Dwarves are still the butt of jokes. It's one of the last bastions of acceptable prejudice.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the discrimination faced by dwarves, indicating that making jokes about them is a socially accepted form of prejudice.
Peter Dinklage's quote draws attention to the ongoing stigma and prejudice that people with dwarfism face in society. Despite advancements in social awareness and inclusivity, jokes about dwarves remain one of the few forms of humor that still perpetuate discriminatory attitudes, signaling a need for greater sensitivity and understanding towards all individuals, regardless of their physical appearance.
In practice
This quote could be used in discussions about the importance of sensitivity in comedy during a panel on inclusivity.
It's a shame how a lot of actors use theater as a stepping stone to film and television work; I think it shouldn't be treated that way. Maybe it's narcissism or something. I think we should always go back to it. I try and do a play a year, and I think that's really helped me.
Sometimes, when the material is really good, you put expectations on yourself to make it the best possible show. You're not just serving up the regular hash and doing your job and going home.
Any swagger is just defense. When you're reminded so much of who you are by people - not a fame thing, but with my size, constantly, growing up - you just either curl up in a corner in the dark or you wear it proudly, like armor or something. You can turn it on its head and use it yourself before anybody else gets a chance.
Every person my size has a different life, a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I'm seemingly O.K. with it, I can't preach how to be O.K. with it. I don't think I still am O.K. with it. There's days when I'm not.
I think actors get too comfortable. I like being uncomfortable as an actor because it keeps you alive. I don't know, I think it's important.
Call me a midget, but just be real. I am all for correct terms, but please don't tiptoe around feelings. Don't be too careful, because that shuts you off from people.
My brother Billy was the joke teller. My brother Jim had a really sharp, cutting wit. And the teller of long stories, that was my brother Ed. As a child, I just absorbed everything they said, and I was always in competition for the laughs.
If the shoe fits, buy another one just like it.
Their talk was endless, compulsive, and indulgent, sometimes sounding like the remains of the English language after having been hashed over by nuclear war survivors for a few hundred years.
I think that what comes through in Chicago humor is the affection. Even though you're poking fun at someone or something, there's still an affection for it.
42 is a nice number that you can take home and introduce to your family.
For a loser, Vegas is the meanest town on earth.
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