Another View on Life's Too Short

Ricky Gervais's new comedy isn't just in poor taste, it's blatantly offensive, says Kristina Gray

Interview by Laura Barnett
guardian.co.uk,

My son Samuel is six months old, and has achondroplasia [a bone disorder that causes dwarfism]. Before Samuel was born, my husband and I had a very limited understanding of the problems faced by the restricted-growth community, but we're doing as much research as we can. We're so concerned about this new "mockumentary", written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring dwarf actor Warwick Davis, that we're campaigning to get it taken off the air.

The media coverage in the run-up to the first episode was sickening. I saw a photograph in a newspaper of Davis inside a case, next to a quote from Gervais saying: "I take [dwarves'] welfare very seriously, and I even keep them in protective cases when they're not fighting." But I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode itself. A couple of moments were borderline offensive, like when Davis enters his wife's house through the dog-flap, but most of it was actually quite dull.

The second episode, however, was much worse: it left me gutted. In it, we see Johnny Depp – an A-list celebrity who many people look up to as a role model – treating Davis like a pet. He even calls him an "evil toilet dwarf". I appreciate that this is a comedy, and that some people will find these jokes funny. But for me, they just make a mockery of the discrimination that little people face daily. There are dwarf hate groups on Facebook, and I've been contacted by little people telling me they've been spat at in the street, or insulted so constantly they have to walk around wearing earphones.

I'm angry that the network I pay for should be screening something so offensive. Substitute the word "dwarf" with that of another minority or disability, and the BBC would probably find itself in court. I don't want my son to grow up to face this type of abuse: I want him to be seen as an equal. Anyone with intelligence who watches this show needs to think hard about whether they're laughing with Davis – or at him.source