# How is "Little Man" not like blackface? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843 "2006-11-10T06:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/1 "2006-11-10T06:24:01Z")
Here we have a couple of standard-size people who write a script that’s nothing but midget jokes. But instead of getting a little person to play the lead, they graft one of their own heads onto a little actor’s body. How is that different than if a white comic wrote a script that consisted entirely of racial jokes, and wore black makeup to play the role himself? How, exactly, would that be different? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/2 "2006-11-10T06:30:12Z")
Are you looking for a defense of this waste of celluloid? Because I doubt you’ll find one. I suppose, first, you’d have to find someone who actually watched it… and I know some people did. Will they admit to it though? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/3 "2006-11-10T06:34:09Z")
No, not a defense; just, is my parallel wrong? Is it not, explicitly, exactly, the same thing as if a white comic had done a movie of racial jokes in blackface? I want somebody to explain to me how it’s not the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/4 "2006-11-10T06:36:49Z")
You don’t even have to make a midget/ethnicity analogy to see it as blackface. There’s a strong undercurrent in the (thankfully few) bits I’ve seen, stating in essence that “Black people are intellectually inferior, ignorant-but-sassy, physically gifted, obsessed with sex, and liable to break into joyous dancing at any moment.” Add to this the fact that these same filmmakers made the execrable _White Chicks_, and presto! Racial-sensitivity cocktail! Seriously, this movie might as well have a character named “Little Black Sambo.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/5 "2006-11-10T06:44:24Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] You don’t even have to make a midget/ethnicity analogy to see it as blackface. There’s a strong undercurrent in the (thankfully few) bits I’ve seen, stating in essence that “Black people are intellectually inferior, ignorant-but-sassy, physically gifted, obsessed with sex, and liable to break into joyous dancing at any moment.” [/QUOTE] None of which, even among modern films, is unique to _Little Man_. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/6 "2006-11-10T11:05:55Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Here we have a couple of standard-size people who write a script that’s nothing but midget jokes. But instead of getting a little person to play the lead, they graft one of their own heads onto a little actor’s body. How is that different than if a white comic wrote a script that consisted entirely of racial jokes, and wore black makeup to play the role himself? How, exactly, would that be different? [/QUOTE] Maybe because it doesn’t have the history behind it that blackface has? Eddie Murphy has dressed up as a caucasion when he was on Saturday Night Live, Coming to America, and maybe a few other times I’m not aware of, and I don’t recall anyone comparing his act to blackface. How about the use of a heavy actress stand in when Paltrow wasn’t wearing her fat suit in Shallow Hal, echoes of black face? I don’t really have an answer I just have a lot of questions. I didn’t see Little Man for the same reason I didn’t see White Chicks. I like to think I have some taste in movies and this is coming from a guy who really enjoyed Hell Comes to Frogtown starring Roddy Piper. When I saw trailers for Little Man I immediately thought of those old Bugs Bunny cartoons where the short gangster hides out by disguising himself as a baby. I think there was even have a scene in the cartoon where he’s shaving while smoking a cigar like they had in the trailer. Having a little person with his normal head probably wouldn’t have been as funny. Though in this case I’m using a rather loose definition of funny. Marc ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/7 "2006-11-10T12:47:07Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Here we have a couple of standard-size people who write a script that’s nothing but midget jokes. But instead of getting a little person to play the lead, they graft one of their own heads onto a little actor’s body. How is that different than if a white comic wrote a script that consisted entirely of racial jokes, and wore black makeup to play the role himself? [/QUOTE] I think the key difference with “Little Man” is that they weren’t having the actor put on stereotypical “midget” behaviour. Aside from being short, dwarves don’t really even HAVE any sort of stereotypical behaviour assigned to them. The purpose of blackface was to put on a show involving a stereotype of blacks as happy-go-lucky, melon-eatin’ idiots. The purpose of the special effects in “Little Man” was to effect an astoundingly lame-ass story that didn’t really have anything to do with a stereotype of dwarves. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-little-man-not-like-blackface/379843/8 "2006-11-10T14:00:06Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Aside from being short, dwarves don’t really even HAVE any sort of stereotypical behaviour assigned to them. [/QUOTE] Sure they do: They’re an insular society to the point of pathology, have a deep love of manual craft, and are capable of holding grudges for a _long_ time. Dwarfs (or “little people,” if you prefer,) on the other hand, don’t have much in the way of stereotypical behavior assigned to them, apart from being prone to getting a bit ticked off when people refer to them as “dwarves.” 😛