Dwarf-tossing
Dwarf-tossing, also called midget-tossing, is a pub/bar attraction or activity in which people with dwarfism, wearing special padded clothing or Velcro costumes, are thrown onto mattresses or at Velcro-coated walls. Participants compete to throw the person with dwarfism the farthest. Dwarf-tossing was started in Australia as a form of pub entertainment in the early 1980s. A related formerly practiced activity was dwarf-bowling, in which a person with dwarfism was placed on a skateboard and used as a bowling ball.
Since its inception in the 1980s, the activity, due to its problematic name and nature has been highly controversial and remains so in the early 21st century.
Legality
Australia
Australia is commonly thought of as the place where dwarf-tossing originated as a form of pub entertainment in the early 1980s. Laws may prohibit dwarf-tossing implicitly, but there are not explicit laws preventing a consenting dwarf from being "tossed".
Canada
In Ontario, Canada, the Dwarf Tossing Ban Act was introduced in 2003 by Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This private member's public bill did not proceed beyond its introduction to second or third readings, nor did it receive royal assent, and therefore died at the close of the 37th Legislature. The bill proposed a fine of not more than $5,000, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. The bill was hastily advanced in response to a dwarf-tossing contest that was held at Leopard's Lounge in Windsor, Ontario, with a dwarf nicknamed "Tripod".
France
The mayor of the small French town of Morsang-sur-Orge prohibited dwarf-tossing. The case went through the appeal chain of administrative courts to the Conseil d'État, which found that an administrative authority could legally prohibit dwarf-tossing on grounds that the activity did not respect human dignity and was thus contrary to public order. It raised legal questions as to what was admissible as a motive for an administrative authority to ban an activity for motives of public order, especially as the conseil did not want to include "public morality" in public order. The ruling was taken by the full assembly and not a smaller panel—proof of the difficulty of the question. The conseil ruled similarly in another case between an entertainment company and the city of Aix-en-Provence.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee decided on 26 July 2002 that the ban was not discriminatory with respect to dwarfs. It ruled that the ban could be considered as "necessary to protect public order, which brings into play considerations of human dignity".
Nevertheless, dwarf-tossing is not prohibited outright in France. The Conseil d'État decided that a public authority could use gross infringement on human dignity as a motive of public order to cancel a spectacle, and that dwarf-tossing constituted such a gross infringement. However, it is up to individual authorities to make specific decisions regarding prohibition.
United States
Robert and Angela Van Etten, Florida members of the Little People of America, convinced the Florida Legislature in 1989 to make dwarf-tossing illegal. A measure banning dwarf-tossing was passed by a wide margin. The New York State Legislature later followed suit.
In 2001, Dave Flood, who appeared on the MJ Morning Show as "Dave the Dwarf", filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 1989 law allowing the state to fine or revoke the liquor license of a bar that allows dwarf-tossing. The pastime was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.
In October 2011, Ritch Workman, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, introduced legislation that would overturn the ban on dwarf-tossing, claiming such a ban to be an "unnecessary burden on the freedom and liberties of people" and "an example of Big Brother government". Although not a personal advocate of the activity, Workman stated "if a little person wants to make a fool out of themselves for money, they should have the same right to do so as any average sized person".
In popular culture
During the Battle of the Hornburg in Peter Jackson's 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, one of the heroes, a dwarf named Gimli, reluctantly insists that another hero, a man named Aragorn, “toss” him across a dangerous gap that he cannot jump. (In the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli refused similar assistance, declaring, “No one tosses a dwarf!” and had almost fallen to his death.) Gimli asks Aragorn not to tell “the elf”, their comrade Legolas, and Aragorn promises. There is never any suggestion that recreational dwarf-tossing is part of the world envisioned by Jackson, much less J.R.R. Tolkien, who published the books in 1954–1955, so it seems likely that these are allusions Jackson inserted with a wink to the audience. Aragorn does launch Gimli towards a door that is under attack, follows him, and the two hold it against a horde of evil orcs. It is worth noting that in Tolkien's stories Gimli is not a little Man, but a Dwarf, a member of “Durin's folk”, a type of being completely different from Elves, Men, Hobbits, Wizards, etc. It was John Rhys Davies' double, Brett Beattie, who was actually thrown in the scene, as a dramatic picture of the rehearsal shows.
In the 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street a room full of boisterous stockbrokers can be seen taking turns hurling two dwarfs wearing helmets at a large dartboard. Jordan Belfort, the main character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, offers a $25,000 reward to the first “cock-sucker to nail a bullseye”. Before the movie was released, protests were made to distributor Paramount to remove the scene. The non-profit organization Little People of America released a statement stating: "Little People of America (LPA) is angry, disappointed and concerned that The Wolf of Wall Street, which opened in theaters on December 25, includes dwarf tossing scenes. [...] No matter the intent of The Wolf of Wall Street, any portrayal of dwarf tossing carries the risk of condoning the objectification of and abuse against people with dwarfism. As The Wolf of Wall Street continues to play in theaters, Little People of America hopes that movie audiences, Martin Scorsese, and Leonardo Dicaprio join us in condemning dwarf tossing and the threatening behavior it promotes." In the book The Wolf of Wall Street the movie is based on, the tossing of little people is only discussed as a possibility and Belfort said (through a representative) that he merely heard from several people that they were thrown sometime after he left the firm.
See also
Further reading
- "Analyse des grands arrêts du Conseil d'État et du Tribunal des conflits". Conseil d'État (in French). 27 October 1995. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Analysis of dwarf tossing prohibition in Morsang-sur-Orge, Paris, France.
External links
- "Midget Throwing: A Lost Art". TwistedEdge. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
- Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Midget tossing - Lancer du nain". YouTube. Video on YouTube of midget-tossing as part of the Marto Napoli show at the Balteck, Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada.