hi!! if ur still doing the media opinions, i’m watching little evil (2017) right now. there was a joke where the two main characters are looking for a demon hunter and assume a guy who is average height and muscular is the demon hunter, but then it cuts to a man (a little person played by brad williams) saying he is the demon hunter. it doesn’t show his face and it kind of felt like the joke was “haha he’s a little person”. then he’s called “a little demon hunter” by a main character and immediately dies in a car crash 😭 i started typing that when just the introduction had happened but then got to his death. my parents (we are not little people) are insisting this is not weird and frankly kind of ableist, and think this is Representation. what are your thoughts on this as a little person?
Hello! Yes, I am always answering questions surrounding dwarfism representation in media! Feel free to send questions my way!
In Little Evil (2017) it is clear that Brad William's character was only there for comic relief before immediately dying - this is not good representation. This happens a lot in comedic horror films, wherein a marginalized character is killed off early and really only used for humour at their expense - often they are black, fat, queer, etc. It feels like a very extreme way to say that these characters do not matter in their world, and is essentially a nod to real world discrimination.
For more on that, consider the following videos:
The Take's "Why the Disabled Villain Trope is so Offensive":
Rowan Ellis' "Bury Your Gays: Why do LGBTQ+ Characters Always have to Die?"
Princess Weekes' "Black Trauma vs. Black Horror":