1/ As the resident German Folklore Guy of Twitter, it is my solemn duty to weigh in on yet another controversy regarding Disney's interpretations of a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm - to wit, Peter Dinklage's comments on on the dwarves in "Snow White".
https://twitter.com/THR/status/1486070559314259968
2/ First things first: It is always up to the members of a marginalized group to decide whether or not a certain media portrayal is offensive. And ONLY to them - the rest of us don't get to make that choice for them!
3/ And claims that this "shouldn't matter because Snow White is portraying creatures from folklore, not humans with dwarfism" are invalid. I mean, what's next?
"Sunflower isn't offensive to Black people because she is a mythical centaur, not a human!"?
"Sunflower isn't offensive to Black people because she is a mythical centaur, not a human!"?
4/ Furthermore, while I love European folklore (and German folklore in particular), I am fully aware that it is rife with racism, sexism, ableism, and many other types of bigotry. When discussing folklore, we should absolutely discuss this as well.
5/ I.e. we should do better than, say, the Brothers Grimm, who published tales like "The Jew Among Thorns" in their collections without condemning their bigotry (and yes, this is not the only example).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jew_A…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jew_A…
6/ Nevertheless, while we should not ignore these aspects of folklore, we should also be aware that many things currently believed to be "part of European folklore" were actually added later on, when they were turned into literature - _illustrated_ literature to boot.
7/ This transformation of folklore into literature turned the highly variable creatures of folklore - of which we had scant physical descriptions - into highly codified, classified "species" that were increasingly divorced from their origins.
8/ Apropos of nothing, I am still waiting for someone to show me clear examples of the "greedy, hook-nosed goblins" of the Harry Potter franchise within the folkloric record. As far as I can tell, "goblins" was a generic term for "small mischievous spirit". 
9/ What I am trying to say is that when folk tales are turned into another medium - whether literature or movies, animated or live action - those who do so make conscious creative choices in how to interpret the original tales in this new medium.
10/ In the original "Schneewittchen" ("Snow White"), the dwarves barely get any physical description at all. They don't get any individual names, either. They certainly weren't "comic relief".
de.wikisource.org/wiki/Sneewittc…
de.wikisource.org/wiki/Sneewittc…
11/ Instead, they were simply hardworking folks who tried to keep their new not-very-bright housekeeper/adopted daughter alive.
I mean, what's so hard to understand about "Don't open the door, the Queen is trying to kill you!"? Especially after the first two times.
I mean, what's so hard to understand about "Don't open the door, the Queen is trying to kill you!"? Especially after the first two times.
12/ Obviously, an animated movie needs to be told differently than an oral folk tale. Thus, the animators and directors of Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" had to make creative choices in how to portray the dwarves in the movie.
13/ German folklore has a lot of variation when it comes to portraying dwarves. Sometimes they are the elder spirits of the mountains, quick to reward those they favor, but punishing those they take offense with.
14/ Sometimes they are the weird neighbors who are friendly one day, and try to murder you the next.
15/ Sometimes they are the Things That Go Bump In The Night who scare ordinary people.
16/ Disney went with "comic relief" instead.
17/ Which, to be fair, is _also_ supported by German folklore (although there is still a certain... edge with such tales).
18/ But, well... I don't know Peter Dinklage's life story in detail. However, I would not be surprised if, at some points during his childhood, he was compared to Disney's dwarves.
And nicknamed one or more of "Doc", "Grumpy", "Happy", "Sleepy", "Bashful", "Sneezy", or "Dopey".
And nicknamed one or more of "Doc", "Grumpy", "Happy", "Sleepy", "Bashful", "Sneezy", or "Dopey".
19/ So when you hear about Dinklage's take on Disney's "Snow White", consider that he has likely a very _personal_ stake in this - one that most of us don't, but one that other people with dwarfism likely understand all too well.
20/ Thus, to repeat my earlier point:
It is always up to the members of a marginalized group to decide whether or not a certain media portrayal is offensive. And ONLY to them - the rest of us don't get to make that choice for them! /fin
It is always up to the members of a marginalized group to decide whether or not a certain media portrayal is offensive. And ONLY to them - the rest of us don't get to make that choice for them! /fin
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