Posted on 04/30/2007 2:18:36 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
A short history of men standing on boxes
BY LUCY MANGAN
27 April 2007
THE official story was that the height difference between BBC reporter Steve Rosenberg (5ft 6in) and German MP Silvana Koch-Mehrin (6ft 4in) made it difficult for the cameraman to get both into shot. However, it is hard not to suspect that there were darker forces at work here.
After all, history is stuffed with examples of short men going to great lengths to hide their stumpitude — especially when women (literally) enter the picture — although before now of course they were rarely snapped by passersby with cameraphones and the evidence of their subterfuge gleefully published in the next day’s Bild.
When titchy but famous Alan Ladd (5ft 6in) appeared in 1957 with the strapping but lesser-known Sophia Loren in Boy on a Dolphin, viewers remained blissfully unaware that the crew had dug a trench for her to walk in so that she would not dwarf the star. Similarly, in the following year’s Deep Six, the director stood Ladd on a series of boxes so that he appeared the same size as his fellow actors.
More recently, of course, it has been Tom Cruise (5ft 6in) who has had to beef up his height in various ways. Rumour had it that he too boxed clever in order to match up to female lead Kelly McGillis in Top Gun, and he endured much ridicule (and rumours of heel lifts) whenever he appeared in public with his second wife, Nicole "the Porcelain Beanpole" Kidman. By the time he married Katie Holmes, another decidedly willowy woman, he appeared to have arrived at Ladd’s happier solution of making the lady next to you stand in a hole. The wedding pictures showed Katy, with a long dress hiding her feet and the surrounding ground, for the first time looking the same size as her husband.
And was it coincidence that Prince Charles (5ft 11in) had his official engagement picture with Lady Diana taken on the steps of Buckingham Palace so that he could stand on the one above, gaining an extra few inches over his 5ft 10in fiance?
If you don’t have a box, step or trench-digger, of course, gentlemen, do remember that you can always employ the favoured method of short Gallic generals and remodel Europe in your own image instead. Nothing says "big man" like establishing the modern equivalent of the Napoleonic Code wherever you go.
stumpitude
I guess size does matter after all.
Nice looking lady and she is FDP; not CDU/CSU but at least not SPD or further left. Perhaps some German FReepers can advise.
Isn’t he on a “portable” podium?
It was always going to be a tall order.
When a 5ft 6in BBC reporter was sent out to interview a German MP (6ft 4in in her high heels) the production team had difficulty getting them both into the shot.
But necessity is the mother of invention, and after Steve Rosenberg had hopped up on to an equipment box, he appeared to tower over Silvana Koch-Mehrin.
More follows...
On the box: How 5ft 6in Steve Rosenberg interviewed 6ft-plus Silvana
Under normal circumstances, viewers would have been none the wiser over this very low-tech bit of technical wizardry.
But an alert passer-by saw the unlikely pair on Berlin's busy thoroughfare Unter den Linden and snapped a picture on his camera phone.
The image was published by Germany's biggest-selling daily newspaper, Bild, under the headline: 'Little Brit Questions Big Woman Politician'.
Their writer asked: 'Are men not allowed to be smaller than women on British TV?'
But BBC spokesman Paul Rasmussen said: "This was not a question of personal vanity. It was a technical necessity caused by camera angles."
Hmm. I’m 5’5” and I almost never wear heels.
Got a thing for Amazons eh?
I thought Dennis Kucinich wold be somewhere in this story.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Nah, she'd have to be CSU. And we'd both have to be single. And I'd have to have been born in the current geological epoch. None of which happens to be the case. ;)
So it’s not a danger issue, but your personal feelings issue. A psychologist might question whether you feel you have to be in a dominant position in a relationship, and you interpret dominance as being taller, and being taller as dominance.
I have a good friend who is taller than her husband. He doesn’t have a problem with that, and he has a job where he supervises truck drivers who are taller than him. It’s a matter of attitude. I respectfully suggest you try to cultivate the same attitude, that you don’t need a height advantage to be in charge.
I guess size does matter after all.
Back to the old motion of the ocean argument?
Ha!
DARK FORCES are here at work, boys and girls.
We must assume a posture of vigilance or they will take us over.
I opened a jar of pickles for a male friend once. I don’t think that made him any less of a man. It’s the same thing with the height issue.
On the other hand there is a large group of short men who do not feel emasculated but are strongly attracted to tall women, probably to prove they're man enough to bring down the big game. This means that very tall women tend to attract a lot of guys who have Short Man Syndrome--charming, arrogant, successful, confident, etc. My sister experienced the same thing. ~Fairview, married to the handsome and funny but short Mr. Fairview
Free Democrats are for free markets and smaller government. They are more like American conservatives than the Christian Democratic Union.
I was standing next to a female Tulane university volleyball player on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, when a drunk (but harmless) kid walked up to her and asked, “how tall ARE you?” She said, “too tall for you,” and he replied “yeah, but I’d like to try and make the climb.” He was maybe 5’10” and she was at least 6’4” . . . we still chuckle about it once in a while. Great response for someone as drunk as he was.
I’m 6 feet tall and my wife of 37 years is 6’2”. I have never felt “challenged” or short around her, nor when I was around a man 6’8” (my brothers are all taller than I am). Like I tell everybody, great things always come in small packages (like diamonds, fine watches, great bottles of scotch, and me!!) It ain’t how tall you are, it’s what you do with what you got. That has always worked for me anyway.
My favorite celebrity story regarding height was of some contention between Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner during the making of “The Magnificent Seven,” where Brynner would build little mounds of dirt where he was to stand during shooting to appear taller, but McQueen kept kicking the dirt away.
The sentence I memorized for German 101 32 years ago finally seems apropos to something!
Most people would not say that a six-footer like you was “a good thing in a small package.” You’re a good thing in a medium-to-large sized package. No way six feet is small.
Around my family I’m a lot smaller than the rest of them! ( and a whole lot meaner too!) :0 )
Absolutely. Stay on your toes.
Well, I'm 5'4", my wife is 5'7".
I guess I married above my station. ;-)
I was reluctant to ask my wife to be out on a date since she was much tall than me, I’m 5 ft 7 and she was 6 ft. I finally did. At first I felt a little funny about it, I had always dated women shorter than I but I got over it quickly. I count myself very luck to have not only a caring, wonderful woman but very attractive as well. Turns out she had trouble getting dates because most men found her too tall. Lucky for me they did.
Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen blauen Meers.
The article is written by a woman who knows the constant anxiety of perpetually height challenged women who resort to high heels and platforms to assuage their insecurity.
I always wanted an Exxon dealership so I could do that someday.
Is it true of the old saying” small men leave 5 tracks when crawling in the sand”?
In all fairness, wasn’t perky Katie found to be standing on a box? Guys are not the only ones that have a Napoleon complex.
A great discovery by the esteemed Dr Raoul.
“She’s standing on a box!”
It was my understanding that the FDP was indeed in favor of free markets and less government intrusion, but was rather socially liberal (in the American sense of that word). Or perhaps they are best compared to American Libertarians?
I think you have a lot to contribute to this thread. ;)
Hogwash. In all of my years of dating, I dated maybe one or two girls my height (5'1") or less. On average, I'd say that most women I dated were 3"-5" taller than I am. It never bothered me a bit, and I never lacked for dates.
For the coupe de grace, I've been happily married for going on 16 years now. My beautiful bride is 11" taller than I am, and stands at an even 6'.
That's completely illogical. The threats you (or your date) could possibly face in this world are constant. They are not variables that adjust to the height of your date. You'll be no more able to protect a 4'11" date from danger than a 6'4" date.
Thanks for the ping. So far, I’m highly amused.
Absolutely. Thanks for the ping.
Is that Shoemaker?
You are correct that they are against more government social intrusion but keep in mind the level to which the German government decides on behalf of the German citizen.
I think by calling them American Libertarians may be deceptive.
The CDU is not necessarily for tax cuts or privatization and I think that’s a big agenda item for us here.
Kucinich and his wife.
I’m 5-10 and am the tallest person in my whole family, moms side and dads side.
Visually, her lower leg, calf and foot form a nicer line with that modest heel than I expect they would in flats. She is on camera, in public, with a quite visible lower leg.
Perhaps you weren't on camera, in public, wearing a skirt, when you chose not to wear heels.
Whoa, easy there. I wasn’t attacking her or anyone, I was merely making a comment. Her career is more heel-friendly than mine. Maybe she wants to look taller, maybe she wants to look nicer. Nothing wrong with either of those things.
Some people see a feminist boogey-woman hiding around every corner and immediately go into attack mode. In the process, they invariably end up attacking people on their side as well as the enemy.
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