That time period when people with dwarfism were all over everything...

Posted by CosmicBureaucrat@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 38 comments

Time Bandits, the Safety Dance video, Jackass, there was even a "Liliput village" in a German holiday park where people could gawk at people with dwarfism dressed up in costumes.

In hindsight it feels really weird, but I don't know... some of the actors probably enjoyed having a job. Still feels like that just wouldn't be the same today.

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Jonestown_Juice@reddit

I love Willow and I won't hear this movie being disparaged. It's a treasure.

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CosmicBureaucrat@reddit (OP)

Highlighting the noticeable presence of people with dwarfism was not meant to imply that the films are bad.

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Taint_Flicker@reddit

Out of my way peck!

I've had this movie stolen multiple times, and I always make sure to replace it. One of those movies that just holds a special place in my memories.

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NW_Forester@reddit

I watched Time Bandits for the first time ever this year and it wasn't great IMO.

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Scrapla1@reddit

Time Bandits always gave me nightmares. Something about the whole aesthetic and the scene where they push the bedroom wall always freaked me out.

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rearwindowpup@reddit

What did you think about the show on Apple TV?

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BrooklynRobot@reddit

The ending is a literal nightmare. Parents are dead.

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petshopB1986@reddit

I used to run down hallways thinking the Supreme Being was after me.

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CosmicBureaucrat@reddit (OP)

How sure are you that it isn't though?

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RealityOk9823@reddit

Just don't touch the stuff in the microwave.

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VesDoppelganger@reddit

"RETURN WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN FROM ME!"

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Kitchen-Fisherman280@reddit

Warwick Davis walked so Peter Dinklage could run

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goose-and-fish@reddit

Peter Dinklage shut the door behind him.

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Last big movie I remember with dwarfs in it aside from Peter dinklage was mirror mirror. There's been a trend not to use dwarfs starting in the 2010s. I didn't know if this is a good thing or an over correction, a lot of dwarf actors simply aren't being discovered or featured anymore.

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Mike__O@reddit

Fuck Peter Dinklage and his ladder pulling ass. Bro made it to the A-list and then went on some bullshit crusade to make sure that no other actor with dwarfism could follow in his footsteps

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weltvonalex@reddit

There is still Gary Oldman who can be the key to unlock that mess.

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JWWBurger@reddit

What did he do?

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luxtabula@reddit

Whether it's true or not, dinklage basically advocated for better representation for little people that also coincided with fewer getting hired and more normal sized actors playing the dwarf roles with special effects. My wife and I joke about this a lot, not sure if it's true though.

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megamanx4321@reddit

Thanks to Peter Dinklage, none of them can be actors but him.

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weltvonalex@reddit

Or Gary Oldman

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mikemclovin@reddit

Or Warrick Davis

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

I can find humor in almost anything, but aside from Me Myself and Irene this just wasn't my bag.

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rearwindowpup@reddit

Why am I peeing like I was up all night having sex!?

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BeSeeVeee@reddit

This era was at the tail end of Star Wars. I wonder if they recruited people for Star Wars and they became pretty decent actors, so then there’s a network of actors with dwarfism…. Is that how that happened?

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augustwest30@reddit

Time Bandits scared the crap out of me.

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cheffartsonurfood@reddit

Legend (Tom Cruise) .

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Noname_Maddox@reddit

And in the 80’s, culture seemed absolutely obsessed with the medieval period. The amount of films and music videos with a medieval theme was insane.

And they had to get a little person to dress up and be gross for some reason. The more disturbing the better it seemed. I never understood it.

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CosmicBureaucrat@reddit (OP)

Seriously! The video for Safety Dance is a good case in point. Why on earth did they think that the best visuals for this particular song would be prancing about in faux medieval clothes?

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neuro_space_explorer@reddit

Jackass is a weird one to throw in since it was a good 10+ years after everything else mentioned

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CosmicBureaucrat@reddit (OP)

Yeah, fair I just threw it in there as an undeniably Xennial show. I don't know in my mind that's all kinda teen-ish stuff.

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Moonskaraos@reddit

It was a short period of time, but yes, dwarfs were all the rage.