“The next time you see someone who is different than you, think about what their day might be like, think about all the events of their life leading up to that point, and think about their day — and think about what part of their day you want to be?”
This pertinent question was posed at the end of a short documentary film by Jonathon Novick.
Novick is a dwarf with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. One of my absolute best mates also has achondroplasia and I have had the eye-opening, if deeply depressing, experience of seeing the intolerance and insensitivity with which the public respond to him.
In 2013 I did a short interview with my mate. In that interview he responded to a question asking if he had a message to the people in the street who take photos of him what it would be, with this answer:
“Just stop, for a moment, and think: What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Why would you or your friends find that photo or film to be of any value or interest? What does that say about your character, as an adult, and how you think about and respond to people who are different? What if I was your brother, son or cousin? How would you see it then?”
This answer and the questions he poses chime closely with the one posed by Novick. Essentially it is asking for a degree of empathy, a smattering of consideration and just the smallest amount of basic manners. The fact that this is missing from most people’s interactions with dwarfs is deeply telling.
Please do watch this 6 min documentary and take it on board:
Hynd's Blog 
Video: Dwarf wears hidden camera for a day and reveals people’s insensitive reactions
“The next time you see someone who is different than you, think about what their day might be like, think about all the events of their life leading up to that point, and think about their day — and think about what part of their day you want to be?”
This pertinent question was posed at the end of a short documentary film by Jonathon Novick.
Novick is a dwarf with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. One of my absolute best mates also has achondroplasia and I have had the eye-opening, if deeply depressing, experience of seeing the intolerance and insensitivity with which the public respond to him.
In 2013 I did a short interview with my mate. In that interview he responded to a question asking if he had a message to the people in the street who take photos of him what it would be, with this answer:
“Just stop, for a moment, and think: What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Why would you or your friends find that photo or film to be of any value or interest? What does that say about your character, as an adult, and how you think about and respond to people who are different? What if I was your brother, son or cousin? How would you see it then?”
This answer and the questions he poses chime closely with the one posed by Novick. Essentially it is asking for a degree of empathy, a smattering of consideration and just the smallest amount of basic manners. The fact that this is missing from most people’s interactions with dwarfs is deeply telling.
Please do watch this 6 min documentary and take it on board:
Be one of the cool kids and share this article
Like this:
1 Comment
Filed under Social comment
Tagged as achondroplasia, Don't Look Down On Me, dwarfism, Jonathon Novick