MovieChat Forums > Tiptoes (2004) Discussion > er, isn't the term 'dwarf' politically i...

er, isn't the term 'dwarf' politically incorrect?


shouldn't it be "little person"? because even the IMDb plot synopsis is saying "dwarf" and it kind of doesn't seem right.

"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school"

reply

Everything is politically incorrect these days. Everything. I'm sure if they said 'little person', there'd be people offended by that.

reply

yeah, with a term like "dwarf" i can understand it, though. it does have a negative conotatiot, undoubtedly. also, if people of a minority or an ethnic group feel offended by a term i think it's not that big of a problem to just not use it anymore.

"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school"

reply

It's the freaking medical term.

reply

"Dwarf" isnt that offensive to little people. "Midget" is the name they really hate and find offensive.

reply

It's a word. When words are no longer considered acceptable to use it is called censorship.
Political correctness is a sneaky way of making supression of free speech acceptable.
There will always be someone who is offended by something.

Why is it that in our contemporary culture that suddenly being "offended" is something to be avoided at all costs?
Art in its various forms have offended people for many centuries.

I think people need to be very wary of "political correctness" - it is a veiled way of controlling words and thought disguised as "doing the right thing".

reply

I can see your point, but I don't think you can condemn political correctness as a whole just like that. because generally speaking, if you use a term to refer to a group of people and it offends those people, then it's really easy to go out of your way to not use that word instead of insisting upon it and hurting their feelings or annoying them or whatever. Political correctness can, of course, be overdone and sometimes it's hard to draw the line, but in most cases it's crystal clear why we shouldn't use certain words. just think of the n-word, for instance. (on a sidenote: i find it much more annoying that i can't use the actual n-word when i'm just referring to the term in a discussion like this one. that seems rather childish to me.)

"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school"

reply

The fact that you are afraid to use the actual word for the "n-word" sort of proves the problem with political correctness. Even if you don't mean it in a malicious way.
Of course, IMDb would probably <beep> it if you typed it anyway :)

I don't know how old you are, but back around 1997-1998 or so it was all of a sudden decided by the NAACP or some such organization that that word was no longer acceptable in print or in the media in general. And from that point onward it is now the "n-word".

To me, that is flat out censorship. I'm not saying that it isn't offensive to a lot of people (even though I think its a bit overblown as to how offensive it really is to the majority), but there's still that "can't" in regards to print or other media.

It is the same now with the word " f a g ", where all of a sudden a few years ago they started bleeping it on television and people are afraid to use it on message boards and things.

Not that I'm saying that these two words are appropriate or even necessary, its just the principle of being told that you "can't" say them.

Sorry for the long message here. I hope this doesn't start a fiery debate as this type of topic usually does, but that is my opinion.

reply

Not at all, I think it's an interesting subject!

The fact that you are afraid to use the actual word for the "n-word" sort of proves the problem with political correctness. Even if you don't mean it in a malicious way. Of course, IMDb would probably <beep> it if you typed it anyway :)


I'm not afraid to use it, but I've noticed that Americans find certain words rude even if they're not used as an insult (the "C-word" would be another example). On a moral level I find no fault in using a word when you are in fact talking about the meaning of that word. But like you said it would have gotten beeped on this board anyway.

Anway, I think both the n-word and f a g have been used for such a long time to oppress and insult certain groups of people that it's only appropriate to avoid those words. After all, what's so awful about avoiding a word that you can easily substitute with many neutral synonyms?

Calling that censorship is a bit drastic. It's like calling manners censorship. It's a question of consideration and respect for your fellow men and women.

"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school"

reply

Your attitude is tiresome. You are allowed to say whatever you want and people are allowed to tell you you're a jerk for saying it because that's how free speech works. What you want is to be able to say whatever you want with impunity. The truth is that when you demand the right to speech free of response, you are the one suppressing free speech. It's not political correctness that's the problem, it's your belief that no one is allowed to have free speech except you.

reply

my belief? when have i ever voiced that belief?

We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school

reply

I don't know why it would be. Dwarfs are afflicted with dwarfism, a recognized medical condition. They aren't the same as midgets or little people.

reply

Anyone notice in the film Dinklage's character rants at Ed Gale's character about the term 'little people' being demeaning.

----

Even if you hate Uwe Boll, give Postal a try, be offended or entertained.

reply

Most dwarfs are so because of a condition known as 'dwarfism', not 'little personism'.

Sometimes it's OK to just call a spade a spade.

It will be interesting when political correctness - inevitably - reaches the point where you may not refer to anyone by any physical characteristic. You get mugged and make a report to the police. 'Can you describe your assailant?' 'Yes, it was a... human'.




Never defend crap with 'It's just a movie'
http://www.youtube.com/user/BigGreenProds

reply

On a college campus, you'd be expelled for even asking this question, using the word in the context of a discussion about the word.

That's where we're at.

That's how stupid our college kids, professors, and administrators are.

reply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAnIOCIBFR4&ab_channel=BBCStudios

All the answers you need to know you can find out from Ricky Gervais.

reply