A nightclub in Cambridge which used dwarfs to promote a ‘Willy Wonka’ themed student night has come under fire, accused of ‘degrading’ dwarfism. The club, which dressed the two dwarfs up to look like Oompa-Loompas, defended their actions by saying that the men ‘had been happy to pose for pictures’ and were paid for the job.
A nightclub in Cambridge which used dwarfs to promote a ‘Willy Wonka’ themed student night has come under fire, accused of ‘degrading’ dwarfism. The club, which dressed the two dwarfs up to look like Oompa-Loompas, defended their actions by saying that the men ‘had been happy to pose for pictures’ and were paid for the job.
However many of the students of Cambridge University for whom the ‘Willy Wonka’ night was organised, criticised the club, stating that they had been offended. Steve Burdus, the coordinator of the event, denied this, stating that only “one girl said she thought it was degrading, but she hadn’t even spoken to them”. He also defended himself by saying that “if we hadn’t had dwarfs, who could we have had as Oompa-Loompas?”
Burdus also seemed to believe that the dwarfs had increased the success of the night, claiming that 700 people turned up, an increase on previous years . He takes the figure to mean that people liked the Oompa-Loompas.
This is not the first time the use of dwarfs at student events has come under fire. Robinson College attempted to cancel a performance of ‘Captain Dan the Devilish Dwarf’ during a Fresher’s week programme, fearing it would offend a student who suffered from dwarfism.
