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Mark Dolan Interview
New Series | Tall Women | Money | Fat Pets
It must have been the first time you'd ever met a woman who was taller than you.
Yes, I don't think I'd ever met a woman taller than me until making the programme. For a woman to be even 6ft is pretty extraordinary. I started my journey at a tall person's club in Arizona, and I met a woman called Ellen, who was the first very tall woman I met. She was 6'10" - she was a good head taller than I was. She towered over me, and when I hugged her, my head was actually on her chest, which was exciting - a personal goal achieved, to be nestled in a woman's bosom without having to kneel down.
Yes, I don't think I'd ever met a woman taller than me until making the programme. For a woman to be even 6ft is pretty extraordinary. I started my journey at a tall person's club in Arizona, and I met a woman called Ellen, who was the first very tall woman I met. She was 6'10" - she was a good head taller than I was. She towered over me, and when I hugged her, my head was actually on her chest, which was exciting - a personal goal achieved, to be nestled in a woman's bosom without having to kneel down.
Presumably some individuals you met were learning to live with their physical condition better than others?
Yes. Just because you’re very small or very tall doesn't mean you have something physically wrong with you. But they all suffer huge personal challenges, because of the way society treats them, and the practicalities of daily life. I found that almost all of the characters I met are hugely dependent on friends and family. Most of them find it very difficult to find love. Most can't work. So although physically many have prevailed over their circumstances, the problems they face are still extremely significant.
Yes. Just because you’re very small or very tall doesn't mean you have something physically wrong with you. But they all suffer huge personal challenges, because of the way society treats them, and the practicalities of daily life. I found that almost all of the characters I met are hugely dependent on friends and family. Most of them find it very difficult to find love. Most can't work. So although physically many have prevailed over their circumstances, the problems they face are still extremely significant.
Were there any exceptions to that? Were any of your subjects leading happy and fulfilled lives?
I think that one of the smallest men in the world, Yu Chih, from Taiwan, has achieved a remarkable amount in his life. He's written a play which was performed in Taipei, he's written a book, he runs a major charity in aid of brittle bone disease, from which he suffers. He's had one or two long-term relationships. He has a very full and active life. And that's in spite of the fact that he's incredibly small and confined to a wheelchair. I was full of admiration for him. The smallest men in the world who I met all had completely different personalities, there was no pattern. It was very interesting. Khagendra was incredibly childlike.
I think that one of the smallest men in the world, Yu Chih, from Taiwan, has achieved a remarkable amount in his life. He's written a play which was performed in Taipei, he's written a book, he runs a major charity in aid of brittle bone disease, from which he suffers. He's had one or two long-term relationships. He has a very full and active life. And that's in spite of the fact that he's incredibly small and confined to a wheelchair. I was full of admiration for him. The smallest men in the world who I met all had completely different personalities, there was no pattern. It was very interesting. Khagendra was incredibly childlike.
Which seemed to throw you a bit.
That's right. He was like a toddler, even though he was 16-years-old. Before I met him, I determined to make every effort to treat him as a man, not to patronise him or pick him up and cuddle him like I do with my own son. But he turned out to be just like a child, which was very confusing. But I became very fond of him, he was an utterly loveable character. He was perhaps the happiest, most carefree of all the small people I met. I think it was because he was oblivious to his status, he lived in a small, safe world with his parents.
That's right. He was like a toddler, even though he was 16-years-old. Before I met him, I determined to make every effort to treat him as a man, not to patronise him or pick him up and cuddle him like I do with my own son. But he turned out to be just like a child, which was very confusing. But I became very fond of him, he was an utterly loveable character. He was perhaps the happiest, most carefree of all the small people I met. I think it was because he was oblivious to his status, he lived in a small, safe world with his parents.
