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Culture

Netflix's 'Tall Girl' falls short, stigmatizing something that didn't have a stigma on it

Netflix's 'Tall Girl' falls short, stigmatizing something that didn't have a stigma on it
Netflix

The height of the average American woman is 5'4, and 5% of women grow to 5'9 or taller, according to the Center for Disease Control. While tall women are in the minority, the downsides to being tall are nowhere near as bad as the way they're presented in Netflix's new teen rom-com, "Tall Girl."

The movie is about a 6-foot-1-inch tall high schooler named Jodi who feels uncomfortable with her height after years of bullying. As a rom-com lover and tall girl, I wanted to like "Tall Girl," I really did. Lead actress Ava Michelle, who plays the titular tall girl, delivered a very relatable performance as Jodi, and the film did have its moments. But "Tall Girl" inadvertently sends the message that not being small and dainty is the worst thing that could ever happen to someone. It's not.

The movie got blasted on Twitter for presenting being tall as adversity.








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Being tall isn't adversity. I'm taller than most men and have never once felt discriminated against because of my stature. Height can be an asset. Leaders tend to be on the tall side. Malcolm Gladwell noted in "Blink" that 14.5% of American men are 6 feet or taller, but 58% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are 6 feet or taller. Yes, that statistic applies to men, but I've always felt that it validates my height by proxy.

If there is any discrimination against tall woman, it comes into play with dating. This factor does, to some degree, make height relevant fodder for a rom-com. Women who mark their height as 6 feet or above get 40% less messages on OK Cupid, and women are, on average 8% shorter than their partners. But again, there are worse things in the world – and this comes from a woman who thought the first guy to ask her out (yes, he was shorter) was pranking her. A 2008 study found that only 53% of men require their partners to be shorter them, so height isn't always a deal breaker.

While the film aims to have an inspirational "love who you are" message, and that is admirable, it falls, well, short. "Tall Girl"ends up being the cinematic version of "You'd be prettier if you stopped slouching." Something that just sucks sometimes is blown out to the point where it's life ruining, and turns a well-meaning film into one of those, "I didn't know there was anything wrong with me until you said something" scenarios. "Tall Girl"could be summed up in one of Jodi's lines – "Anytime you try to make me feel normal, you end up making me feel like more of a freak."

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We shouldn't put a stigma on something that doesn't have a stigma. Aside from sometimes having a hard time finding pants, I have found that the most difficult part of being tall is when people constantly point it out to you. If you really want tall girls to love their bodies the way they are, then stop pointing out that they're tall.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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