IT'S A SMALL WORLD

By ELLIS JONES

If heavenly, artificial worlds of blossoming candy trees, burbling chocolate rivers, and happy songs about the power of make believe to bring the world together were good enough for Gene Wilder and Walt Disney, then they’re sure as hell good enough for Kunming, China. Kunming is a magical place where you can grow up to be anyone you want to be… as long as you weren’t planning to grow up more than 4 foot 3 inches. This village of 120 little people was originally set up as a haven for dwarves, protecting them against discrimination and exploitation. In the years since those halcyon days, the commune’s shifted gears almost entirely. Today it’s become a money-making tourist trap where each lil’un dresses up like a fairy tale character and resides in a hand-built mushroom house. Understandably, this unabashed selling-out has sparked some controversy. Some advocate for the fairy tale commune because it offers the dwarves some much-needed income despite China’s labor surplus. Others see it as a infantilizing freak show that embraces everything the colony ever stood against just to make a quick buck. You know what we think? We think everyone trying to knock the dwarves down is just a fucking baby. That’s right: A dumb, little baby trapped in the body of a regular sized person who can’t deal with being excluded from an awesome fairy tale club in magic mushroom land.