she walks into an NYC subway station and gets on a train. Cara’s narration says: “My name is Cara Reedy. I’m a writer and podcaster living in New York City. I’m also one of an estimated 90,000 people with dwarfism in the US. As a dwarf, or little person as it’s sometimes called, my body is always on display. I’m stared at, followed, had the word midget screamed at me and been discriminated against at work.” Several video clips from other sources of dwarves are shown. One shows someone dancing on a stage. The next is from the Jerry Springer show. A banner on the bottom says, “Stick situations”, and the clip shows two dwarves fighting in an inflatable pool while a show host and audience watch and cheer.
The next shot shows Cara looking out the window of a car as the narration says, “From the way I’ve been treated and from the way the media still portrays us, it still seems acceptable to treat us as something less than human. I’m on a journey to understand why and to find out what it means to be a little person in America today.”
Cara is briefly seen walking on the pavement with another dwarf, and then the video cuts to a sequence of other dwarves talking briefly. These clips go as follows:
A woman sitting on a white couch says, “Little people are kind of like, the last acceptable blackface.”
A wrestling ring with two dwarves and a referee is shown. Narration says, “We believe the same, our hearts are the same, we’re just little, we’re just short stature.” The speaker is shown to be a bald man.
A dwarf woman walks with her husband, who is pushing a stroller. Accompanying them are two kids on scooters and Cara.
A new speaker says, “We need to be allowed to tell others what it means to be a little person.” A dwarf in a motorised wheelchair is shown lecturing a university class. They are revealed to be the speaker and say, “So that’s what we’re fighting for.”
The title card shows underlined white text on a black background that reads: “Dwarfism and Me”. The next shot is a view of traffic from a car with text that says, “St Louis, Missouri.” Cara is shown riding in a car with text that introduces her as a journalist. Her narration says, “I’ve come back to my home of St Louis to understand how the perception of my own dwarfism began.”
Cara greets and hugs a Black man with a cane and an older man getting out of a car. Her narration explains, “I was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism.” She and her family are shown sitting on a couch. Her father, Sidney Reedy, says, “The first thing that happened, you’ve just been delivered and I thought, ‘oh what a gorgeous child.’” Several clips of baby Cara with various nurses are shown as her father says, “And the aide said, ‘oh my God, look at her, look what’s wrong with her!’ ‘Look at that, look at that.’ Well, two other aides hustled him out of the room.” Back on the couch, Cara asks, “What did you guys feel like? What happened?” Sidney replies, “We looked at her and we were like, ‘are you blind? This is a perfect child. She’s gorgeous.”
Cara’s mother says, “My first instinct was to protect you because I knew, you know, that it wasn’t gonna be easy.” A brief shot is shown of baby Cara with her mother, followed by several still images. The first is of an older Cara sitting at a school table with classmates. The second is one of her being carried bridal style by a teenage boy. The third is of her at some event with several classmates. Her narration says, “Once I get to high school, it changed, when I really started to feel it at like 14, 15.”
On the couch Sidney says, “Do you remember and we went to the Natural History Museum, maybe, in Chicago? There was a group of Cub Scouts. One of the cubs saw you and pointed you out to the others.” Cara nods, and Sidney continues, “Well, the display cases were large and you were trying to kind of duck around the display case. And that was just—” Cara cuts in and says, “That used to be my tactic, was to hide behind things to like get away. You don’t want to be seen and, like, pointed at.”
As she continues speaking, more photos are shown. One shows her with three friends, presumably her friend and their respective prom dates. The next is a photo of young Cara in a white dress with flowers in her hair. Cara’s narration says, “It was the first time I realised that people don’t even realise that they’re prejudiced, they just do things because they think it’s, well, of course this is the way it is.”
The outside of her house is briefly shown, followed by a shot of a basketball hoop. Now outside, Cara says, “There’s no one happier than a happier kid, which I was often, but I also … when there’s disappointment it’s pretty low and I had quite a few knocks. It taught me very early to fight and stand up for myself.” She is shown back inside looking at a photo album with her family. One of the photos shows young Cara with face paint and a red and white apron. Back outside, Cara continues, “When you hit a certain point in your adult years, it does wear you out.”
The next sequence shows Cara on a train. Her narration says, “I want to hear from others in the community, so I’m headed to meet Rebecca Coakley, a former Obama appointee who oversaw diversity efforts from the administration. Two of her children also have dwarfism.” Cara is shown walking up to a house and is welcomed inside by Rebecca, a white woman with dwarfism. Inside, Cara greets a small child with, “Hi.” The child says, “Hi.” Cara says, “How are you?” The child smiles shyly and says, “Good.” The camera briefly pans over to another small child, who is smiling.
A scene of Rebecca in the kitchen is shown, followed by a photo of her with President Obama and a group of others. She is then shown sitting on her couch, with text introducing her as a Disability rights activist. Rebecca’s narration says, “When I worked in the administration, I had a meeting with the civil rights leader who told me that he found it so inspirational that President Obama would hire a handi-capable person like me. You know, it’s a great example of charity that you’re here and I remember just being like, OK we just need to move on at this point because otherwise there’ s going to be an incident, I don’t want an incident.” A shot is shown of her children at the table eating. Back on the couch, she says, “People don’t believe the shit that averages say to us until they actually witness it and then it’s like, they’ve been pulled out of the matrix and they’re like, oh my God. This is a real thing.”
Cara asks, “Why do you think that the prejudice still exists?”
Rebecca replies, “You can’t erase vaudeville, you can’t erase the fact that our people were bought and sold across circuses as actual literal property. The fact that our people were forcibly bred to create more entertainers.” Several black and white clips play. The first is a line of dwarves in wedding clothes. The next is a man and a woman on a stage dancing for a crowd. The next is a dwarf man knocking a man in a fat suit to the ground in front of a group of spectators. Back on the couch, Rebecca continues, “The fact that we still have people perpetuating a lot of that doesn’t help.”
Cara says, “People in our own community.” And Rebecca repeats, “People in our own community.” A clip from a show is shown where several dwarf women in American football jerseys get in a fight, with one grabbing a platter to hit the others with. The next clip shows a dwarf man dancing on a stage with a city skyline backdrop. It is revealed that he is dancing for a panel of judges on a show. Rebecca says, “When you see shows that perpetuate the idea that we’re clowns. That doesn’t make it easier for those of us out here trying to change the world for the better and get humanity to perceive us more as humans.”
A black and white clip is shown of a dwarf in clown makeup shaking a child’s hand. The next is a colourised clip of a dwarf and an average in fighting shorts. The dwarf is circling the average. The next is a colorised clip of a dwarf at a baseball game being handed a bat and throwing it at the ball. Cara says, “The fetishisation of dwarfs has long been part of American popular culture. From the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, the bodies of little people were objectified as entertainment at sideshows and exhibits. In the early 20th century, midget villages were built. Miniature cities that average-height people could tour and watch people with dwarfism live their daily lives.”
A black and white sequence shows one of these miniature cities, with a few average people walking among a crowd of dwarves in formal wear. The next clip shows an average standing on a box surrounded by other average people. Directly in front of him are a few dwarves, and the average in the middle is saying, “I’m going to show you the size of these little people, by having them sit down one in each one of my hands.” He picks up two of them and shows them to the crowd as he says, “And when you go in here, you’re going to see 158 of them.” A shot of a crowd is shown as Cara says, “America’s obsession with our size has left a lasting and damaging image that has continued to this day.”
Next, Cara is shown walking up to another house. Her narration says, “To understand more, I’ve come to meet Marc Hartzman, a sideshow enthusiast and author.”
Marc opens his door, and he and Cara both say “hi” and “nice to meet you.” Inside, Marc pulls a photo out of a display case and hands it to Cara as he asks, “Did you get Tom Thumb. And his wife?” The photo is a sepia photo of Tom and his wife in their wedding clothes. Cara’s narration says, “He also collects vintage images of dwarves.”
Cara and Marc are shown in his couch. He is introduced as the author of American Sideshow. He is showing her photos in a book as he says, “I think she was the world’s lightest woman. I think ever. These are the wild man of Borneo. But their real names were Barney and Harem Davis of Long Island.”
Cara asks, “What was the attraction seeing little people in sideshows?”
Marc occasionally gestures at his book as he answers, “With anyone in sideshow, it was they were somebody different. Right, so you had the tall people, you had the super-thin people, the very heavy people. Anything that was different and then you have of course the little people. And so this was something you didn’t see very often. Because they thought they were cute little people and ‘look how adorable they are.’ They were unique and they were dressed up like a perfect little miniature adult. I find it inspirational always that these people were able to take the situation they were in and make the most of it and live a life. They were in many ways really extraordinary.”
Cara responds, “To me it kind of dehumanises people that have differences. For you, like, you’re seeing this and like this has changed but for us, we still see this. Like, in our life.” Marc makes a noise of acknowledgement. Cara goes on, “Seeing midget villages that’s something that gets screamed at me a lot. Like, just in the streets and stuff. So when you see it written down and that people were—”
Marc interjects to ask, “The term ‘midget,’ you mean?”
Cara answers, “Oh yeah, like people just scream stuff at me.”
Marc asks, “People really say that at you?”
Cara nods and says, “Every day. Every day.”
Marc says, “That’s amazing. I would think people would look and try not to look.”
Cara says, “It’s just, I see these voyeuristic photos of these people’s bodies, and that’s me going on the subway.”
Marc says, “Right.”
More shots from inside Marc’s house are shown as Cara’s narration says, “I left feeling like Marc didn’t quite understand how harmful sideshows were and their effect on how dwarves continue to be seen. There is violence and objectifying people and their bodies. It’s not inspirational that we had to trade on our appearance in order to make a living.”
A wide shot of a city is shown with underlined white text that says, “Indianapolis, Indiana.” Cara’s narration says, “Remnants of the sideshow continue to exist. In Indianapolis, I’ve come to meet a traveling group of dwarfed wrestlers, called the micro wrestlers.” She is shown walking up to a trailer with a group of people outside, one of whom is an average who shakes her hand. Her narration says, “Jack Hillegass runs the show, a full-scale WWE-type event with an entire cast under five-feet tall.”
The wrestlers are shown exiting the trailer, and then the video cuts to clips inside. Cara’s narration says, “In the venue, there was an excitable, heavy-drinking crowd that more than once mistook me for a wrestler.” She is shown walking through a crowd. The next shot introduces two of the wrestlers, with Cara’s narration saying, “Jacob Brooks is from Mississippi and has been wrestling since high school. He earns $300 a night wrestling under the name Little Show the Redneck Brawler.”
Jacob and Cara are shown talking. Cara asks, “Was this always your dream to be a wrestler?”
Jacob says, “Yeah.”
Cara asks, “Like, this was it?”
Jacob says, “Yeah, this is it. You know, because I don’t really know what else I can do. I mean, I’m pretty good at it. I gonna get up there and do stuff that they’d never thought they’d see a little person do. Because, my man, you know, we bleed the same, our hearts are the same we’re just little. We’re just short stature.” He is shown oiling his leg.
Cara asks, “What was it like growing up? The two of you? As little people, you were the only ones.” The camera pans to a man who is presumably Jacob’s brother.
Jacob answers, “Yeah, like our dad he grew us up, he’s like, look worrying, world’s not gonna feel sorry for you because you’re short. Whenever he found out that we wanna wrestle, he’s like, ‘you sure that’s what y’all want to do?’ I was like, ‘yes, sir!’ He was like, ‘if you go and do it, you’re gonna be the best at it.’”
A clip of the crowd is shown as an announcer says, “Micro camp’s number one, from the barren lands of Mississippi, this is the Redneck Brawler, Little Show.” Jacob is shown approaching the ring in the center of the crowd with his arms raised. Inside the ring, he speaks into a microphone and says something unintelligible, followed by, “I’m going to chew them up and spit them out. Because I am the Redneck Brawler!” At these last words, he points directly at the camera as the crowd cheers.
Cara narrates over shots of the wrestling. She says, “I was ready to hate what I saw but I was impressed by the athleticism and talent of the wrestlers. They fly through the air, fling each other across the ring, jump from the top ropes. But at the same time, there was lots of laughing from the crowd. More than once I heard people say how cute they thought they were, and I couldn’t help but feel that our bodies were yet again being exploited for the sake of entertainment.”
She continues, “Backstage, I spoke to the owner Jack Hillegass.” She is shown talking to Jack, the white average who had shaken her hand outside the trailer. She asks, “What’s the attraction of micro wrestling?”
Text introduces Jack as the co-owner of Micro Championship Wrestling as he says, “It’s not the wrestling. People are here for the little people, and they leave intoxicated because they couldn’t believe the athleticism that they saw.” More wrestling clips are shown.
Cara asks, “Do you ever feel like you’re exploiting little people?”
Jack answers, with a few shots of the wrestlers interspersed with shots of his face. He says, “You can’t exploit someone if they’re doing something they love. You know, these were kids that were born with a disadvantage in life and they were told, you’re not gonna be able to work normal jobs like most people. Now they’re living their dreams as professional wrestlers. This is like my third group of little people who have worked for me and this by far is my most talented and most cohesive group of kids.”
A shot is shown of someone taking a picture of Jack with the wrestlers on a mobile phone. The photographer says “Here we go, one two three, say ‘micro.’” The people being photographed say, “Micro!”
They hug, and then Cara is shown saying, “I left with sort of like a complicated perception. In one hand, like, they’re super athletic, they’re very talented at what they do, so I guess my problem is that when you’ve got a marginalised group, like little people, like us, does it hurt the cause? And I don’t know.” More wrestling clips are shown, and Cara continues, “Do we tell them to stop doing it? Just because some drunk people can’t see past their height. I don’t know. I don’t know.” She shakes her head.
A wide shot of a city is shown with underlined white text that says, “Los Angeles, California.” Cara’s narration says, “Los Angeles, where for generations the image of little people has been defined.”
Cara is shown walking along pavement with a Latina dwarf. Cara’s narration says, “Selena Luna is a Mexican-American actor, who’s trying to change that representation. She’s featured in Pixar’s Coco, starred in Margaret Cho’s the Cho Show and toured with Dita Von Teese’s burlesque show.” Clips from each of these are shown as Cara mentions them.
A building labelled, “Improv comedy club” is shown. Cara’s narration explains, “Lately she’s been focusing on her stand-up comedy career.”
Selena is shown performing on stage. She says, “So over the holidays, I went to a Christmas party with a host, took it upon himself to hire a bunch of little people to dress up as Christmas elves and hand out appetisers. All night, party guests kept coming up to me, it’s like, ‘oh well, where’s your little uniform?’ What? Like a little bitch just can’t be at a party?”
The crowd, including Cara, laughs. In the next sequence, Cara and Selena are sitting on a long white couch in front of a decorated wall with a neon purple sign that says, “Hello darling.” Cara asks, “What’s your view of using your comedy to change the representation game for little people?”
Text introduces Selena as an actress and comedian. She answers, “If I try to illustrate to people that we have regular experiences like anyone else, I mean that’s what I talk a lot about my marriage, you know, I have a normal-sized husband, and I talk about that, and people are shocked that I’m not married to like a Keebler elf, you know?” Cara laughs. Selena goes on, “I don’t understand how little people are kind of like, I don’t know how to say this, the last acceptable blackface in the world portrayed in entertainment as a creature, a mystical monster. Why is it not important for little people to be represented in a dignified manner?”
Cara says, “I think everybody who has support for us has to kind of come out of that and work through it and it can take a really long time. When did you have that moment where you were like, I’m going to figure this out?”
Selena answers, “When I was 35 years old, where I turned the corner and I finally accepted this is my circumstance, I need to live with it without anger, without resentment and create a life for myself that I create, that I make work without depending on outside validation.”
Cara is shown in the back of a car. The city goes by as her narration says, “Like Selena, I had to push past my own anger to create a positive identity for myself.”
The next shot is from the back of a university lecture hall. Cara’s narration says, “Joseph Stramondo, a professor of philosophy and bioethics at San Diego State University has written much about embracing that identity.”
The video cuts to the front, where Joseph is mid-sentence and is saying, “a particular kind of action that violates our duty.”
The next shot shows Cara walking alongside Joseph’s wheelchair somewhere outside. They are then sat at a table, and Joseph is saying, “There is thousands of years of mainstream culture defining the meaning of what it is to bea little person but to them that identity is the Oompa Loompas, a freak show.” Cara is shown nodding. Text introduces Jospeh as a Professor of philosophy and bioethics. He says, “The question is, do you think I understand that this has the potential to be a positive identity? That can originate from the community itself and that isn’t placed upon them? In order for the community to succeed in defining itself, we need to be given the cultural space to do that, right? We need to be allowed to tell others what it means to be a little person, in a sense, right? So that’s what we’re fighting for.”
A shot is shown of Rebecca, the first person Cara visited, walking with her husband and kids. On a bench outside, Cara asks her, “How do you see their future? And do you have hope that the world’s going to change so it’s gonna be better for them?”
Rebecca answers, “I would like them to not really feel like their expectations have to be perceived through like an abled gaze, that they can have a career, that they can have a family, the skills and knowledge that they need to push back.” The sequence ends with an extended shot of one of Rebecca’s children riding their scooter.
In the back of a car, Cara looks out the window. Scenes from the video are repeated as her narration says, “I’ve spent the last few months exploring dwarfism in a deeper way than I ever have before. I’ve realised that the oppression of little people deeply rooted in American culture is one of the last accepted forms of discrimination. In many ways, it still defines our lives but the people I’ve met during this journey have made me understand that there is a thriving movement to reclaim our identity based not in the way society sees us but by the way we see ourselves.”
The video ends with a cut to The Guardian’s logo and the credits, which read:
Dwarfism and Me
Director, camera, edit: Tom Silverstone
Executive Producer: Katie Lamborn
Reporter: Cara Reedy
Colour Grade: Lee Eaton
Sound Mix: Guy Hixon
Description end.
