There is no doubt that we live in a world that loves to publicise the extraordinary. Sometimes even the ordinary get a go in the spotlight. Think Big Brother contestants, or Z list celebs on I’m a Celebrity or one of the other myriad reality TV shows. Unfortunately these reality shows only bring home to us the reality that, if you’re prepared to sufficiently humiliate yourself for money and momentary recognition, you’re in with a good chance of being on the telly.
But the question is, where do we draw the line on this fascination with the absurd? BBC journalist Stephen Mulvey raised this question in the news yesterday when he asked whether it was in bad taste to have a “shortest man” record in the Guinness Book of Records. He asked how this was any different to the archetypal Victorian freak show and the parading of “Elephant Man” John Merrick before the British public. So are records like this demeaning? Are they in poor taste?
Well, for my part I would argue that it completely depends. Do Big Brother contestants have the right to make fools of themselves on live TV? Of course they do. Should we get a kick out of watching them do it? I think not, but hey, that’s just my view. Personally I think it’s boring and lazy television and would sooner sit in a dark room sniffing paint dry than bother to witness the asinine antics of a group of fame hungry talentless morons with a collective IQ of twelve. But the fact remains that they have the right to do it.
By the same token, does 27in tall Edward Nino Hernandez have the right to advertise the fact that he’s the world’s smallest man? Again of course. Should we find the images of him fascinating? Well, we can’t very well help that can we? We’re only human. Bob Bogdan, a professor in the Disability Studies department at Syracuse University has said that it’s “creepy” to champion medical problems like stunted growth. But surely if Mr Hernandez is prepared to advertise the fact that he’s the world’s smallest man and gain a moment of fleeting fame then the decision is entirely up to him.
We may live in what some have called an increasingly “Nanny” state, but the most important right we have is to make our own decisions. Surely it’s more patronising to Mr Hernandez if some professor thinks that he’s not capable of making this decision for himself.