I was watching this documentary program on cable while folding laundry, it's about a particular disorder - primordial dwarfism - that results in children that are smaller and frailer than other types of dwarfs, and who typically don't live beyond the age of 30. It's interesting enough hearing stories about growing up different from other kids and how adults with the disorder work to try to boost the self-esteem of young primordial dwarf children.
Then they get to a profile of Danny, the guy in the picture above, and the interviewer talks about how he got to go to homecoming and his romantic life, and then she asks, "How long would you like to live?" And I was staggered at the insensitivity and condescension inherent in that question. How long do you want to live, interview lady? Of course, the guy answers, "Sixty or seventy" because what else is he going to say? "I hope to make it to forty but that's it, because my life is a worthless parody of normalcy"?
And this was in the final cut of the thing. Jeez.
1 comment:
I TOTALLY AGREE... i believe that if someone asked a "normal" sized person that question then they would get looked at as if they had two heads. i have primordial dwarfism diese and i am 14 years old i hate being ostrisized and being given special attention just because of my size. i can do anything big people do. i play soccer and i swim. i agree with you fully.
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