The series's prime motive was to poke fun at the cyclical motivations of a villain, sexual innuendos, bland characters, uber-suave leading man and rampant objectification of women in 1960s spy films. Myers has gone on record to state the influence of James Bond, Peter Sellers, The Beatles, The Goodies, Peter Cook and Dudley More while building the look and feel of Powers. Other international suicide helplines can be found at Powers was the brainchild of the actor playing it, Mike Myers, and was conceived while driving home from ice hockey practice and hearing the song ‘The Look of Love’ by Burt Bacharach on his car radio. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-80.
As Cokley points out, it is often in death that average height and able-bodied people easily erase an individual’s disability or difference – as demonstrated by the recent passing of Professor Stephen Hawking – to claim they were “larger than life” or are “ finally free from their disability”. Such remarks, commonly used by the media, propagate assumptions that dwarfism is something negative for which we have to compensate through our achievements or character. Ignorant still but much less malicious were comments that he was “bigger than ”, “a small guy but had a big heart”, or “a big man in a tiny package”, and so on. Even in death, his body marks him as a target for ridicule. Soon after news of Troyer’s death appeared on Twitter, the pathetic and vile jokes began. “I don’t think that a majority of my community are depressed because they’re little people,” she writes, “however I have no doubt that society’s objectification of little people adds insult to injury (literally) and can push folks over the edge.”Ġ1:39 Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer dies aged 49 – video report In her powerful article Little People, Big Depression, Rebecca Cokley reflects on how news of Rappaport’s passing affected her as a young girl and remembers her own friends with dwarfism who died too young and too soon. Over the years, several actors with dwarfism have killed themselves, including David Rappaport and Hervé Villechaize. Loneliness and isolation are not unusual. Among those who participated in academic research, more than a third reported experiencing mental health problems. Sadly, depression and suicide are too common in dwarfism communities.
Almost 20 years after the film I still hear strangers’ shouts of “Mini-Me!” While no cause of death was formally announced, “depression and suicide”, the statement noted, “are very serious issues”. A statement on his Facebook page, said he had struggled with “his own battles” but that “unfortunately, this time was too much”. The film is almost 20 years old yet I, and no doubt many like me, still hear strangers’ shouts of “Mini-Me!” as we go about our daily lives. Yet it did huge damage to our struggles not just for positive representations, but for equality and respect more generally.
It was nominated for and won numerous awards.
The Spy Who Shagged Me would later go on to gross more than $300m worldwide. I imagine few who laughed at such scenes know that studies show around 12% of people with dwarfism – including this author – have experienced physical violence because of our bodies. From Roman times, when dwarf people were forced to fight each other, to dwarf wrestling today, violence towards dwarf bodies has served as entertainment for average height, able-bodied audiences (often including children). Re-watching clips while writing this article, I felt sick at the sight of Myers’ foot smashing into Troyer’s 2ft 8in body – seeing it crumple against the wall. Worst of all was the way the films turned violence towards dwarf bodies into a spectacle for comedy.