S&M: Short and Male

Writer/Dir: Howard Goldberg (Being Dorothy)
Documentary on the lives and challenges of short men
Canada, 2008

Seen: May 19, 2008

Reason to see: It's Canadian, got pretty good buzz at Hot Docs and being short myself (4'9"), although not a guy I was compelled to see it.

One thing that is refreshing about this documentary is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a jovial tone to the majority of the film which for the most part allows you to relax and relate to the film and it's characters. However, that creates the challenge of not taking the subject matter seriously but it's apparent that many of the non short people that are encountered do thing the same thing. But it is serious if you are faced with limited opportunities and feel unaccepted by your environment or peers.

While I empathized with the stories shared throughout the film, I found that the facts and even stereotypes didn't quite match up. For example, many of the statistics didn't seem to be specifically geared to short men, but short people. They discussed how salaries could be less for short people and opportunities fewer, yet among the interviewed were dentists, a lawyer and a former police officer. Another consistent topic surrounded romantic relationships, or the lack thereof but this wasn't overly explored with the characters in the film.

Overall I found it had a unique perspective and gave a voice to the affects of judgements people have over short men. If showed varying degrees they will go to do hide, change or embrace their height which had a surprizing range from painful to inspirational.

Shannon's Overall View:
I found it interesting
I'd not watch it again *
I recommend it

* I feel it is only fair to share the reason I would not watch this film again, as have a unique perspective in this regard. The first surgical procedure shown the film is something I have undergone, twice. It didn't have it for lengthening and to be honest I didn't think they would do it just for that. Watching those segments was very challenging and I wanted to let people to know that ahead of time, especially if they have had any involvement with the procedure.

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© Shannon Ridler, 2008